SATURDAY, SEPT. 15
The computer is still not dry, and won’t turn on. I put it out of my mind.
THE DAILY WALK
For our big walk, we went backwards on the loop, first passing the beach, Squince beach, where Saffi chases rocks, then climbing a path along the cliff by the ocean. We nicknamed it “the Grouse Grind”, after an insanely steep path up a Vancouver mountain where uber fit people go to challenge themselves.
We love the views in this direction. From the cliff’s edge, a small rocky island about a kilometer from shore, Myross Island, is such a brilliant green it appears to be covered in moss. It turns out this tiny island was the only place where potatoes grew during the famine years, and it fed thousands.
A FAMINE EXHIBITION
After our walk, we drove to Skibbereen and parked in the large Field’s grocery store parking lot, right next to the West Cork Art Centre, a beautiful, red brick contemporary building. The exhibition was about the Famine, which we were anxious to see because we both felt an urgency to learn some Irish history.
A large exhibition, covering two floors, it was jammed with visitors. Most of the paintings were pretty unremarkable, but a few stood out — some older paintings from the 1840s and early 1900s, and one painting by a young (in the 1970s) Irish/English painter (I didn’t get his name, oops!) that was contemporary – black and white, blood red and a golden potato. Overall, I thought the sculptures were better than the paintings…perhaps starvation, homelessness and migration lend themselves to three-dimensionality.
The most interesting aspect of the exhibition was the history. I think many people outside of Ireland — though how can I possibly know this? — know Ireland experienced a catastrophic potato famine, but are vague about the details and the extent of the devastation, and the influence of the English on the dire circumstances.
Eight million people lived in Ireland when the famine began in 1845; by the time it ended, one million had died, and two million had left the country. Culture, economy, social structure were ravaged. The English not only stood by without providing aid, they took corn and other food grown in Ireland to feed people in England. English officials were known to say that they saw the famine as useful because there were too many Irish people. So horrible!
CHURCH RESTAURANT
We wandered into a couple of shops, had a coffee and then went to Church Restaurant, a popular, touristic restaurant in a gutted, old church. I had haddock (yum, flaky, white meat) and chips; Chloe, salad and chips. The potatoes were the worst yet. Chloe said the fries are better at McDonalds.
But that was okay because we were going home to the amazing pie we’d made in the morning — pear, apple and rhubarb.
