As April temperatures soared, journalist, Áine Ryan, and photographer Michael McLaughlin slapped on the sunscreen and headed to the sandy byways and beaches
Áine Ryan
IT’S A FESTIVAL of ice creams. Lunchtime at the foot of the Reek. A gaggle of young French students sit in casual huddles and concentrate on the art of ice-cream cone licking. Sightings of ninety-nines are as seasonally significant as the diminishing crek crek of the corncrake or the call of the cuckoo.
Summer has suddenly slipped across Clew Bay. And, with broad brushstrokes, it has magically transformed the grey dull morass of an Arctic Winter into a pungent pastiche of gorse yellow and virgin greens.
Key Reutner and Andrea Pfeifenberger walk sprightly towards the Croagh Patrick carpark. The Swiss nationals live near Salzburg and are about to head for Clifden after their ‘secular’ climb of the holy mountain.
“We are touring Ireland for six days and climbed the mountain simply because the weather is nice. It’s nothing to do with religion,” Andrea explains in perfect English.
Meanwhile, Pauline Duclos and Audrey Obritin, leaders at the Regards French School in Westport, keep an eagle eye on their group of students. They are about to climb part of the mountain. First though they must negotiate the dripping dangers of their ninety-nine ice-cream cones.
Back in Teach na Miasa lunchtime diners and tourists trickle in and out. An older couple chat quietly over coffees. This reporter decides on delicious homemade bread scones and soup, while photographer Michael McLaughlin opts for a succulent wrap filled with salads and chicken. A suited salesman shows a staff member a medley of colourful felt handbags.
Through the window, the pyramidal mountain rises like a great wall towards candy floss clouds that momentarily clutter the sky.
Outside again, on the edge of the carpark, and a lone man sits at a picnic table. He is absorbed in John Grisham’s ‘The Partner’.
In that lyrical northern twang, Mark Loney tells us he is from Ballymena, County Antrim, and that himself and his wife, and ten-month-old son, are staying in a mobile home, at Aughnish, overlooking Lough Mask and near Ballinrobe.
“This weather is just brilliant. We spent all day yesterday at Old Head Beach,” Mark said, before returning to the thrills and twists of Grisham.
Beach bums
AN HOUR later and a group of canoeists slips out of the water under Old Head pier. The tide is way out. Its ebbing has left a mosaic of ripples and gullies of stranded salt water in fissures and pools along the winding beach.
In the distance, the svelte outlines of two young women come into focus. They chat and laugh as they skip through the flotsam of seaweeds and pebbles. Turns out the lure of the Summer was so seductive for hairdressers, Irina Mocanu and Mona Lisa Munteanu, that they shut up salon in Castlebar and headed for the beach.
“We’ve just had a fabulous walk, watching the kayakers. On the spur of the moment we closed the salon today and came over to the beach. Summer has arrived,” said a beaming Mona Lisa Munteanu.
Out of the blue, there is the kerfuffle of four young men. They are armed with packets of crisps and biscuits, all overshadowed by a giant bottle of Supervalu orange. They tell The Mayo News they are Graphic Design Students from Castlebar College of Further Education.
Kieran Noone, Castlebar, Conor Moran, Pontoon, Stephen Kelly, Claremorris and Niall Quinn, Ballaghaderreen, are almost at the end of their course and where better to hatch plans for the future than on the edge of a beach, with the sunshine as an inspiration. Time to catch some wave, dudes!
