Priest’s Leap
Priest’s Leap is a stunning mountain road between Coomhola in West Cork and Bonane in Co.Kerry. I visited recently on a very sunny day for a walk down the valley and back up again.
According to Wikipedia the place is named so because “According to local tradition, the placename stems from an old legend, in which a priest pursued by soldiers escaped by a miraculous leap of his horse from a mountain cliff in the townland of Cummeenshrule into County Cork. The pursuit of the priest began in the townland of Killabunane where a rock, which allegedly melted under the pursuing hounds, can still be seen today. The rock, deeply pitted with what look like pawmarks, is situated near the main road to Kenmare. It is known locally as Carraig na Gadharaigh. Marks of the priest’s knees and hands and of the horse’s hooves appear on another rock a few miles from Bantry, where he is said to have landed after his miraculous leap.”
Not sure about how true that is, but it’s certainly a very beautiful part of the world and it’s a great story!
I’m working on a few pieces from the photographs I took that day - this is one of my works in progress - archival photographic print, encaustic wax, pigments and oil paints.
I work on these as small landscape pieces and try to keep them as affordable as possible as I think everyone should be able to own some art or to buy art as gifts - check out this and more Irish landscape pieces in my SHOP
Work in progress - Priest’s Leap, archival photographic print, encaustic wax, pigment and oils