Tall stones inspire short stories of life in West Kerry
PEOPLE from more than 20 nationalities gathered in Strand House on Saturday evening for the launch of the e-book Dingle’s Tall Stones and Short Stories. It was an unusual mix of people, but appropriate given that they had provided the stories to go with Cyril Harrington’s wonderful collection of photographs of the standing stones that dot the landscape of West Kerry.
Each of the people, in their stories which accompany the photogrpahs of the standing stones, brings a viewpoint rooted in their own culture. In some cases this is the very local culture of people who have been rooted in West Kerry for generations; other stories come from the more recently arrived. One of these is Jane Ejim from Western Nigeria who sees the standing stones of West Kerry as similar to the totems in her native village. One of these totems was an ancient tree that nobody was allowed to climb because it was so held in such high regard. Jane recalls another tree which attracted bees that were friendly to the local villagers but attacked unwelcome outsiders.
Micheál Ó Coileaín, who has written extensively about Loch a’ Dúin, is another contributor to the book and he describes how the people of ancient West Kerry gave a permanence to their ritual centres by erecting standing stones. Over the ages those stones came to be respected, and sometimes revered, which is evident in the way some of the families who have safeguarded them through the centuries talk about them in the book. Many believed that interfering with the stones would bring misfortune or, at the very least, the disapproval of the ancients.
Jim Scannell who owns the land on which the Com Dubh stone stands explains in the book that many years ago he stopped a relation from knocking it down. He he believes an important chieftain is buried underneath and is in no doubt that it must be preserved for future generations.
Another Jim , Séamus Ó Lúing from Ventry Post Office, says the Ceann Trá stone included in Cyril’s book that nobody would dare to knock it down for fear of reprisals from the ancients.
And in a story that draws back a little from the stones, Jurgita Spalvyte from Lithuania tells how she is proud that her daughter go first place in Irish in her class in school. Jurgita says she felt lost when she came to Dingle in 2007 but now is pleased to know so many people.
The stories from more than 20 nationalities are found in the digital book Dingle’s Tall Stones and Short Stories which is available from the Amazon Bookstore