Friday, 26th September, Part 2, Feakle

I'm sure you've spotted my deliberate mistake by now. This is part the second of 26th Sept. Please go to the post BELOW this and read that one first. It's an ingenuity test. Did you pass??

Continuing with my tour of Feakle:

On the edge of the village is a cemetery. No church, just graves, the oldest one I could read was 1916, but many of the stones were too worn to decipher. I did get a bit camera happy there, but grave stones and crosses are so attractive!
I was fascinated by some little metal crosses dotted around. I can only presume they were to mark the graves of some very poor folk. I took a selection of these. They all had something scratched on the metal, though usually just a couple of initials.



The graveyard from the bottom gate, where I entered












Graves at the top of the hill, 2 of the iron crosses are just left of the centre






























The iron 'cross' on the left has J Grady beaten into it




































They are just so touchingly simple







































































































This large central monument has not stood the test of time
















These shamrocks are so beautifully carved


















A lot of graves had statuary and other ornaments around them. This poor chap died at only 42 years of age. The rosary remains untouched, I wonder whether it would in the UK.














Such beautiful stonework. What a difference between the little iron crosses and this captain's grave stone.





















This very plain headstone has been made from concrete and then the inscription has been written on in freehand. If you look carefully you can see a mistake.































I had always thought that the name of the bar, Peppers, was derived from the vegetable pepper. Clearly it is a family name and this is where some of the current owners' ancestors are buried.




















You've probably had enough of grave stones. I finally dragged myself away and opposite the graveyard is a very old Irish cottage. Nobody lives there, but it has been painted by someone.
The back 'door':











One of the tiny front windows, slightly open


The cottage itself





























This makeshift bench is at the side of the old cottage








The Old Village Sign and old direction signs




































Just along the road is this rather amazing cottage. Well, the cottage itself is unremarkable but the garden is weird! There are loads more statues in the garden itself and things hung on the walls. It takes all sorts....







































There's a lovely area in the centre of the village with benches, a shrine, bins and lovely old brick paving, all on different levels. I guess it was probably a millenium project:




The rather splendid dirty orange vehicle opposite is our Fiat Doblo, the best car I ever bought.











This monument to one Johnny Patterson is also there, he was obviously a local musician.






This bench is on the next level down, plus bin!















Up a side road I found these rather rickety old iron gates.








On the other side of the same road is this marvellous front gate, now disused. It reminded me of 'The Sleeping Beauty'


















I walked back to the 'main' street, crossed over and some children were playing by a little stream. I thought it was part of their garden, but it's apparently a public area. I asked if I could take a photo, but bemoaned the fact that there was a cone in the stream. One of the girls immediately rushed over and pulled it out! Bless.


Such a little gem in the middle of the main street


There were some hanging baskets above the painted fence where I stood to take the photo. The brackets were splendid

















There's one of the girls riding off on her bike
















This must be one of the oldest benches in County Clare!

Here's a close up



















This pretty door is the side door of the church. Lovely clean lines and the lamp just sets it off















I called in at the village shop for a paper. Now you can see the Doblo in its full glory!









I had just about 'done' Feakle, apart from the pubs and they hold no allure for me, unless they have interesting signs or flowers outside.

I hope you've enjoyed your visit. I certainly did.

Jim's back late tomorrow evening. I have to pick him up from Shannon airport at 11.10pm. It'll be good to have him home.