The long walk back to the ferry at
Kilronan was fortunately broken when I came across the farm which had produced
the fresh goat’s cheese I’d enjoyed at breakfast, and I was delighted to find
they had a beautifully set up visitor’s centre – complete with educational
displays and large windows through which you could watch the cheese being made.
It was fascinating to learn that the young family which started the farm came
up with the idea when the husband got tired of spending 10 months of each year
away from his wife and small children on fishing trawlers. After some research,
they decided to build their goat farm, and from all accounts it’s a great
success, with the goats thriving on the wonderful mix of herbs, grasses and
other plants which grow naturally on the island. Keen to buy some cheese for my
supper, I particularly wanted to try one they made with dillisk, a seaweed
grown and collected on the island. They didn’t have any in stock, so the farmer
whipped round the back and made some for me – can’t get fresher than that!
A couple of hours later, back on the mainland and heading for Donegal, I
stopped in the midst of the breathtaking Connemarra mountains and ate my
dillisk goats cheese on fresh, crispy bread. Sitting there, in the clear wild
air, I felt a wordless grace forming – images of thanksgiving for the land, and
the goats, the grain, the sea, the dillisk, and the hands which together
brought these things together to nourish me on my journey.
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| Fresh dillisk goats' cheese. |