When you explore the ground around The Hag of Beara and observe that sea urchins hollowed cups on the rocks, it occurs to you that this rock once marked the high tide! A great ebbing has occurred here. The ancient poem, The Lament of the Hag of Beare, seems to refer to such a catastrophe, «I am Buí, the Old Woman of Beare; I used to wear a smock that was ever-renewed; today it has befallen me, by reason of my mean estate, that I could not have even a cast-off smock to wear.» The ever-renewed garment would be the tide. «Great wave of flood and wave of ebbing sea, the two of them I know for both have washed on me.» «It is well for an island of the great sea: flood comes to it after its ebb; as for me, I expect no flood after ebb to come to me.» I have cherry-picked these verses as a great deal of the poem is concerned with aging and the loss of beauty. Whatever the truth of the matter, Kilcatherine, is a most beautiful place.
George
Rating des Ortes: 3 Dublin, Republic of Ireland
This rock is in Gortgarriff townland — the ‘garriff’ part means ‘rough’. This spot is a place of great historical and indeed literary significance. The Hag of Beara is a rock. The Hag was cruel and ugly old woman and legend has it that she was turned to stone. Why or by whom is beyond the remit(and knowledge) of this reviewer. The rock does not resemble a humanoid very closely. The rock is to be found in a field — the ground is uneven and there are many bushes and much moss. This rock inspired Patrick Pearse when he penned a piece of poesy entitled Mise Éire(I am Ireland) about 1910. A piece of music to commemorate the golden jubilee of the Easter Rising was also entitled Mise Éire in 1966. Eyeries had a mural and this mural had the poem up in English and indeed in the Irish tongue. This was visible near Causkey’s in 1997 but is to be seen no more.
