MOVING ON.....2024

A Note From The Author: Jacqueline E. Hughes

I am so happy to welcome in the new year, 2024!!! My Blog is changing-up a bit....mainly because I am evolving. Travel will always take precedence in my life and, my journeys will be shared with you. This 2024 version will offer a variety of new stories and personal ideas, as well. This is all about having fun and enjoying this Beautiful Journey called......Life!!!

Thursday, March 6, 2014

ONE DAY IN IRELAND


A series of shorts......


THE DOLMENS OF IRELAND.....   POULNABRONE DOLMEN


Some legends say the ancient dolmens and other stone structures found scattered throughout Ireland are portals to the realm of faerie......FAIRY FORTS!




.....through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E. Hughes


Throughout my vast and elongated journey of reading and digesting the written word, I have accumulated a few books under my belt, so to speak.  Robert Ruark was the first modern day author to have opened-up my eyes, heart and soul to the mystical world of our beautiful earth.


The Serengeti Plain, a vast ecosystem in east-central Africa, was my base-station as I went on a safari guided by the best....the Englishman, Brian Dermott, who introduced me to the great lion, masterful hyena and powerful elephant.  My love for and desire to see Kenya and meet her people grew substantially with each paragraph that was read.  The book is entitled, Uhuru, written in the late 1950's and published in 1962.

Mr. Dermott's shooting device of choice was a long range hunting rifle by which he made his living.  Of course, today it would be the high-powered lens attached to a sophisticated camera.  Fortunately, times have changed! 

Interesting new words were introduced into my vocabulary such as nugu (ape), jambo (hello) and Bwana (Master).

My absolute joy for the written word began around this time....at least, I knew then that writing was both my career and my passion.  I realized that to be able to understand people and places of the world, I needed to add travel into this intoxicating mix.

I have yet to make that trip to Kenya in Africa and fulfill the dream of a 'starry-eyed' fifteen-year-old girl embarking upon a journey of a lifetime.....  So much has transpired since closing the pages of that life-changing novel and I do understand how it symbolized the freedom and joy that awaited me in the future.  Thank you, Mr. Ruark, from the depths of my heart!!

Eventually, writing and travel led me to many islands....and places semi-surrounded by the sea....with the sights, sounds and smells of its salty salve always healing the weary spirit like ointment on a wound.  Given the beauty, mystery and magical powers of Ireland that I read about in my youth, this incredible jewel, gently placed into the sea, resembles an exquisite piece of fine jewelry fit for a Fairy Queen (even a petite princess)!  

After all, doesn't the appearance of a rainbow, or the possible existence of the Banchee, Pookas and Changelings evoke mystery and intrigue?  Not to mention the most famous Irish legend of them all...the Leprechaun!  Who hasn't devoted at least one afternoon of their childhood enraptured by the movie 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' and believed if they searched hard and long enough, a Leprechaun might just be inhabiting an underground world right in their own backyard?

Yes, it has taken a few years.....but, I believe I have actually found him!  My Leprechaun's name is John.  John is a farmer who lives on the west coast of Ireland, County Cork, but near the mountains and the sea.  At least, so he claims.....

Well, you decide for yourself if John holds Leprechaun status and let me know what you think.  All we know is that something magical happened that day in Ireland, high-up in the Caha Mountains, in a place of mist and legend....  
 



Author repost of One Day In Ireland.  
Originally posted: August 8, 2009