“Turlough” is gaelic for “vanishing lake,” a distinctively ephemeral feature of The Burren’s limestone landscape. Sitting proudly atop Turlough Hill lies this ancient cairn, retaining the marks of untold numbers who lay their loved ones to rest beneath the stones.
The pejorative name “souper” was applied to former Catholics who converted to Protestantism during the Irish Potato Famine. Conversion carried the promise of soup rations, hence the name, though additional labors were often required. Such labors often consisted of building walls for no other utilitarian purpose. Many such walls can be found wrapping around Turlough Hill.
A medieval church entrance that makes interior/ exterior seem an arbitrary distinction.
“Oscail” means open in Gaelic. The Burren Landscape is a geological palimpsest wherein man-made structures coalesce with rugged and ancient time signatures.
Part of an ongoing project dealing with the ephemerality of fleshly existence and the relative permanence of ancient burial structures.