“Artistic images bear witness to the inner journey and their quality determines the effectiveness of their testimony” (Joseph). Tom Kelly mentioned during the tour that the Bogside Artists did not want their artwork to be about itself, but about the messages they were meant to convey. That being said, Tom Kelly, Kevin Hasson, and William Kelly were no beginners, and the murals they created successfully draw in the eye long enough to comprehend the message, if the sheer scale of the murals were not already sufficient. Plenty of other murals are present throughout Derry, but the Bogside Artists also succeeded in creating a style that was uniquely theirs, which had the effect of keeping the intended themes their artwork presented consistent for its ability to be immediately recognized.
A Call for Peace
The work of the Bogside Artists came out of the conflicts the artists lived through and eventually evolved to reflect a desire for peace and reconciliation. Tom Kelly explained that the color schemes of the murals reflect where in memory they are meant to belong. The murals that memorialize conflict and suffering have a tendency towards being more monochromatic, and this serves the purpose of remembering the suffering that happened, but keeping it in the past. The famous Peace mural is the most vibrant of the murals, and it reflected the artists’ belief that at the creation of this mural, it was finally time for the community to move toward peace and acceptance.
“The Stolen Child” is likely William Butler Yeats’ most famous poem from his early phase. It is a favorite of many scholars and everyday readers for many reasons including its contradictions.
The title of “The Stolen Child” plays off of traditional Irish folklore. Most Irish people would know the stories about fairies stealing children in the night. The title of the poem sets up the entire poem with the notion of a child that is not lost, but stolen. The emphasis on the word stolen immediately makes the reader imagine that the child is an innocent victim and that the fairy is a mischievous thief. . The majority of the poem is clearly spoken by fairy trying to convince a young boy to come with her and follow the fairies. As the boy makes his way on his incredible journey to the fairy world many contradictions are made. A youthful soul is being taken away to be with ageless beings, to live forever. As he becomes an immortal being he loses not only his life, but also his innocence and childhood. As soon as the fairies recognize that the boy is going to follow them, the entire tone of the poem becomes solemn. He is aging quickly and is learning how full of weeping his world was. Perhaps it was out of mercy and that the fairy stole the boy, rather than malevolence. This is very typical of Yeats. He often sets off a poem with a title and a few stanzas that predispose the audience to expect certain actions from particular characters, only to contradict later. “The Stolen Child” is an excellent example of this contradictory style of work.
Yeats often depicted peasants as being in touch with the Celtic essence. He assumed that they had not been tarnished by the rigid British rule. He uses the rural peasants and commercializes their lives and stories as a way to solidify a distinctly Irish culture. This is where one of the largest contradictions lies. The western coast may have been beautiful, but there is nothing mystical about it to the naked eye. Yeats makes sure to mention specific locations in western Ireland in his description of the fairy world. In “The Stolen Child” he talks about the forests of Sleuthwood, the beaches of Rosses Point, and the waterfall at Glencar. These places are part of western Ireland and have existed for a long time, yet Yeats brings new attention to them. Yeats depicts these places as peaceful, ageless, and places of wisdom and clarity. By reading Yeats’s early poetry, like “The Stolen Child” one could feel connected to the land, despite the artificial romanticism. “The Stolen Child” shows both the magical lives of where the fairies live and contrasts that with the sad and impoverished life that the child leaves. This shows that no matter how hard Yeats tries to romanticize the lives of the western peasants; even he cannot deny the contradictions of his assumptions.
Celtic symbols are central to what we now consider and imagine as “Celtic culture.” Many of them have stood the test of time, having originated hundreds of years ago but still continuing to have relevance and meaning in modern times. A few of the most famous Celtic symbols are the claddagh ring, the Celtic cross, the triskele, and the triquetra.
Basic History of Symbols
The Claddagh Ring
The claddagh ring is an iconic symbol of modern Celtic jewelery and was possibly invented as early as the seventeenth century, but was in circulation by the nineteenth. The word “claddagh” is the name for a town near the city of Galway, where a man named Robert Joyce lived with his wife before getting kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery. The legend follows that he was forced to work in a goldsmiths shop, and that he created the first claddagh ring there. The hands represent friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty.
