Eibhlin O'Neill's blog

The construction of a 40 metre high wind turbine has been halted near a Neolithic cairn in Co Down (Irish: Contae an Dúin) in the northeast of Ireland. The development has been paused for 28 days due to fears that the development would have a visual impact on the integrity of the 5,000-year old site and was in breach of planning policy. The Neolithic Round Cairn on Knock Iveagh, a hill outside Rathfriland (Irish: Ráth Fraoileannin), dates back to beyond 3000BC. Measuring 100ft in diameter and 10ft tall it was used as a burial place and for ritual. 

This news item from Yn Commeeys Celtiagh - Celtic News Mannin is about the announcement that Catherine Corless, who has done so much to expose the scandal surrounding the death and burial of almost 800 children and babies at a ‘mother and baby home’ at Tuam, County Galway in the west of Ireland has been awarded the Bar of Ireland Human Rights Award 2017. The home for unmarried mothers and their children operated between 1925 and 1961 in Tuam.

A world record price has been paid for one of the last known letters to have been penned on the Titanic. Written to his mother on 13 April 1912 by American businessman and passenger Oscar Holverson, it fetched £126,000 at auction at auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son. He was travelling on Titanic with his wife, Mary. She survived when the Titanic sank but Oscar Holverson died. When his body was recovered the letter was found inside a pocket book. The letter still has the sea water stains and the mark of the White Star shipping line.

The coastal town of Newcastle (An Caisleán Nua) in the northeast of Ireland witnessed a dramatic rescue yesterday. A Minke whale had become stranded on a sandbank close to the promenade. Concerned locals watched on helplessly at the plight of the distressed animal. Then John Lowry came to the rescue. A commercial diver, he put on his dry suit and told one of the onlookers to phone the Coastguard. 

The Dingle Peninsula (Irish: Corca Dhuibhne) is a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean and is in County Kerry ( Contae Chiarraí)) in the south-west of Ireland. Its stunning Atlantic coastline, mountains and lakes make this area among the most scenic in Ireland. The area is rich in history, with many internationally recognised sites of importance. A significant number of ancient monuments are located in the area around the valley of Loch an Dúin on the eastern side of the Conor Pass.

The decision by the head of An Garda Síochána (Ireland's police) Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan, to retire with immediate effect has been welcomed by many. Despite, Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar telling the Dail in June that he and his government had confidence in the Garda commissioner, she had faced several opposition calls for her to stand down. The Garda has been mired in a number of controversies.

Ireland’s seabed territory is one of the largest in Europe, and more than 10 times Ireland’s land mass. Porcupine Bank is an area of the Irish shelf, on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 120miles (200 kilometres) west of Ireland. A recent expedition of Irish waters by the Marine Institute have discovered cold water coral reefs at previously unexplored depths along the Porcupine Bank.

As reported by Celtic News Mannin - Yn Commmeeys Celtiagh:

Shell pull out of Mayo

“It tore the heart out of a community. There was heavy handed policing and brutality towards protesters. Men who had never put a foot wrong in their life were jailed. The military were deployed to obstruct protest. Fishermen’s livelihoods and in some instances their boats were destroyed. There were hunger strikes.

No it wasn’t in some despotic Middle East State or some South American ‘banana republic’ it was Ireland over the last decade.

A commemoration was held on Saturday at Lissadell House, Sligo in Ireland to mark the 90th anniversary of the death of Constance Markievicz (February 1868 – 15 July 1927). Known as Countess Markievicz she took part in the 1916 Rising. In the Rising she fought in Dublin's St Stephen's Green where the fighters held out for six days, only stopping when the British brought them a copy of Patrick Pearse's surrender order. She was taken to Dublin Castle and then transported to Kilmainham Gaol.

Whales are visiting Irish waters more frequently, with the number of minke whales in particular being seen described as "exceptional". This is a recent report from the Mannin Branch of the Celtic League which highlights an article in the Irish Times: 

TIME OF THE WHALES

Whales are arriving earlier, staying longer and being seen in greater numbers of the South and East of Ireland according to this article from Irish Times Marine correspondent Lorna Siggins: