On the 17th of May GEAI organised a Biodiversity walk from Ballinaglera Hall via the Leitrim way to St. Hugh’s Holy Well and the adjacent Sweathouse.
The afternoon began with quite a few doubts: the weather forecast promised rain throughout the afternoon, with few sunny spells. So the 2.30 pm meet-up at Hall turned into a relaxed gathering for everyone, where people could introduce themselves and get to know those they hadn’t met before.
This allowed us time to decide whether to postpone the event or go ahead in the hope that the clouds would clear.
The wait paid off – the rain (nearly) kept off and we actually had some moments of sunny joy!
The walk was pleasant and relaxing; the birds were in full chorus, providing the background to words of wisdom from Heather Bothwell, the ecologist who accompanied us and opened our eyes to small but unique examples of biodiversity.
Two things struck me in particular during the walk: the wild orchids and the horsetails.
Orchids: Ireland has 31 native species of orchid one of which, the Western Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza occidentalis), is unique to the island. (Photo of this orchid).
As Heather was telling us, the orchids are flowering right now, typically from early May until late July, and it’s illegal in Ireland to collect orchids from the wild. So if you find some while hiking, make a lot of photos, but please don’t collect them.
The second thing that particularly struck me was the description of the horsetail plant.
As Heather was explaining to us was that they reproduce using spores released from cone-like structures, and they have this funny structure that looks like a horse’s tail. The plant has also an high silica content, and the stems were traditionally used to scrub pots, so they are known as “scouring rush”.
The walk continued along the Leitrim Way to St Hugh’s Well. Dr Aedin McLoughlin, director of GEAI, told us about the Holy Well and the local belief that the water has the cure for confusion (mearbhall intinne). This well is still regarded as a place of pilgrimage today. People come to pray and leave a small token – a piece of material or other small object near the Well or tied to the holly trees that surround the well. The belief is that the prayer will last as long as the token.
Liam Breslin from GEAI, described the Sweathouse that is situated near the well. How 200 years ago, the local custom was to use the sweathouse as a sauna as a cure for rheumatics. A fire was lit, stones heated up in the fire, then put into the sweathouse. When the temperature rose to sauna levels, the stones were raked out, rushes put on the floor and people stayed inside to “heat their bones”. Sweathouses were built beside streams so that people could cool off after the experience. Ballinaglera has 27 examples of sweathouses, many in very poor condition at this stage.
Our walk came to an end with a return to the Ballinaglera Community Hall, where we had light refreshments and the opportunity for a very enjoyable social gathering,
We would like to thank Heather Bothwell for the valuable information she shared with us and Aedin and Liam for sharing some of their local knowledge. Also, many thanks to Irish Environmental Network and the Biodiversity Week Project for enabling us to organise our local biodiversity event.
