Along the road, somewhere in county Kerry I recently did a discovery. While on one of my journeys I stopped to take autumn photos and also to take a look at this cottage. I had often wondered while passing who would have lived there long ago, and why the people left, and where did they go, maybe across the sea to America as a lot of Irish people emigrated there in the late 19th or early 20th century. Anyway the house is boarded up but still looks in good repair. It is nestled among beech and other native trees, now beautifully coloured, and it looks out down the valley with hills in the distance. Some of the land is bog-like with a variety of grasses and sedges, some rocky outcrops and low bushes, and lots of bracken, beech and birch trees, a mixture of colour at this time of year.
To my surprise I found a notice fastened to the wall of this cottage, it happens to be a roosting place for bats, and in particular for the lesser horseshoe bat. An organisation covering both Ireland and England called the ‘Vincent Wildlife Trust’ has a long and successful history of establishing and managing reserves for rare bat species. It manages 37 sites in Ireland, England, and Wales, all of which are roosts of the greater or lesser horseshoe bat. In Ireland, the Trust manages 12 reserves for the lesser horseshoe bat. And so this cottage has been put to very good use.
Some days ago I took the notion to spend a few days in Glengarriff in West Cork. Glengarriff is a peaceful village lying in a lush valley surrounded to the south and east by the Caha and Shehy mountain ranges and to the west by the Bantry Bay. Its climate is subtropical and this is seen in the lush plant growth, home to several rare plants and trees, like the Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) and the royal Fern (Osmunda regalis) for example. Close by are the Italian gardens, situated on a small island better known as Illnacullin island, a beautiful place to visit.
Sugar mountain and Shrone hill, part of the Caha mountains in which glacial valley Glengarriff lies.
The Blue Pool, accessible right from the village
I think that most of all Glengarriff is a place where you can relax and unwind, but also a place where, in the village itself, people congregate in and outside of pubs and eateries, and so a lovely ambience resides. I often travel through this little village, I always stop to soak up what Glengarriff really is, a place of beauty, of peace. Even the scent is full of fragrance, the fragrance of fresh air, of oxygen. Very restorative!
Early spring in the village 2025
Why am I writing about Glengarriff? First of all I love the place and have spent time there, and secondly because of where I stayed. I like to put the Glengarriff Hostel on the map because it is an amazing place. I’ve always loved and travelled using hostels, and this is one of the best. What a nice way to travel and meet new places and people in a way that is adventurous and affordable. Glengarriff Hostel has a mixed dorm, a female dorm, family and private rooms. A comfortable sitting room and a great kitchen with a terrace looking out towards the Blue Pool and Shrone hill. Find out more on https://glenhostel.ie/
The Hostel with Shrone hill behind itPrivate roomChill out roomKitchenEntranceOne of the dormsFamily room
One of my favourite things about Glengarriff is the Nature Reserve which is just a stone’s throw away from the village on the Kenmare road. This is an original Oak forest, lined with pathways and walking trails, both long and short. Very interesting are the lichens, the mosses and the polypody ferns found here. The Glengarriff river runs through this forest. Both this reserve and the surrounding area is a wonderful place for hikers, hill walkers and for those interested in geology, botany and nature in general. People who like the sea can also live it up in Glengarriff, there are boat trips, fishing, and swimming.
Irish spurge Euphorbiacae hybernaWild Rhododendron Along the coastline at Glengarriff
For the horticulturist there are several gardens to visit with interesting and sub-tropical species. Springing to mind are The Bamboo Gardens, The Ewe Experience, Garnish island. And Ardnatrush gardens which are my favourite, this is the garden developed by botanist Ellen Hutchins and where she did research into seaweeds among other things. Here are some photos I took there at my last visit.
Gunnera manicata at Ewe ExperienceLichen at ArdnatrushMy brother Johan and ITree Fern – Dicksonia antarctica at Ellen Hutchins gardens
Following is a link to a website about Ellen Hutchins:
Glengarriff is easily reached by bus from Cork, via Bantry and from Killarney via Kenmare.
I’ve enjoyed looking up some websites for information, but basically I’m quite familiar with the gardens, the botany and the interesting things about Glengarriff. It is the place where in 1965 my family emigrated to from Antwerp in Belgium. Us eleven children have since dispersed all over Ireland and Belgium too, with a huge number of descendants.
The surrounding mountains are a great place for the geologist.
Travelling through the Caha mountains during winter I find that there is plenty of interest to see and get excited about even just along the way. While some of my drives are taken in bad weather conditions, heavy mist, rain and or wind, most of the time I’ve experienced dry and also regularly sunny weather.
Most of all, this winter I find the skies fascinating. The colours, subtle, in pastel pink, light blue, ashen grey or radiant white, and even as if with a magic brush, diffused streaks of periwinkle purple. I’ve seen it all in skies over the Bantry Bay, over the Caha mountains and over the Glengarriff valeys. Ever changing skies with light of a beautiful quality. It certainly holds the attention of the traveller. These days I drive home when the sun is setting, adding another marvel of light, the setting sun, often spectacular!
Looking down into the valley there is a whole palette of different browns, beiges and forest greens. A true feast for the eyes. As can be seen in the photo below Glengarriff National Forest has a lot of birch trees growing, and apart from their stark white trunks, their branches are particularly beautiful at the moment. Every time I pass clusters of them I try to think how to name their colour, a type of maroon, or a vintage wine, or does it look more like an English lavender, burgundy, gothic mulberry or umbral umber. It is hard to pinpoint exactly the colour of those branches, and it also depends how the light shines on them and how the rain brightens them.
Birch trees in the distance
A variety of other branches, among them the deep red of the dogwoods is always very nice in a landscape, and so is the drama of the bleached grasses, rushes and sedges covering whole stretches of hillsides with cream blonde colours or even rusty browns.
Darkness falls early these days, painting the landscape mainly in moss green, dark brown or black, though the mountains in the distance do give us some mauve. The landscape changes constantly, it is very noticeably when driving higher up, clouds throwing huge shadows over the valleys interspersed with stretches of sunlight. As I said there is a lot of interest even in winter on my journey. Probably much more to discover yet and that leaves me with a feeling of ever more excitement.
I came across two photos of winter foliage recently, these are paintings of the Danish painter Peder Mork Monsted, (1859-1941) from his ‘Winter’ series. I thought it shows the colouring of the birch trees beautifully and rather well. I think his work very nice. (Referenced from Gallery of Art) with thanks.
agoyvaerts 