Birds of a feather stay on in Cork until breeding season

THE soldier stones that top the seashore wall for a kilometre or more from the east to the west end of this village are draped with the red stems and tiny purple flowers of ivy-leaved toadflax. If a lady could lift off this lacery of plant life and drape it on her shoulders, she would, it is sure, be wearing a shawl better than any designed by the top couturiers.

It wouldn’t last long in its shining freshness.When it dried out, although the faded colours would still be beautiful, the network of stems would shrivel and crumble. But now, in this rainy-sunny May, it drapes the old walls, to be gazed at and enjoyed.