Wednesday, May 6, 2009

A Bleak House

Panasonic LX1, 1/200 sec, f4.9, ISO 80, 112mm equivalent

Panasonic LX1, 1/500 sec, f4.0, ISO 80, 45mm equivalent

To get to this bleak looking place on “Coney Island” in Sligo bay we had to wait until low tide and then drive across what was optimistically called a “Causeway”, but really it was nothing more than driving along the sea bed for a mile or so following the ancient stone cairns marking the route and hoping that you were not going to get stuck in some quick sand!

This house fascinated me. You can see how it was once a very fine place, with a grand entrance stairway and unsurpassed views of the mountains and seascape that form an audience around it. I wonder who lived here and what happened to them? Did they emigrate? Were they forcibly evicted? Was it just too hard making a living on this land? Did they get irreversibly stuck making their way across on the causeway!?

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.
(Proverbs 19:21)

6 comments:

Susan said...

Places like this intrigue me too. I love the photos!!!

Ian Poulton said...

I always imagined that place just to have been abandoned - it looks much more like a 'gentleman's residence' than the dwelling house for a farm. Maybe the family died out; maybe they left during the first Troubles.

Someone would know!

Joc Sanders said...

Surely it's the Parochial House on Craggy Island :)
I think I can see the ghost of Mrs Doyle standing on the steps offering tea & sambos!

Daniel & Sonja said...

Nice one Joc - that would of course be "an ecumenical matter"!

Jack said...

Hey
I believe the house in your picture is 'The Floods House' on Coney Island. The house has a tragic history, a wealthy family of Oyster farmers lived there. The family were victims of a series of tragic events. The husband was drowned on the causeway when he sufford a stroke as the tide came in. Two of the three children in the household died of fever and on the night of the third and final childs death the mother lost her mind she fled from the house and was never seen again. The house was left and its said that when it was abandoned the table was still laid for tea on the night the woman ran away. I myself was camping on the Island this summer and me and a friend were down at the house at about 1 in the morning. We could have swore we saw a woman in a black cloak fleeing from the blocked up doorway down the steps and into the night. Those horrific memories live on in the never ending corridors of that house and they can be sensed my all visiters.

Daniel & Sonja said...

Jack, that is very sad to hear. It does explain though why nobody has bought the place and renovated it - hope you weren't too spooked during your holiday!?