Contemporary Ireland

Contemporary Ireland, originally uploaded by Stephen10031.

A charming little view for you: this is Castle Caulfield, a surprisingly intact ruin from about 1611, whose name is now shared by the tiny village in County Tyrone which has grown around it.

Though space is limited on a relatively small island like Ireland, I loath the juxtaposition of historic ruins or "heritage" as the government insists on calling it, with contemporary crappness. What is also disconcerting is the heritage juggernaut that thunders across the land, turning every heap of rocks or broken down old cottage into Mystic Pre-Christian Limavady or World Heritage Thatched Hovel May Once Have Housed Someone Whose Descendants Shared A State With Eisenhower's Granny. In the face of hundreds of years of outward migration -- that's 'leaving Ireland and hoping to never see it again,' -- someone in power over us sees fit to shower cash on trying to make every hole in the hedge into Stonehenge (and even Stonehenge isn't all that special...).