Friday, August 7, 2009

Back Roads Of North Mayo: Demesne


We know nothing about this place, despite scouring the internet for information. We came across this abandoned demesne after taking a number of random turns. It's vast (larger than most of the abbeys and castles I've seen here), appears to be Georgian, and parts of it remain in use as a horse corral. After the Irish Land Reform of the 1880's, Protestant landlords slowly but surely abandoned their Irish holdings over the course of about fifty years. It's likely that this is one of them, an estate gradually surrendered to its rightful owners until nothing remained of the original grant but the building and the land around it. The orignal grant may well have gone back to the days of Elizabeth I or Oliver Cromwell.






"...a paint stroke that describes a form also describes a gesture. That means it stands outside technological development and can never be subjected to mechanization or technology. It is always about renewing the primitive impulse to make the gesture. "

Sean Scully, "High and Low or the Sublime and the Ordinary"


Hooray for the nine Republicans who voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. I wonder what the average age of the thirty white men who voted against her is. I also wonder how Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) -- the sole woman to oppose the nomination -- can look at herself in the mirror. Her vote was a slap in the face to her gender and to her Hispanic constituents...

2 comments:

Roy said...

Again, great shots of gorgeous scenery. I wish our abandoned buildings were so picturesque!

Annette said...

Our buildings will look like that when we build like that and when our history is as old as theirs...lol

Yes the Sotomayor vote was great, it was a great victory for all and a defeat for the GOP in the next elections. This will not be forgotten.