The Glann road follows the western edge of Lough Corrib from Oughterard towards Maam, ending close to the foothills of the Maamturk mountains. The lake narrows towards its Northwestern corner, with peninsulas like the Hill of Doon coming within a few hundred metres of the opposite shore.
The Ends of Glann
A stonestrewn shore below bogsoft hill,
And its grey ruins where lives once ran down,
Slopes furrowed still by lazybeds,
From the brows of Corrán Mór,
Where the Corrib narrows to northern bays,
In two irregular scoops of Cornamona and Maam,
Of mines mined beyond the ends of roads,
And beginnings of Maamturken peaks,
That rake the rustlings of a fresh westerly,
Bitter through the teeth of Hen’s Castle,
Teaching a tune to grass and wave,
To fall beneath a footfall’s weight,
On bare elements borne in ice to a rugged place,
Wearing lost seasons and souls with rugged grace.
(April/May 2015)
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All pictures and words by Donal Kelly. Copyright is mine and the sweat of my brow; do not copy or use without permission.
Technical: A Hasselblad 553 ELX with a Carl Zeiss 80mm Planar T* lens, Ilford Delta 100 film, developed with Rodinol 1+25, scanned using an Epson V550.
