The Road to the Sea

On her third day in Polranny, our guest Bernadette Paternotte writes: "Today I turned my back on Achill Sound and walked in the opposite direction. Turning left, I took a side road towards the coast. I stood there for a while, absorbing my surroundings and recording them with my camera.

At first it seemed grey and dingy, but later the heavens opened and everything became ever more colourful with a little rain, which was something I took in my stride.

An untouched coastal landscape: large and small stones staring up at me silently, some covered with greenish yellow seaweed. Long strands with little balls that popped under my weight, I slipped with every step.

The sea water murmured gently, the sky became bluer and the emerging sun felt warm on my skin."

Photos: Bernadette Paternotte

The Next Day...

Polranny guest Bernadette Paternotte continues her Irish diary: "The next day I walked to Achill Sound. The weather was chilly and overcast but dry.



Achill Sound is located on Achill Island with a bridge connecting the island to Ireland. It's the largest Irish island with a circumference of some 144 square kilometres.

There was no bus in sight even after waiting for a while. My well-filled backpack made walking back rather difficult, so I made a virtue out of a necessity and picked the prettiest flowers alongside the road and took them home with me. Once I arrived, I arranged them in a vase and placed them on the kitchen table next to the window. This had become my favourite place for sitting and working."



Photos: Bernadette Paternotte

A New Guest Arrives...

Polranny guest Bernadette Paternotte writes: "On 21 August 2009 I took a taxi to Polranny House from Westport. It was evening and already dark when I arrived. Once I'd entered the house and turned on the lights, I wasn't shy about checking everything out. After all, it would be my house for the next ten days. Familiar smells wafted towards me. The smell of stove polish dominated, and for a moment I was overcome with nostalgia for my old house with the wood-burning stove, sawing the wood that was washed up in the ditch, spending the summer outside in my shorts. Then there was my studio with its view of the meadows, the cows and the vast skies. So far as I'm concerned there's nothing unfamiliar about country life."
Photo: Bernadette Paternotte

As Smooth as Silk

The side of a fallen tree at Bleanáskill Lodge, Achill's secret garden run by Pirate friends Willen and Doutsje (http://achillsecretgarden.com/).
Photo: Annie. Click to enlarge

A Child's Paradise...

...your very own house in the woods at the Valley House hostel on nearby Achill Island.

Photo: Annie