Farmer with his Cows, Allihies, Co Cork, Ireland

Roads were few and far between all the way to the southwestern tip of Ireland.    On either side of the road there was farmland - more cows than sheep in this area.   We walked around Allihies, the home of my husband's ancestors.   The weather continued to be dry and sunny making the stunning mountains to the north, farmland all around and sweeping ocean views to the south even more spectacular.

Allihies Dairy Farmer

I was tempted to pick a photograph of that sweeping scene to paint and I still may - but it was the cows in the pastures that I wanted to paint first.  Some cows were curious, and some just ignored us as we passed.   I talked to all of them.     One person who got all their attention once he made his appearance was their farmer.   As he walked into the field to tend the feeding station, they gathered with interest.  The farmer wished us a good day as we passed.   I can't remember all of what he was telling us but I do remember him saying that this very field had been a football field "back in the day."      It was hard to imagine this pastoral spot as the scene of a fierce local rivalry with a large crowd in attendance.   I imagined all across the Irish countryside that what we were seeing looked the same as it was a hundred or even three hundred years earlier.    Who am I to doubt a local residence's account of local history?

Check out this short video of two cows talking back and maybe trying to get attention.