Insects And Plants

A plethora of plants and insects inhabit the school leaving certificate
work of Mona Sweeney from nearby Achill Island. Since then she's
graduated in fashion, won a prestigious prize and is currently
interning with top fashion designer Iris van Herpen in Amsterdam!

The Holy Virgin...

...taking a stroll through Mullingar.
Photo: Sheila Ahearne

Charles Tyrrell's Paintings on Show at West Cork Arts Centre

PS Charles's family were the original inhabitants of our house in Polranny so we are always very interested in his work and career as an artist.

Somebody Nicked...

...Pirate Annie's new Irish cap!
Photo: Annie

After the Rain Comes the Sun

Spotted at Achill Secret Garden and lovingly tended by our friends Willem and Doutsje.
Photo: Annie

Badass Bears

Badass bears Rory and Alfie... the morning after the
night when they invented the Guinskey, an Irish cocktail 
comprising equal parts Guinness and whiskey. To be 
served in pint glasses...
Photo: Annie Wright

Old Geezer

Old geezer complaining about the weather, the price of cat food 
and his rusty car that's about to give up the ghost!
Photo: Annie Wright

OWLs Meet Irish President!

Last week we mentioned that the Polranny Pirates had hosted a dinner
for the ground-breaking OWLs, the Older Wiser Lesbians. This week,
they've flown the coop and high-tailed it to Aras an Uchtarain, the
official residence of the Irish president, where they met President
Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina. By the look of it, it was great craic!

Dinner with OWLs

The Polranny Pirates were delighted to host a dinner for the OWLs, the
Older Wiser Lesbians, an Irish group that was founded by long-time
Pirate friend Maureen Ahearne. A good time was had by all!

Photo: Peti

Marjorie's Memoirs

Pirate friend and local resident Marjorie Wallace-Le
has just published her memoirs and has very kindly
presented us with the first copy! According to the blurb
on the back cover, she is a "renegade Scot who fell
in love with Ireland, when not pursuing a career as
an anaesthetist in South East Asia, and is now content
to gaze out on the bog, if you can see it." Many
congratulations, Marjorie!

Unexpected Help

Pirate friend Doutsje recently dropped by with (from top to bottom)
Sophie, Cecile and Sabine, who have been helping out at Doutsje and
husband Willem's exquisite Achill Secret Garden. No sooner had
they arrived than the three girls set to work whitewashing the
inside of the Folly. Thank you girls and thank you Doutsje! We really
appreciate it!!

Watery World...

... at the magical Achill Secret Garden, which belongs
to our friends Willem and Doutsje.

Photo: Riny

Chance

Chance, the much-loved dog of Pirate friends Joan and Noel Scanlon, doesn't like having his photo taken. But he was kind enough to make an exception for this photographer.

Photo: ©Profoundly Superficial Photography

The Neighbours

This is where Pirate friends Jane and Al live.

It gets quite exciting when there's a storm and you're huddled up in the living room!!

Photo: Profoundly Superficial

A Velvet Path...

... of dappled sunlight.
Photo: Profoundly Superficial at Achill Secret Garden, Ireland

Well Done, Charlie!

(The invitation can be enlarged by clicking it)

Charlie Tyrrell, whose mother and grandparents lived at the house in Polranny, is having a major exhibition of his works on canvas and aluminium. The show will be held at the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan, County Meath, from 24 March to 6 May. It then moves to the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork where it can be seen between 13 May and 2 July.

Puppy Love

Trudi - a Irish Setter/Border Collie cross - greets Buster Brown, her big love. Trudi lives with Pirate friends Al and Jane at nearby Corraun House.

Photo: Profoundly Superficial

Where's Summer?

Pirate Bert with our friends Jane and Al in a desperate search for summer.
Photo: Annie

Beyond the Secret Garden

Polranny guest Bernadette has borrowed a bike from Pirate friends Willem and Doutsje, the owners of the nearby Secret Garden. She writes in her journal of 24 August 2009: "So I set out on my adventures on a old-fashioned, rusty Gazelle bike. Willem told me to take the left-hand turn at Achill Secret Garden so that I could cycle around the most southerly tip of the Island. For most of this trip I was surrounded by water, and for half the time I had a panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean. I wanted to get as close as I could to the point where the rocks and the sea fight it out with such violence. I wanted to capture the most spectacular moment of this battle with my lens. But each time the combatants were too quick for me; each click was too late. It was as if it were set-up. Yet I didn't mind that what I saw could not leak out, that I could keep it all for myself as the splashes of water on my lens and my glasses obstructed the view and I was forced to abandon the scene of the battle".

Photo: Annie

Finding Transport

On 24 August, Polranny guest Bernadette wrote in her journal: "Today there was a visit that I simply couldn't ignore. There was an absolute racket behind the door separating the extension from the kitchen, while simultaneously an enormous cloud of dust rose from under it and invaded my territory.

So this was how I got to meet the builders: Ray, who I talked to the most, and the others, who I could barely understand. I also noticed that the roof was now almost covering the extension.

A little later when I'd been standing by the road for a while trying to hitchhike, Ray came up and asked me for the key to the house so he could go inside. By now I didn't reckon my chances of getting a lift so I asked him whether I could borrow a bike from him. The answer was no.

But he had a think about it, babbled, and gave me to understand that there was a bike somewhere and that he was kindly offering to drive me over to it. Later we took the turning to Achill Secret Garden, where my bike was waiting for me with... two flat tyres. While Ray glued the tyres, I drank coffee with Doutje and Willem, the Dutch owners of the Garden."

To be continued...

Photo: Bernadette Paternotte