The above song suggests that the legend of Robert Joyce and the claddagh ring is still meaningful to many despite the passage of time.
A romantic tradition suggests that the direction of the ring on the owner’s finger is indicative of whether or not they are in a relationship. According to O’Dalaigh Jewellers in Clifden, the legend still rings true and meaningful to many ears, and the love story remains relevant through the modern day application of using the ring to symbolize the status of one’s personal relationship.
The Celtic Cross
The cross is a very significant symbol originating from the biblical story of Jesus. The Celtic Cross in particular dates back to the early Middle Ages, or the eighth to tenth century. According to jewelers at Thomas Dillon’s Claddagh Gold store in Galway, the cross is still significant today because “death and the afterlife were extremely important to the ancient Irish celts.”
At the 1853 Irish Industrial Exhibition in Dublin, exhibition chief financial officer T.D. Jones commented on the displays of crosses in the Antiquities Hall, claiming that they were intricate monuments indicative of his Celtic ancestors’ “devoted piety” and reverence for the religion of Christianity. Maggie M. Williams, author of the book Icons of Irishness, looks at this sentiment critically and ultimately concludes that his “elision of pagan Celts and Christian medievals is symptomatic of the contemporary impulse to fuse the two historical moments into a single, overarching cultural trait” (72).
The Triskele
According to O’Dalaigh Jewellers in Clifden, the triskele symbol, also known as the “wheel of life,” has been found on ancient carvings throughout Europe; as you can see from the picture above, it is now commonly found on manholes throughout Galway. The Celts felt that groups of threes were significant and meaningful in nature: earth, water and sky; body, mind and spirit; birth, death and rebirth; and past, present and future.
In Ireland, archaeological excavations have revealed that ancient people there often emphasized curvilinear designs and spirals. In Icons of Irishness, Williams states that “their predilection for organic forms and elaborately swirling patterns later fused with Christian iconographies in Ireland” (9).
The Triquetra
Also called the Trinity Knot, the triquetra is believed to predate the Cross by hundreds of years. The continuous knotwork symbolizes the Celts’ belief in the afterlife.
According to Helen Chantler, a modern day Irish jeweler, the triquetra represents “the maiden, mother and crone; the earth, heavens and the underworld; the past, present and future; and the body, mind and spirit.” She chooses not to relate the knot to the Holy Trinity, thus disassociating it from what many consider to be its primary symbolic significance (Williams, 64).
O’Dalaigh Jewellers also recognizes the symbol’s significance outside of Christianity, but to them, the symbol represents the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit above all other things. The difference between these two mindsets in the jewelery industry is just one example of how various parties can often appropriate symbols for their own means.
The Appropriation of Symbols
The picture above was taken in Derry, Northern Ireland. Upon visiting, I saw that on either side of the giant walls dividing the city, flags were displayed in juxtaposition to signs as a constant reminder of the city’s violent, divisive history. It became quickly apparent that those flags were more than just flags, and that the symbols they embodied still had a very deep, culturally relevant meaning.
In the article “Symbols: Sites of Creation and Contest in Northern Ireland,” symbols are described as images that “provide the material through which communities, groups, nations and states attempt to ‘imagine’ themselves…ethic, national and cultural identity is in a constant state of being constructed and reconstructed in an instrumental, pragmatic way to achieve group allegiance and solidarity” (Bryan, 127). In the case of Derry, this is still very true; signs and symbols were defaced in an emotional response to the violence of the past, but the city manages to maintain a peaceful appearance on the outermost surface. Disputes over symbols are common in Northern Ireland, and it makes everything significant; the “type of flag that flies over a building, the types of parades that march along particular streets, the statues and the paintings on the walls, the history of buildings, the crest or badge on a uniform…they symbolize the conflict.” (Bryan, 128). The article brings up the debate surrounding the question of whether or not to create a new set of identifying symbols, or defining appropriations of existing ones for the purpose of peace and unity.
