Cape Clear Island – Walking Talking Festival – May Weekend 2010

To paraphrase our chief walk leader, Damien Enright, "The thrill of a trip to Cape Clear begins at the ferry. As the mainland recedes, there emerges a sense that the everyday world is another country we have left behind. The island ahead moves in another time. For those not old enough to remember, this is what Ireland was like before the traffic and the hurry, a less busy and more gracious place."

Cape Clear provides superb walking. The stunning scenery is complemented by a marine environment frequented by whales, dolphins and basking sharks. Beside the paths and boreens, wild flowers bloom in a untainted profusion. The only sounds come from the ever present sea and the cries of the different birds in season. The Bird Observatory records large migrations of sea birds and the autumn brings exotic vagrants from the Americas, Asia and Africa.

The Islanders enjoy a rich and seasonal quality of life supported by farming, fishing and tourism. The Walking-Talking Weekend will explore the hidden places of the island with local guides and talkers and will mingle good conversation with poetry, stories and music in intimate surroundings. This is a weekend to slow down and enjoy nature's bounty and the joy of good company. Nature, history and folklore combined in a series of small human adventures.

Damien Enright is the author of the critically acclaimed A Place Near Heaven – A Year in West Cork and of an immensely popular series of walk guides to west Cork and Kerry including Walks of Seven West Cork Islands. His weekly column in the Irish Examiner has been running for almost twenty years.

Resident walkers and talkers include Chuck Kruger, author, poet and broadcaster and founder of the Cape Clear International Storytelling Festival; Steve Wing, Warden of Cape Clear Bird Observatory; Ed Harper, local goat farmer and singer: Mairtín Ó Mealóid, Sean Nós Singer and Seamus Ó Drisceoil weekend organiser and occasional guide. Music will be provided over the weekend by local musicians.

Full details including the weekend program are available on the website at http://www.walkingtalking.info/

ENDS