Hello everybody! After a couple of weeks away (which seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye, by the way), we’re back in Beastie Towers and ready for more woolly monster fun! Our “holidays” actually ended up being pretty action-packed, so I’ll have lots to share with you over the next few posts.
First of all, let’s do the shameless plug… My first craft fair of the Christmas season is coming up this weekend! I’ve been busy assembling an elite squad of Beasties to bring along, and there will be some other new characters joining them at my stall as well. So if you should happen to be in Dublin, we’d love to see you… be sure to drop in and say hi!
And of course, the Beasties and I couldn’t let Hallowe’en pass without celebrating a little…
And with spookily apt timing, look who came to join the party…
Hey there, Gizmo! He was happy to strike a pose for the camera, as long as I made him an honorary Beastie for the day.
Later on, Explorer Beastie and I were looking for somewhere interesting to take a few seasonal photos. So Boyfriend suggested we take a trip to Lissonuffy Cemetery – perfect!
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Beasties and I spend all our time hanging out in graveyards, but Lissonuffy is really worth a look.
It’s small, and you could almost say it’s a close-knit community in its own right. You’ll see the same family names cropping up time and again on the headstones, and some of the grave markers are really, really old. I wonder what this one used to say?
It’s also incredibly peaceful out here, since the graveyard is surrounded on all sides by farmland.
There’s also a ruined church in the centre of Lissonuffy, which has some interesting tombs in its walls…
…Some of them perfectly suited to this time of year!
Then there was time for a quick break under the yew tree before we headed home to carve the pumpkin!
Hope you all had a super Hallowe’en! We’ll be back on Friday with news from Pirate Beastie, who set sail from Beastie Towers a couple of weeks ago in search of adventure. See you then!
I wish I could attend the craft fair!!! Make sure to post a lot of photos of your stall!!!
Will do! I’ll make sure you feel like you’re there in person đŸ˜€
Thanks,Helen <3 <3 <3
I used to live next door to a cemetery – quietest neighbours ever!!
I wish I could come and see your stall at the craft fair – Dublin and west Wales are so close, but so far way!
Ha! Yes, there is that pesky stretch of water in the way. I’d love to live next to a cemetery too… It’s a shame you had to move!
It was a little rented house… I tried to persuade the landlord to sell it to me, but he said no… and then sold it to someone else a couple of years later… grumble.
Boooo! Then again, if you’d stayed you might never have got around to building your lovely Limery! I’m sure it’s been great to sit in over the last couple of weeks, with the weather being so mild đŸ˜€
It’s been great – I picked ripe tomatoes this morning and there are still peppers and courgettes growing slowly in there too!
Nice! That’s pretty much a ratatouille already! It’s amazing that you’re still getting home-grown summer veg in November, enjoy!
It looks beautiful, how far is it from Dublin????
It takes about 2 1/2 hours on the bus… Although people with cars might be able to manage it in a little less! Co. Roscommon is one of the “forgotten” counties in the middle of Ireland – most visitors do the circuit around the coast, and never see the interior. This makes it beautifully unspoilt, and I count myself lucky that Boyfriend is from here and I have an excuse to visit regularly!
I live next to an old graveyard, which has been abandoned since 1918. There is an old church there too… None of it is used, there isn’t even a gate to get in. You have to climb over old walls. A family of foxes live in there, they are fairly noisy though đŸ™‚ the beasties would love it there!
I’m sure they would, they really love their graveyards! They probably get that from me, I’ve always been fascinated by them… And the abandoned ones are the best! You’re lucky to have one so close by, that must have made for some Hallowe’en fun!
Yikes, were there any word to accompany the scull and cross bone tomb ?
Nothing to explain why there was a skull and crossbones, anyway! We were intrigued by it too. There were others with a similar motif, but this was definitely the spookiest… Most of these tombs were inside the old church though, so we speculated that it might have been a status symbol. Can anyone else shed any light on this mystery for us?
I did a little research into scull and cross bones on grave stones which are quite rare by the way !!
It could possibly be one of two things – as a Momento Mori of our own mortality but as no words are on your particular grave marker it is quite possibly a burial marker for a Templar Knight, I’m going with the second explanation as it seems quite feasible due to the lack of text …Way cool don’t you think ??
Knights Templar in Roscommon? I wasn’t expecting that! There was some text further up on the headstone though – family name, date of death etc… Does that make it more likely that it’s a Memento Mori? It’s interesting that this motif is rare though, what a find! And thanks for sharing your graveyard knowledge… I remember that you’re a fellow enthusiast đŸ˜€
If there is other writing on the grave marker it will be probably be a Memento Mori then, BUT there is a rumour that sometimes members of the Freemasons put scull and crossbones on their headstones, and I do know there was a strong Freemason movement in Roscommon and it is documented that ‘The Early Grand Encampment of the High Knights Templer’ was situated in your part of the world so who knows, either way it’s a special find.
See I knew being a graveyard enthusiast and the little titbits of information would pay off sooner or later …although I expected it to be in a pub quiz not on a blog LOL
Fascinating! I had no idea that the knights Templar had any kind of presence in Ireland. I’ll have to tell Boyfriend’s mum, I’m sure she’ll be super-interested too. I only wish I’d taken a photo of the end with the inscription, it would probably help our investigation! I suppose I’ll just have to go back… đŸ˜‰
You will seriously need to go back, purely for investigation LOL
Oh no! That would be AWFUL! I was telling Boyfriend’s mum about this, and apparently there are lots more graveyards for me to look around in the area too. I’ll keep you posted about what I find! đŸ˜€
Please do, apparently there is a graveyard trail around the villages near me, I must get in touch with the local historian to get more details
Super! We might be seeing more graveyard posts from you in the not-too-distant future too, then! đŸ˜€ It would definitely be interesting to compare your findings to Explorer Beastie’s…
I’ll have to get organised then LOL
Yes indeed! I can’t wait to see what you turn up!
Good luck at the craft fair! Hope you sell lots!
Thank you! I’m looking forward to it, I always love the atmosphere at markets!