This can often lead to problems. One debate was in regards to the display of Eastern lillies or shamrocks to mark the anniversary of the Easter Rising in Dublin. Sinn Fein representatives argued that such a tradition could be fair only if displays of poppies were accepted as a means of commemorating Armistice Day in November. Unionists, however, view that as a blatant display of terrorism. Ultimately, the problem was partially due to their search for “a symbol that represents nationalism but doesn’t represent terrorism,” a symbol that represents what they want to be rather than what they actually are (Bryan, 135). This impulse to use a unifying symbol or essence to rewrite the reality of Ireland was also prevalent in the Celtic Revival, in which writers like W.B. Yeats sought to redefine Ireland in hopes that Ireland would fit the mold after the fact.
The Individual vs. The Collective
Part of this appropriation is due to the Celtic symbol’s flexibility to symbolize aspects of the individual as well as the collective. In Icons of Irishness, Williams writes about Pat Fish, a tattoo artist and the self-proclaimed “Queen of the Celtic.” Having been born in California and adopted as a child, Fish eventually discovered that she was descended from “the famous tattooed warriors of Scotland,” her first connection to what she perceived as a grandiose collective culture. Fish was quoted as having said that she thinks “bagpipes are thrilling and knotwork mazes are kind of a visual prayer for complexity” (136). Her tattoos are subsequently both an expression of her perceived collective culture, embodied in “bagpipes” and “knotwork mazes,” and her personal interests as an individual.
In one of Fish’s designs, she combines the ringed Celtic cross with the claddagh symbol, which almost exclusively takes the form of a finger ring. Combining these symbols is an interesting move to make and one that is indicative of her stylistic choices as an artist. According to her, “the medieval Christian origins of ringed Irish crosses are virtually irrelevant…what matters is the form’s ability to signify a continuum of Celtic identity, an abstract sense of both independence and belonging that remains constant over time” (138). In this sense, tattoos and jewelery of Celtic symbols give the owner the power to both represent themselves and signify their connection to a distant Celtic past.
Icons of Irishness gives another prime example of this idea, when it describes Chris Scala’s tattoo: a classic cross with zombies and an archangel. The result is a symbol that is modified to the individual; it is “both individual and collective, public and private, and it touched both the Celtic and the medieval in innumerable ways” (140).
The Imagined Celtic Essence
A jeweler in Sligo told me that the vast majority of buyers that come into her shop are interested not just in buying a random item, but in the meanings that specifically pertain to the various symbols. An article titled “The Gift of Celtic Sight” comments on “the Celtic way of seeing,” and why that makes its culture “durable and appealing” even in modern times (Phillips, 569). It discusses four aspects of Celtic culture: the center, the journey, the complexity, and the weave. The center alludes to the focus and center of Celtic culture, namely God or the divine; the journey represents both the personal journey that starts from the center as well as the collective, cultural journey that we started as the human race. Using the symbol of a spiral to indicate meaning, the speaker evidences the Celtic interest in the complexity of life with a reference to the “whorls of illuminated, knotted letters” so prevalent in ancient Celtic art. The weave represents the connection of all of that complexity under one roof, the unity of what many of the symbols discussed above have always symbolized: the harmony of body, mind and spirit; the harmony of birth, death, and the afterlife (572). The article states that “from the Celtic perspective, the nature of the universe is to be interwoven, interconnected, and in relationship…Mary and the saints are daily companions who come calling in any croft or barn, and are received as intimates, along with the dead heroes of history who are conversed with as present friends” (575). Symbols have constant relevance in our everyday lives.
I believe this is significant in that it provides insight as to why so many people wish to connect with the Celtic past through their association with Celtic symbols, whether it take the form of jewelery, tattoos, or other means. These symbols were always meant to stand the test of time, and with modern day society’s obsession with commodification, their ability to represent both the individual and the collective is definitely a strong selling point.
However, Williams’ Icons of Irishness highlights the issue with the “Celtic essence,” imbued in so many of these symbols. Her view of the term “Celtic” as a “descriptor of a broader, stylistic phenomenon” rather than “a word that refers to a specific historical culture,” sheds light on why these symbols have the potential to become so removed from their origins and history, yet still be representative of Celtic culture (10). Her point about images is perhaps the most significant:
“Images offer the opportunity to collapse history in an immediate way that is virtually impossible for most texts or other forms of cultural production to achieve” (12).
