healingwords: poetry for the soul

It is indeed a strange time when bars in Spain and pubs in Ireland are closed. They are the hub of the community, popular with locals and visitors. I miss my evening drink with friends in our local Cooperativa bar, or morning coffee in Siremar. This photograph is from a pub in Galway where we stopped for a Guinness and a rest from a morning's wandering the town. It was welcoming to us as strangers but also had a familiar, local atmosphere with people in for lunch and a lively chat. The food looked as good as the Guinness.  It is a popular venue for arts and music and I hope to go back one day, when Ireland and Spain's bars and pubs are buzzing with life, noise and chatter again.  Here is a link to Tigh Neachtain for if you ever find yourself in Galway.  https://www.tighneachtain.com/ © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

I am still stuck indoors and today was thinking of Galway and looking at my photographs from my visit in September.  This is a photograph of the Spanish Arch, built in 1584 as an extension to the 12th century Norman city walls to protect the quays and merchant ships from looting. It was once known as Ceann an bhalla (the head of the wall) and was extended by the Eyre family in the 17th century with the addition of the Long Walk, following the left bank of the River Corrib to the sea. It became known as the Spanish Arch in the 19th century, thought to be a reference to the Spanish merchant trade.  My mother told me of the Spanish Arch and her walks along the Corrib. When I walked around Galway I felt her presence in the stories we had shared. From my home in Spain I am fascinated in the historical links of the west coast of Ireland with Spain, of seafarers from the Spanish coasts and their trade across the Bay of Biscay and the Celtic sea to Ireland.

Seeing a lost photograph of my mother's parents the other day has my mind wandering back to Galway and my mother's stories of her life there during the war. I knew the Long Walk before I walked it for the first time this September, I recognised the fiery swell of the river Corrib dashing into the Atlantic, had seen in my mind the mist over Galway Bay, the view over to The Claddagh. My regret now is I didn't question her stories, I listened and took them into my heart without asking more about the family, their histories, the details of her young life. It is only when we can no longer ask those questions that we realise their importance.  © 2019 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

This magnificent sculpture by John Behan stands overlooking Galway Cathedral, in sight of thousands of visiting tourists and students from the nearby Galway University buildings. The vision of ‘Equality Emerging’ with strength and determination reminds me of the admirable strong women who are making a difference in our world today. From the young Greta Thunberg showing the way on the environment and the inspiring young women fighting gun violence in USA, to the women standing up for our democratic rights and the rule of law. Gina Millar and Joanna Cherry have faced an onslaught of abuse in person and on social media and have continued to take their case to the highest courts where yesterday Lady Hale gave her eloquent and clear address on behalf of the unanimous judgement of the Supreme Court. I am thankful we live in a world where equality is recognised as not just a needed in terms of justice but an opportunity and necessity for the courage, intelligence, determination and spi...