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Finbar’s in love with beautiful Connemara
FINBAR FUREY tells us why he rates Connemara as Ireland’s most captivating and beautiful place
“Connemara would probably be top of my list. Connemara is Ireland. The
Gaeltacht, the music, the people, the landscape. People have been living there for the best part of 8,000 years and the rate of change is very slow!
“When I think of my roots, I think of Connemara and the sheer beauty of the place.
“There’s music and song, and stories of the past, the present and beyond — and you can find them all at the drop of a hat.
“Clifden is a grand place — there’s loads of tasty traditional music there. I wouldn’t plan on any early nights if you’re thinking of going there. And Oughterard must be one of the most beautiful towns in Ireland.
“I’m also a bit of a fisherman, and while I love the Liffey for a spot of coarse fishing, the rivers and lakes of Connemara take some beating. You’ve got the
Gowla, the Screeb and the Corrib. You can’t beat a good Corribean holiday! Water, water everywhere — and quite a lot to drink.
“Golfing is another of my big passions, so needless to say Ballyconneely golf club — wedged in between the Twelve Pins and the Atlantic Ocean — is just about one of the most splendid settings imaginable.
“Championship all the way and over 7,000 yards of beautiful scenery and challenging golf. Links at its best.
“And it’s a course which is a mighty teacher of good manners, I can tell you that. When I first went down there I’d heard all week how tough it was. My first round there was with old pal Frank Clarke, artist and golfer. Without going into too many details, my very first hole was a very humbling experience.
“Somebody said once that golf is ’a good walk spoiled’, but let me tell you, at Ballyconneely you can have a great walk, grand sport — and some of the most magnificent scenery anywhere. But you need strong clubs and big balls, that’s for sure. My handicap? Well since you ask, it’s seven.
“I’ve walked the hills of Connemara, found some beautiful Connemara marble, breathed the air and felt sad but fulfilled with the proud beauty of the place.
“I’m never more at home than when I’m in Connemara, and I’ll keep going back.”
CONNEMARA
Dancing streams woo Connemara
Tranquil Burren, unquiet, still
Mystic shapes, inventing moments
Loughs enhancing flowering hills
Connemara
Luring landscape rising forward
Instill rain clouds, masking dawn
Ghostly shadows chasing moonlight
Softly breezes whisper morn
Connemara
Salmon fountains, distant motion
Marble ocean, granite reefs
Fishing boats, nets weaving, trawling
Casting prayers, while horses sleep
Connemara
Wispy grasses, rolling windswept
Peat turf collage, fairy forts
Creeping moss, black water basins
Rock aprons, sean nos gorse
Connemara
Ancient island, basking, timeless
Emigration, hungry bones
Famine pathways, haunting mysteries
Barefoot history, carving stone
Connemara
Written by Finbar Furey
Rough Diamond Records ©
Banshee Music Ltd.
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