the other gardens: April 2012

Sunday 22 April 2012

an other garden no.26: nesting swan, gaol river by the cathedral

Stories and Histories

This mute swan has made her nest on the Goal river, named so for the Gaol that sat on its banks from the early 19^th century until its closure in 1939. A mute swans nest is constructed from reed stems and other aquatic vegetation with the process taking between two and three weeks and is a joint effort between the male and female swans. Often a couple will return to the same nest year after year if its well situated, though younger couples can make the mistake of building in a less than suitable place which they learn from and improve on the following year. Laying the eggs can take a further two to three weeks, with breaks of one or two days between the laying of each egg. Between one and eleven eggs are laid looking blue or green at first, becoming white and then brown with staining. Next comes the incubation (siting on the eggs) and the eventual hatching takes place usually between five to six weeks, at some time between May and July.

Not pictured but very present is the male partner guarding the nest from predators and angrily rushing and hissing at anyone who comes too close. ( He really did not like the sight of my dog Socrates. ) Mute swans often mate for life unless their partner is killed in which case they will quite often find a new mate. Should either male or female partner die during this period both are capable of raising the young on their own.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

an other garden no.25: cross infront of st.augustines well, lough atalia

Stories and Histories

The stone cross pictured sits infront of St. Augustine's well on Lough Atalia, named after the Augustinian friary built upon the hill by the same Lough, in 1508. The well was once one of three which are thought to predate the friary. The single remaining well was named Augustine probably in an attempt to replace a pagan Domhnach Chrom Dubh site with a Christian name. Domhnach Chrom Dubh was a pagan festival also known as Lughnasadh. Domhnach meaning Sunday in Irish refers to the fact that the festival day fell on either the last Sunday in July or the first Sunday in August. Crom Dubh refers to a figure who evolved from the proto-Celtic god Donn. Crom in Irish means bent and dubh translates as black so.. The Dark Stooped One. The festival marked the end of summer and the beginning of the harvest season.

This god known variously as the bloody bent one and the Elder King was said to cause the crops to ripen and is considered archeologically the chief idol of Ireland. Some history would suggest that he demanded sarcrifies in return for such bountiful crops, at first human sarcrifice and later bulls. However this story may have been spread by Christians to deter people from Paganism. What we do know is that in its later incarnation the festival was celebrated water-side or mountain top with berry picking and the eating of the first meal made from the years new food crop.

The beautiful stone cross was built in 2000, commisioned by the Galway Civic Trust, to replace the previous concrete cross.