The visual nature of symbols makes it easy for them to be appropriated, commodified, and used for both individual and collective means. In that sense, symbols are able to remain in a constant state of both timelessness and adaptation.
Works Consulted
Bryan, Dominic and McIntosh, Gillian. “Symbols: Sites of Creation and Contest in Northern Ireland.” The SAIS Review of International Affairs 25.2 (2005): 127-137. Web. 7 July 2015.
Phillips, Jennifer M. “The Gift of Celtic Sight.” Anglican Theological Review 80.4 (1997): 567-580. Web. 7 July 2015.
Williams, Maggie M. Icons of Irishness from the Middle Ages to the Modern World. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Kindle.
When I signed up to study abroad I had little idea what I was getting myself into. As I read more about the class I realized that I was getting an opportunity to study Yates and Irish history while traveling throughout Ireland. After reviewing the syllabus and course materials I started to understand the basic structure of the trip. We would be traveling as a group to various cities in Ireland and taking a bus to get from one to another and taking several day trips to sights relatively close by. I had no idea if I would be sharing a room with another student or if I’d have a room to myself. I expected sharing bathrooms. I didn’t know if we would ever have our own kitchens where we would be expected to cook for ourselves or if we would be eating out all of the time. I was a little nervous about this. I had heard that Irish food was exclusively beef and potatoes. I’m a pescatarian so this made me anxious before we left. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that vegetable soup was nearly always the soup of the day, and that pizza and fish and chips were readily available at most of the pubs if not all of them.
I learn much better by traveling, or even having people close to me travel. It makes the history mean so much more to be real. After I have been someplace, my ears perk up when I hear anyone talking about it. Visiting places makes history click for me and talking to locals about how history is still relevant brings history to the forefront of my mind. After visiting Belgium and visiting town squares I could understand why guilds were so important and why we learned about them. When visiting historic recreations like the Genesee Country Village and Museum, I can understand how butter is made, and I can see how parts of American culture have formed. Likewise, in visiting Ireland I learned more than I could have ever learned from any lectures or textbooks. Visiting Strokestown and the famine museum helped clear my understanding of how such a tragedy could have happened. It was real to me to see how large the beds were on the boats to America. I also learned more by having professors with me. I was able to ask questions right then and there and get answers to things that didn’t quite make sense to me that I may have ignored or forgotten if I couldn’t have asked right away. I didn’t understand why the Irish plantation owners were willing to pay to send their tenants away. I learned that they were responsible for their tenants. It was their responsibility to either pay for them to work in work houses, to keep them on their land, or send them someplace to hope that they could live better elsewhere.
Visiting the famine museum made learning about the troubles in Northern Ireland easier to understand. The conflict in the north is incredibly complex and I recognize that I won’t be able to understand it ever fully, but knowing learning about the famine showed me that the hunger strikes meant more to the Irish than might have ordinarily met my eye. The Bogside tour was also a peak into the conflict that I would’ve probably never gotten had I not studied abroad in Ireland. I certainly could have visited Ireland on my own and looked at the murals in Derry, but I wouldn’t have been able to meet the artists and get a tour to learn what they meant to the community and the men that made them.
Learning about Yeats was probably one of the more challenging things for me. I knew nothing about Yeats other than what I had learned in the online lectures before the trip. He seemed like an incredibly interesting person with a complicated life story and an impressive life work to show. I know that I’m an engineering student and the math and science world has always clicked better in my brain than any English or literature so I had to take the summer school with a grain of salt and try to pick up anything I could. I learned about some of Yeats’ poetry that focused on Yeats’ fascination with age. It was very interesting. I’m still very slow at drawing my own conclusions on his work and what even some of his simplest poems mean. However, the teachers in the seminars were excellent at leading discussions. The groups were small and encouraged participation from everyone. It was wonderful to hear other people’s opinions and insights and by the end of the week’s seminars I felt like I had learned quite a bit that I might be able to listen into a relatively educated conversation about Yeats’ work.
