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Showing posts from May, 2014

Catch This Bus to Lough Key Forest

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Catch this Bus to and from Lough Key Forest Park click here for Bards In The Woods events   at Lough Key Forest scroll down for map During June, July and August This shuttle Bus will run twice daily  departing Boyle from the Crescent  at 12 noon and again at 5pm;  The Crescent is 5 minutes walk from the Boyle Railway Station. Taxi services in Boyle would object to the service running directly from the railway station. There' no permission for that, anyway. Next stop Military Road at 12.10, and again later at 5:10 pm, which is handy for pick up from King House, Farmer's Market on Saturdays and connecting to the Dublin to Sligo bus services. Bus departures from Lough Key Forest Park for Boyle  are at 12.30 and 5.30pm. This Shuttle Bus will run 6 days a week Monday through to Saturday, not Sundays, through the months of June, July and August. This Shuttle Bus timetable coincides very well with the railway train services to and from both Sligo and Dublin Dire

World Labyrinth Day 2014

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Its has become quite a tradition to have World Labyrinth Day on the first Saturday of May. Here's Tony Christie's logo for Labyrinths of Ireland The tradition is Walk As One at 1 pm in the country you are in. As usual there was nobody here at Carrowcrory at 1 pm GMT. I was quite thankful really as the cottage was not exactly welcoming at that time and it was drizzling hard outside. 2 pm, and the drizzle was lifting, but nobody had arrived yet. By this time I had the cottage in some sort of order, and quite a bit of food prepared for visitors too. 2:30 pm, Claire Roche had arrived, but did not take out her harp yet. She was relieved to have a bit of quiet and do some odd jobs around the cottage while I made more food and snacks and got a turf fire going in the hearth. 3:30 pm and our first people arrived, Bridget and Andy, who I think may have been anticipating the 4 pm Walk ... but the tea, the snack and the chat went past that. Bridget brought some

Bealtaine Flowers

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As you know and celebrate with a smile and joy, Bealtaine is the welcoming of the arrival of summer That's the Brigit's Garden Bealtaine Garden, click here to view more . Through milleniums humans have celebebrated Bealtaine with many customs. These customs were and are really wishes and prayers to ward off bad luck, to have a bountiful summer as everything starts growing rapidly now, and protection of health on family, home and livestock. So, of course, we have Bealtaine cleansing bonfires, washing our faces at the local holy wells, or if one is not nearby, with the morning dew but the most common of all are traditions involving flowers. I think the leaving of flowers on steps is quite a modern watered down version of a greater tradition just as 'trick or treat' at Halloween is a modern very watered down version of Guising. As I child I remember the tradition of 'posies', a bunch of flowers and herbs, common combination being bluebells, violets, hyssop and sage