You cannot beat the Mayo coast
For loveliness or grandeur
From the salmon estuary of Moy
To Leenane’s fiord danger
Deep waters there divide the land
From Galway’s rugged shore
There, Churchill sought a hideaway
For ships in time of war
Kilcummin strand saw ships arrive
When Humbert landed lately
To rouse poor peasant lads to fight
And lose their lives so cruelly
Downpatrick Head abuts the sea
Broken in two by weather
And frightening cliffs plunge to the depths
At a place we know as Ceide
Belderg Harbour then appears
A rocky ragged cove
Blue waters crashing on the shore
The open sky above
And then Porturlin and Portacloy
Sheltering in the lea
Mighty cliffs their sentinel
Mighty waves at sea
Then we come to Benwee Head
And sit upon the grass
And stare out yonder in the blue
Broadhaven’s Stacks like glass
Broadhaven Bay invites us in
Sweeping wide and tame
Shruwaddacon Bay runs deep within
A dog leg shape its name
And out again to Erris Head
Where wild Atlantic waves
Are pounding Eagle Island now
A lighthouse there that saves
And down along the Mullet strand
A golf course there by Cross
And Inishglora peeping up
Bright Island in the mist
Then Inishgea so all alone
Since fishermen were drowned
The year was 1927
They are buried across the sound
By Dervla’s holy well they lie
The storms of life now stilled
A peaceful resting place they find
Away from this world’s ills
At Blacksod Point you find yourself
At world’s end of the road
With views to south and east and west
To lighten any load
Yet even here a peaceful spot
A tragedy occurred
When helicopter pilots brave
Mistook as rotors whirred
Out on Black Rock they came to grief
Out in the black of night
Risking their lives to help another
In a night of wind and fright
Blacksod Bay has seen it all
Armada ships sailed here
Fleeing the English navies then
They met with rocks and fear
Now comes the mighty Achill Head
Sheer plunging to the sea
And round into Clew Bay we go
Keeping to the lee
Clare Island waves us gently in
And we calm waters find
Newport and Westport all before
Mulranny now behind
These gentle waters of Clew Bay
With mountains all around
Bring us gently to Murrisk side
And to that holy ground
Croagh Patrick stands serenely there
And another holy place
Aughval the cemetery I mean
My mother’s resting place
Out again beyond Louisburg
And on to Roonah Quay
Where little boats now ply their trade
To Inishturk and Clare
The shoreline now runs clean and free
Along a Silver Stand
By Killadoon and Mweelrea mount
Till it leaves our Mayo land
This is the coast that fills my dreams
I’ve travelled every mile
And now I go in dreams alone
And still it makes me smile
The Mayo shore is home to me
Inspiring all my days
Go there your self you know you will
God bless you in your ways
Brian Fahy
13 July 2017
Erris Poetry 