Personally I faced a few difficulties on the trip due to health. I got a cold early on in the trip either due to change in temperature, travel or being in tight spaces with so many peers. I thought that I was going to be fine so I took a few Advil Cold and Sinus that I had packed and tried to ignore it the best I could. Later, with my weakened immune system I also got pink eye on the trip. Incredibly unfortunate, but it could have happened anywhere. However I guess it was a blessing in disguise. I had the opportunity to try to learn a bit about the Irish health care system. I tried to get some Nyquil. The pharmacists had never heard of the household American drug. They aren’t allowed to put painkillers and cold medicine into the same drug. They were wonderfully kind and even helped me fill a prescription for my pinkeye. Pharmacies in Ireland don’t accept health insurance either as far as I learned. They suggested that I take my receipt home and see if I could get a refund there. Fortunately the pharmaceuticals that I needed weren’t very expensive. It was so interesting to compare and contrast the American system and the Irish one.
Toxic Masculinity in James Joyce’s “Counterparts” and J.M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea
Toxic masculinity in Irish society at the turn of the 20th century manifested itself in several ways, including the desire to assert masculinity by fulfilling traditionally masculine roles,the fear of emasculation, and frustration with the stagnation of middle class life. These issues resulted in damaging outlets for the resulting frustration. These included excessive drinking, abuse, and the need to prove one’s masculinity through an often dangerous sense of duty. James Joyce, in his short story “Counterparts,” displays issues of frustration through emasculation, and shows possible negative consequences when this frustration is poorly handled. J.M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea shows the potentially deadly consequences of a sense of duty stemming from a strict adherence to traditional gender roles. As Joseph Valente explains in his book, The Myth of Manliness in Irish National Culture, 1880-1922,” Irish men were unfairly stereotyped by British society, and caught in a catch-22. If an Irish man displayed primal urges or traits traditionally related to manhood, (what Valente calls “manliness”), he fulfilled the stereotype held by the British of the ape-like, subhuman Irishman. However, if he suppressed those manly feelings (a trait that Valente calls “masculinity”), he fulfilled the stereotype held by the British of the emasculated, overly feminine Irishman (Valente). In James Joyce’s “Counterparts,” the character Farrington is clearly more concerned with avoiding being stereotyped in the second way. Farrington spends the entire story trying to prove his manliness, and avoid being emasculated. To this end, Farrington displays frustrations suggested by the author to be common among lower and middle class men in Dublin around the turn of the 20th century. Throughout “Counterparts,” Farrington encounters intense frustration, usually stemming from what he perceives as attacks on his masculinity. Farrington handles this frustration very poorly, venting his anger through self destructive acts like drinking to excess as well as violent acts such as the abuse of his son. Farrington and his boss, Mr. Alleyne, are physical opposites. Farrington is described as having a “heavy step” and is often referred to as “the man,” as if to underline his traditionally masculine physical qualities. Meanwhile, Mr. Alleyne is described as “a little man wearing gold rimmed glasses on a cleanshaven face” with a bare head (Joyce). Immediately upon beginning the story, the emphasis that Farrington places on his physique is apparent. Although he is in an inferior position to this weaker man, he takes comfort in the fact that he is physically Alleyne’s superior. He deals with Mr. Alleyne’s criticisms by imagining himself beating the man to death. In addition to his violent fantasies, Farrington finds an outlet in excessive drinking. He thinks constantly about leaving work to go to the pubs with his friends. Farrington’s obsession with the pubs may stem from a desire to experience classically manly and masculine activities. He looks to the pubs for camaraderie, good conversation, and opportunities to prove his traditionally manly traits (drinking, arm wrestling, etc.). Unfortunately for Farrington, he doesn’t fit in at the pubs much better than he does in his office; he is emasculated even in this space which he longs for during the work day. When buying rounds for the group, Farrington is forced to buy more expensive drinks for Weathers, a young man whom he had just met. Farrington’s lack of money is a source of embarrassment. His breaking point comes after losing an arm wrestling match with Weathers, whom Farrington describes as a “stripling.” While walking home, Farrington is described as “full of smouldering anger and revengefulness…Humiliated and discontented” (Joyce). The