VISIONS OF THE HOOK
LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER LIAM RYAN CAPTURES THE ENDURING MAGIC OF THE HOOK PENINSULA – A UNIQUE GEOPHYSICAL LANDSCAPE WHICH ATTRACTED THE NORMANS HERE. DAVID LOOBY REPORTS
THE Hook Peninsula is unique for both its history and natural history, and the year 2020 is worth a little more than just a passing glance.
This is an historic year for the Hook as it prepares to commemorate 850 years since the second Norman invasion of Ireland which occurred at Baginbun in May 1170.
In his new book, ‘2020 Visions of the Hook Peninsula’, Liam Ryan explores its history and natural beauty through the lens and written word.
Ryan writes: ‘The Battle of Baginbun is immortalised in the Anglo-Norman Verse called “The Song of Dermot and The Earl” and I’ve used some verses from it as a means of acknowledging this historic year for Baginbun. The Normans are responsible for introducing the Mute Swan into Ireland but these swans probably found Baginbun a bit too wild and moved into the Glen at Fethard where they remained ever since. The Normans also brought rabbits to the Little Burrow at Fethard, (where they bred like rabbits), and eventually they populated the whole island of Ireland. Rabbits are fast creatures so you won’t find any of them in this book. The Normans themselves didn’t populate the whole of Ireland but they tried their best.’
The witty Fethard man writes about the time when the Norman invaders landed at Baginbun in 1170. ‘They may well have been greeted by the sight of migrating Wheatears on Baginbun Head. Wheatears were once called ‘white arses’ by the Normans and as they got used to life in Baginbun they toned down their language a tad and called them ‘white rears.’ Eventually they came to be known as Wheatears which is an altogether politer version, making no sense at all as they have nothing to do with wheat either. This book, however, is not about the Normans although the castles and abbeys they left behind are an enormous historical legacy that are to be admired and protected. This book takes a photographic trip around the Hook on a soft day, a windy day, a rough day and a beach day. It even takes a trip to Saltmills and Tintern Abbey and includes some feathered birds associated with these places too.’
Ryan grew up on the Hook Peninsula where, with every footstep he took, there were echoes of the past.
‘Fethard Castle, Hook lighthouse, Slade, Tintern Abbey, Fethard Dock and Baginbun Head were part of a rich and varied playground. What I have always been aware of and loved, is the equally impressive and vibrant natural history of the peninsula. Birds and wild flowers are abundant around our cliffs and are a tourist attraction in their own right. Black Guillemots nest in splendid isolation in the crevices in the cliffs of Baginbun Head. The Chough or ‘Sea-Crow’ is another beautiful species of bird which has been here long before Alice of Abergavenny beheaded 70 Irish soldiers and threw them over the same cliffs in revenge for the death of her lover during the Battle of Baginbun in 1170. English medieval legends will tell you that their bills and feet are red from the blood of King Arthur but perhaps it’s time we invented legends of our own here in the Hook.’
Choughs are celebrated and recognised in folklore in Cornwall in England, but yet they remain completely anonymous and absent from signposts or brochures which promote our natural heritage locally.
‘Our resident population of Ringed Plover lay their eggs and rear young chicks against all odds on an unprotected beach at Big Burrow every summer. Species such as these and their natural habitats should not be taken for granted. I have witnessed the erosion of the sand-dune system at Big Burrow, and with it the ending of the breeding Little Tern colony there. Even though we have top class habitats on the peninsula we are also guilty of turning a blind eye to their destruction.’
Ryan says the presence of ever-increasing numbers of camper vans and tents parked for long periods in the middle of the seapinks at Hook Head is something residents of the area have tolerated for far too long.
‘This activity eventually kills off the vegetation and the combination of camp-fires, rainfall and vehicular traffic ultimately causes soil erosion and the loss
of our wild flower habitat as a result. It is a situation which must be addressed by our local authority. I also grew up in an Ireland which was worlds apart from the John Hinde images created for the perfect postcard picture. Granted, we do get the golden beaches and the sunny blue skies but we also get all the other stuff too. After the rain, the Hook dazzles and the seas get rough and the sky turns grey. Southerly winds bring mega rare birds to our shores in spring and autumn. Manx Shearwaters feed by the thousand in the race off Hook Head. Gannets, guillemots, razorbills, puffins, storm petrels, kittiwakes, terns and fulmars all feed here too and the odd whale or dolphin will join them for the craic. Puffins that visit the Hook come for the fish so they never land or join their cousins, the Guillemots and Razorbills, on the cliffs at Carnivan. Therefore a trip to Great Saltee to meet the Puffins has to be undertaken.’
He writes of how the Hook peninsula peaks in stormy weather, when gale force winds drive sea foam across the land resembling heavy snowfalls in summer. ‘The boiling surf resembles a stout factory and if we could make stout from it we would. The rainfall fills the rock pools and affords our proud lighthouse the opportunity to gaze down and admire its own world famous reflection. Fethard Dock, dubbed the smallest dock in Ireland solidly stands up to the pounding sea brought on by hurricanes. One such stormy sea is immortalised in the Ros Tapestry. The panel, ‘William Marshal’s Stormy Crossing into Ireland’ was stitched by volunteers locally and I have included photos of them stitching this panel of the tapestry.
The Hook Peninsula is quiet at sunrise, spectacular at sunset, busy during the migration season. ‘It’s reflective at moonlight, wild in summer, fiercer in winter and a battery charger in hurricanes. It was all those things long before the Normans landed. It’s no wonder they never left.’
‘2020 Visions of the Hook’ is available to order by emailing Liam on liamryan416@gmail. com.
THE BOILING SURF RESEMBLES A STOUT FACTORY AND IF WE COULD MAKE STOUT FROM IT WE WOULD. THE RAINFALL FILLS THE ROCK POOLS AND AFFORDS OUR PROUD LIGHTHOUSE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GAZE DOWN AND ADMIRE ITS OWN WORLD FAMOUS REFLECTION.