Lathar Na

Lathar Na means the lands of Lathar - Lathar being the son of an Irish High King. It is anglicised as Larne, on the North East Coast of (Northern) Ireland. It is the oldest inhabited spot in Ireland, and has been visited by Romans and Vikings. The Vikings liked it more than the Romans and stayed for a bit.




It is my home town, where I still live. We fight dragons in the winter.....



I was walking the dog along our old Victorian promenade the other night. The promenade runs along Waterloo Bay, an area of eroded limestone cliffs, atop a basalt shelf, with granite shot through by tectonic uplift. It was a clear starry night after another wet day. The waterfall beside the promenade was in full flow, where sometimes it is a tiny trickle. There wasn't a sinner about so I had the dog off the lead, charging about. Suddenly he stopped to stare into the darkness below the promenade. There on the rocks was a large heron. It looked at us and flew off. I chuckled to myself and thought, "Sure where would ye get it?".
As we walked on, I stopped to look at some fossil information boards on the crustaceans and small dinosaurs that have been found along that coastline. On turning to return to the car, I could see lights floating past Chaine Memorial (our backlit replica Irish Round Tower) near the harbour. It took a few seconds to realise that these UFOs were simply Chinese lanterns.


So the point in this short ramble is this - herons, Victorian promenades, waterfalls, Irish Round Towers, Chinese lanterns, charging dogs, prehistoric fossils, all in a short walk - Sure where would ye get it?



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