thought of being beaten in a test of strength by someone he considers a mere boy is too much for Farrington. This embarrassment and perceived affront to his manhood causes a violent outburst at his son upon his arrival at home. Farrington, afraid of being emasculated and perceived as the typical feminine Irishman, overcompensates to the point of violence. In doing so, he plays directly into the stereotype of the violent, ape-like Irishman. In J.M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea, the issue of toxic masculinity is much less apparent than it is in “Counterparts.” However, it can be argued that Bartley’s ultimately deadly sense of duty to provide for his mother and sisters stems from the fear of emasculation and the desire to adhere to traditional gender roles. Bartley is, like Farrington, subjected to the unfair and unbeatable British stereotypes regarding the Irish. However, unlike Farrington, Bartley seems to strike something of a balance between the primal Irishman who displays traditionally manly traits, and the effeminate Irishman stereotypes. Bartley’s traditionally manly traits revolve around his perceived sense of duty to provide for his mother and sisters despite his mother’s warnings and the clear danger of doing so. In this sense, Bartley strictly adheres to traditionally manly gender roles. Bartley’s masculinity, as Valente would call it, is seen in his general demeanor and behavior in the play. Bartley is fairly soft spoken. He knows what he needs to do for his family and he does it quietly without any show or fuss. However, despite the fact that Bartley seems to walk this line between what Valente refers to as manly and masculine, he is still ultimately killed by his adherence to the traditional male role of the provider and protector. However, in discussing damaging male gender roles in Riders to the Sea, the most important character to study is Maurya. Maurya suffers immensely as a result of Bartley’s supposed duty to provide for the family; she loses her son, but she also loses her voice. While Bartley is preparing to depart to sell the horse, Maurya pleads with him not to go. This is completely ignored by Bartley. When he does respond to his mother, Bartley is dismissive of her. Maurya is being shunted aside by her son in his desire to fulfill the role of provider. Maurya is again (presumably) the victim of toxic masculinity after her son’s death. Life as a woman with no father, husband, or son in Irish society at this time left the woman essentially destitute. The fact that, at this point in Irish society, the roles of provider and protector were bestowed almost entirely upon men is damaging to both genders. It was precisely this that led Bartley to his death. However, the effect on the women of the family is twofold; they have lost the male members of their family, and are also now subjected to a life in which they have no protector or provider, and are not socially allowed to fill those roles themselves.
Works Cited
Joyce, James. Dubliners. Adelaide: U of Adelaide Library, 2014. Dubliners, by James Joyce. University of Adelaide, 17 Dec. 2014. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.
Synge, John Millington. Riders to the Sea. 1904.
Valente, Joseph. The Myth of Manliness in Irish National Culture, 1880-1922. Urbana, IL: U of Illinois, 2011. Print.
I was always excited for this trip, but I didn’t exactly know what to expect. I certainly expected to enjoy the non academic aspects of the trip, like the scenery, sight-seeing and pub culture, and I absolutely did. However, I was much more uncertain about what to expect from the academic part of the course. Ultimately, I ended up enjoying these parts of the trip as well. The relatively relaxed style of Drs. Cope and Doggett’s lectures was excellent. It never felt as though the almost vacation-like part of our trip was interrupted by their teaching; the lectures flowed very nicely with the trip because they were so relevant to whatever we were seeing or doing on any given day. For this reason, the lectures were more enjoyable than they otherwise might have been. One example was Dr. Doggett’s lecture on Riders to the Sea, which he gave while we were sitting on the rocks on the Doolin coast looking at the Aran Islands where the play is set. Lectures during city tours were similarly very interesting. We could have learned about these historical locations in a classroom in Geneseo, but it adds an entire new perspective to learn about them in person, in the locations. Visiting the pubs that Farrington visited in “Counterparts” was probably the most fun example of this. Learning about the Troubles on location in Derry was also extremely beneficial. It is easy to hear about these acts of violence and automatically distance yourself from them. The Bogside mural tour with Tom, one of the artists, helped put into perspective the conflicts. Listening to a man tell me stories about how he was personally affected by the troubles, how his friends and family members were killed, really underlined the human element of the Troubles.
