I took this picture at the Cliffs of Moher when I went to Ireland. The Cliffs are located in and area of County Claire known as The Burren. The Burren is an area that has limestone embedded in the ground making for a bare and vast, yet immensely beautiful landscape. There are several castles throughout the surrounding area but the story of one in particular was told to me several times by the locals.

Leamaneh (Lemeneagh) Castle is located between Corofin and Kilfenora. In 1639, Conor O’Brien, the man who owned the castle at the time, married a woman by the name of Máire ní Mahon. Máire had bright red hair and was commonly known as Máire Rúa (translates to ‘red Mary’). Máire Rúa had already been married once before but her husband had died while they were still young, leaving her with a substantial estate and fortune, which allowed her and her next husband, Conor to build a mansion on to the tower house of Leamaneh Castle. During this time, Máire came into a beautiful white horse and famously wouldn’t allow anyone else to ride it. (I promise this will come into play later, so remember it). When Cromwell’s armies came from England during the Cromwellian War of Ireland, Conor fought on the side of the Royalists and was mortally wounded. His comrades carried him as he was dying back to Leamaneh castle and called for Máire to let them in. Believing Conor to be dead already, she is alleged to have told them ‘dead men have no place here’. When they finally convinced her that Conor was still alive, she let them in and tended to her husband, but he still succumbed to his wounds and died that night. Realizing that the Leamaneh would be taken away because Conor had fought against Cromwall, she got dressed in her finest gown (and according to the locals, put her best Wonderbra on) and rode to Cromwall’s men. She then entered and announced that she would marry any Cromwallian officer who would have her hand. She then married Cornet John Cooper and was then able to keep Leamaneh Castle and its estate. Apparently, Máire wasn’t exactly fond of Cooper and had only wanted to keep the estate. One day she called Cooper to meet her at the stables and offered him a ride on her horse, a ride that Cooper gladly accepted. Once Cooper and the horse had ridden a ways off, Máire whistled a fierce whistle and suddenly the horse took off galloping. Legend then has it that the horse ran off the edge of The Cliffs of Moher, with Cooper still on it. With Cooper out of the way, Máire and her children then lived at Leamaneh and the estate was passed down through generations until the house fell into ruin in the 18^th century.

– Hazel

Photo © 2015 Hazel Arroyo