Walk with me, by John Corless

Walk with me…

                                …westwards

along the Croagh Patrick

Heritage Trail,

along the pathway of the pagan,

the passage of the pilgrim,

by grottos of Our Lady

erected by local men

in the Marian Year;

by railway and stream,

past cattle and sheep pen,

slatted shed and other footprints

of the farmer;

by hazelwood and beech,

heather and holly

whitethorn and birch,

by oak and ash,

briar and whin.

Walk with me

through Joyce’s and Shaughnessey’s,

Concannon’s and McGreals,

Scahill’s and Gavin’s,

Mannion’s and Carter’s.

 

Taste with me,

sweet green apples

from Padraic O’Malley’s

orchard in Knockatemple.

Clogher Woods

Sit beside me and rest

at Drum crossroads

once there a busy mill, where farmers

turned crops into food,

together let us measure

our tiny foot steps

against the giant footprint

of St Patrick.

 

Walk with me…

            … beside

Geata na gCorp

and Staunton’s Forge,

by Clogher House –

and Knockraha fort

on to Coill an Bhaile

where the red stone appears,

stopping a while

at the children’s graveyard

at Ballyburke…

  …praying and pondering.

 

Listen with me

to the twitter of the stonechat,

the creek of the corncrake,

the echo of the cuckoo,

to the wren, the blackbird and the thrush,

the song of the lark and the linnet –

the aria of nature.

 

Admire with me,

beautiful Achadh Ghobhair –

plain of the springs,

resting place of St. Patrick,

home of the musician,

and the poet.

 

Rest with me

at Teevinish and consider

famine ridges and foxglove,

the rush and the buchalán,

lush grass and clover,

the daisy and the buttercup

the Irish Orchid

and the evening scent

of the honeysuckle.

 

Look with me toward distant

Clew Bay and Clare Island,

Achill and Burrishoole

Nephin and Crucspullagadaun

from this our vantage point

on the edge of the sea.

 

Walk with me…

    …through once

heavy-wooded Lankill,

where the beech

shod the natives,

and the oak built

Liverpool docks

that later smiled

at neighbouring emigrants

forced abroad for work;

nearby the famine bridge

remember the builders – 

their labour rewarded

with a humble meal

let us not desecrate

their memory

this pilgrim way today.

 

Walk with me

by parkland and farmland,

commonage and woodland,

meadow, pasture and bog.

cross hill and drumlin – 

teased, as we are, by glimpses

of Croagh Patrick

inviting us to climb.

 

Walk with me

hand-in-hand

with the fox and the badger,

the rabbit and hare,

the stoat and the squirrel,

sheep, goat, donkey and horse.

With the Friesian the Charolais

the Angus and the red white-head

licking her newborn calf.

 

Worship with me, 

the rolling sun at Boheh

where prehistoric

ancestors struggled

to understand time

and knew that beauty

transcended mortality.

 

Enjoy with me

this walkway made possible

by God and by nature,

landowner and farmer,

organiser and state,

and together as we climb

Croagh Patrick –

Hold my hand.

Hold my hand.

 

Hold my hand

and never

let it go.                © John Corless 03.07.2009