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Margaret Downey Harrington – Castletownbere, West Cork.

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People of the Wild Atlantic Way Photography Project – 

Margaret Downey Harrington – Castletownbere, West Cork.

‘I’ve been involved in the fishing industry all my life, my father was a fisherman and my grandfather and great grandfather were fishermen. I’ve always had a deep connection with the sea.

A cherished memory from childhood is a practice that fishermen call ‘shading’ and if I close my eyes now I can visualize it as if it were yesterday. A whole lot of things must come together at the right time for it to happen, like getting all the ingredients together to bake a Christmas cake. Firstly, on a low tide, you need a lovely quite, still, peaceful morning, usually in May, with no wind, not even a puff of a baby’s breath,  just stillness. With the particular crystal clear light the water is very clear and you can see right through it, and see the scallops on the sea bed. Fishermen used a tool not unlike a shrimp net to catch them.

I can remember times being out in a boat with my father, the stillness and peacefulness was like time standing still, I couldn’t even talk, I had to be perfectly still and not make a sound. The ‘shading’ could last only half an hour, a slight gentle breeze could come up and the moment would be gone. Its so fickle, so delicate, a moment in time when everything aligns. you would only get a handful of those days in a year, it either happens or it doesn’t, that’s it. Once the breeze comes up the moment is gone.

Coming home with a bag of scallops and cooking them in their shell with a knob of butter on an open fire was the perfect way to end the perfect day.’

 

beara peninsula castletownbere margaret downey harrington shay hunston shay hunston photography west cork
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3 replies added

  1. Alan Carter November 5, 2017 Reply

    Wonderful story.

  2. Kathleen Fitzgerald November 6, 2017 Reply

    Great memories from childhood.

  3. Jennifer O'Brien November 8, 2017 Reply

    Lovely description Margaret of times past.

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