Reflective Burren Ramble in aid of RNLI Lifeboats

THE annual Burren Ramble for the RNLI Lifeboats took place recently, writes Joe Queally, and from early morning hundreds of people gathered at the car park at Fanore beach to get ready to ramble through the finest landscape on planet earth.

The music created by the light breeze blowing and the waves from the sea along with the silence from the mountain was the music and song to get people in the mood for a beautiful day out.

The Ramble hit on out for the waters and the wild on the stroke of noon and this year the theme was ‘The Village of our Childhood’ in Fanore.

The early part of the Ramble brought people down to the mouth of the Caher river as it spilled into the Atlantic Ocean.

People stood in silence for a moment and thought of the people that were lost at sea and shared the pain and loss with the families who had to carry on through the journey of life. One of the great experiences of the Ramble was when people took time out on the shore line and lay on the flat rocks of the Burren by the seaside as the waves gently lapped into the rocks.

This was a time for one’s self to let go of the things in life that holds people back, it was a time to forgive and be forgiven.

The slip at Loch an Uisce was another place of serenity and peace where people stopped off and heard how the people from Connemara brought in Poitín in days of old and bartered with the locals for turf, potatoes, vegetables in return for the mountain brew.

The treat at the slipway of black pudding, brown bread and porter cake went down a treat. The deserted village was visited as was the sacred ground where the tin smiths camped in the old road.

The Ramble then made its way back down the green road to base camp. All were glad to be there to help out the lifeboats and keep the fleet afloat.