The Yeats Summer School was an interesting experience. I enjoyed the opportunity to learn about certain Yeats topics in a very in-depth way in the seminars, but some of the lectures fell a bit short for me. Several of them discussed, in addition to Yeats, other authors and poets with whom I was much less familiar. For this reason and others, a good number of the lectures went over my head. However, the seminars I participated in were excellent. Meg Harper’s seminar on Yeats’s Vision was particularly valuable because it dealt with a topic so complicated that I would probably never have been able to study it on my own. Joe Valente’s seminar, “Mad Yeats,” was a little less cohesive, but equally valuable. Valente’s commentary on some of Yeats’s less popular poems was very interesting (as was Valente himself).
The Irish culture was actually very much like I expected it to be. Everyone has this image of Irish culture that they get from St. Patrick’s day festivities, but no one really expects Ireland to be like that. Ultimately, I found the scenery and landscapes to be stunning, the food and drink to be delicious, the history to be fascinating, and the people to be some of the most friendly I have ever met. We struck up a conversation with a man in a pub in Clifden, and after a few minutes he was speaking to us like he had known us for years. We ended up having an excelling night spending hours hanging out with this guy we had just met. Every single person I met in Sligo was delightful. I interviewed a man working in a Cafe that I had frequented and I got the feeling that he was honestly happy to talk to me. Between everything I learned, the amazing scenery and historical sights that I saw, and the wonderfully friendly people I met, I would absolutely go on this trip again, and recommend visiting Ireland to everyone I know.
Growing up I had a reasonable exposure to gardening. My grandmother has always been a gardener. My mom learned a lot from her. They always focused on making gardens look pretty to amplify the beauty of a house or backyard to enjoy with guests. My mother also enjoys growing more tropical plants inside during the winter and taking advantage of our south facing windows that act similarly to a greenhouse all year long.
My dad has always taken a more scientific approach. He would rather grow things that he can eat. He has spent a lot of time and energy trying to garden efficiently and without chemicals. There is an entire portion of botany that works with companion planting; that is planting certain plants with plants that grow well beside them. Typical pairings often have plants that want different supplies to grow well and provide resources to each other similar to mutual symbiotic relationships in animals. He also has put in many efforts to try to protect his plants from animals that would like to eat them like deer.
Tomatos protected by a wire cage to encourage growth
pears with soap as a natural animal repellant
Peaches with natural pesticides growing at the roots
Grapes growing on lines
I’ve learned a lot about gardening for food just by growing up with these plants around my house. My background in gardening led to my interest in this project.
Many Irish formal gardens were first made during the Victorian era. This style is recognizable by its geometric lines and patterns. Strictly manicured landscapes with exotic plants cover the scene with elegant places to sit and observe the beauty and symmetry that was so painstakingly made.
Pristine Grass at the Battle of the Boyne Museum
Straitly carved landscapes at Kylemore
Pristine borders at Kylemore
Crisp edging at Kylemore
Rock Garden at Kylemore
Square shaped beds at Kylemore
Patterned shrubs at the Battle of the Boyne museum
Vast garden views at Kylemore
Walled Garden at Kylemore
Crisply painted handrails at Strokestown
Perfectly cut grass at Strokestown
Some gardeners have chosen to keep the gardens in their original conditions or to at least restore them. However the healthier alternative involves change. Gardens need to be able to evolve and change over time. When a massive tree eventually grows too old and dies, a new type of plant or tree should take its place. The gardener at Glenveagh castle criticized other gardens because of their determination to keep the same appearance for decades, which is not conducive to healthy gardens. The old Victorian gardeners would have changed their landscape every so often to keep with the gardening trends of the time. It is only for tourism sake that these gardens are able to stay funded and that means catering to the tourists wishes to see ‘original’ landscaping designs.
