Spring Inishowen, Co. Donegal, Ireland

Welcome to spring in Inishowen, a wonderful time when we all begin to come out of hibernation and new life begins to emerge. This year Spring has only half-sprung with March bringing icy winds and snow to many parts of Ireland. With the coldest March on record since 1969, the old nursery rhyme comes to mind:

“The March winds do blow and we shall have snow
and what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He’ll hide in the barn to keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.”

Luckily Inishowen has escaped the worst of the weather but we have been doing our best to leave out plenty of food for the birds. Lambing season is also in full swing. The bad weather has meant a very cold start for some new arrivals…. these wee lambs are staying close to Mum for extra warmth!


With the snowdrops and crocuses now over the daffodils tentatively are beginning to flower. The ancient Greeks believed these golden blooms originated from Narcissus who was famed for his vanity. Legend has it that he became so obsessed with his reflection in a pool he could not bear to leave and eventually died there. It is said that the Greek gods turned his remains into the narcissus flower, or daffodil, as it is commonly known. As a result the daffodil is also considered a symbol of unrequited love. For more on this topic see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(plant)

A daffodil from my garden…a golden delight!

The clocks also went forward this weekend commencing the beginning of Summer Time (or Daylight Saving Time). The evenings are now bright until after 8pm and it will continue to get brighter by a few minutes each day until Midsummer when it starts going backwards again. This is an event that must make just about everyone happy…the long dark evenings are now over!

This weekend was also Easter, one of our main religious holidays and also a great time for eating lots of…chocolate! Good Friday is a public holiday and one of only two days in the Republic of Ireland when the pubs are prohibited from opening. Easter Sunday is the high point of this religious festival and on this day we have the custom of giving Easter Eggs. The next day, Easter Monday, is also a public holiday and a good day to recover from the excesses of eating too much chocolate! You can read more about Easter here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter
Yum, yum….Easter Eggs!

"A very Happy Easter from Solas Ireland!"