Patterns:
Geometric patterns and lines are used to show structure in the gardens, almost taming the landscape.The use of symmetry and repetition is used to make the gardens appear larger than they actually are.
Powerful symmetry at Kylemore
Repetitive Patterns at Kylemore
Perfectly Manicured lawns and patterns at Kylemore
Patterned Shrubs at Strokestown
Walled Garden in Glenveagh
Geometric shapes in Kylemore
Strict square garden beds at Kylemore
Circular Patterns at Kylemore
Paths:
Paths are used to clearly guide visitors on a tour of the garden. This is an old tradition from when the gardens were owned by individuals. Going to the garden was an activity used for entertaining guests. Today some of the gardens we visited are clearly marked to demonstrate what section of the garden visitors are in. On the paths there are often places to sit, rest and observe the gardens.
Straight paths at Battle of the Boyne museum
Terraced Path in Strokestown Garden
Typical paths in Strokestown
walking path in Kylemore
Self guiding paths at Kylemore
Garden Paths at the Battle of the Boyne museum
Pleasant walk in Strokestown
Strokestown paths by greenhouses
Straight paths at Kylemore
Covered paths at Strokestown
Strokestown paths lined with flowers
Hedges lining the path of Strokestown
Observing Spaces:
Elaborate formal gardens were created to be admired. To encourage leisurely walks and romantic visits through the gardens, benches and pavilions were installed.
Walls:
The walls are a large part of walled gardens. They show the power and strength of the owners of the estate. They protect the gardens from hungry peasants, deer, rodents, and other pests that could damage the plants. They also serve as clear boundaries and are strong supports for fruit trees and vines that rely on supports to climb.
Main Entrance to Kylemore Gardens
Hedges along the Kylemore wall
A wall supporting trees at Kylemore
Sheltering wall at Kylemore
Walls of the Garden at the Battle of the Boyne Museum
Vines on a wall at Strokestown
A door to the wall at Strokestown
Walls frame the gardens at the Battle of the Boyne museum
Water:
The use of water is common in Irish gardens. Streams are often used as a means of separation from one section to another and ponds are often kept as a decorative element.
waterfall stairs at Kylemore Abbey
pond in the Strokestown gardens
stream separating parts of he Kylemore Gardens
Exotic Plants:
Due to Ireland’s mild climate, many plants have been brought to Ireland and thrive there. The summers in Ireland hardly ever get too hot, it rarely snows in some of the southern parts and it rains almost every day. Plants like banana trees can grow.
Banana Tree at Strokestown
Small Lemon Tree at Glenveagh
Glenveagh greenhouse plants
Bamboo at Glenveagh
Asian Imports at Glenveagh
Flower at Glenveagh
Berries at Strokestown
Banana Tree at Kylemore
Greenhouses:
Greenhouses are helpful to grow more tropical plants. Many of the gardeners would pride themselves in the most exotic plants that they could acquire and sometimes this would require a greenhouse.
Flora:
Flowers cover the grounds of Irish gardens. There is a wide variety of flowers and their colors are used as decorative measures to enhance the beauty of the gardens.
Daisies at Kylemore
Flowers at Kylemore
Flowers at Kylemore
Mixed Flowers at Kylemore
Flowers by Hedges in Kylemore
Vibrant Yellow Flowers at Kylemore
Flowers at Glenveagh
Glenveagh greenhouse plants
Violet Flowers at Strokestown
Mixed Flowers at Strokestown
Fruits and Vegetables:
Depending on the style of garden these crops could be used as ornamentation (such as Glenveagh) or they could be harvested and eaten (fresh berries from the gardens were sold for lunch at the Strokestown visitor center).
Welcome to my site on the formal gardens of Ireland. I am an undergraduate student at the University of Rochester studying Mechanical Engineering.I spent 23 days in Ireland with a class from SUNY Geneseo studying Ireland’s history and literature. Ireland has an incredibly fertile landscape and the way that the Irish chose to display the land is significant to the traditions of their culture.
In the pages of this site, I hope to bring light to the styles and prevalence of modern Irish gardens.
