Memorials

I have mixed opinions regarding personal memorials on the Irish uplands. After all many of our heights are crowned with great cairns laboriously built to commemorate some ancient king or queen. We have memorials to events like tragic plane crashes and drownings. We also have memorials/ markers to various individuals who have enjoyed the hills over the decades. We may think of the HC Hart stone at Cruagh and several others from the mid decades of the last century. And we also have a number of more modern memorials of recent years.

As regards the latter, if they are discrete, small and made of natural material like stone or metal then personally I’ve no great issue with them, who are we to judge etc. More suited to out of the way spots, paths or places lower down. And I’d mark them on our maps with a wee cross symbol where known.

However a line can be crossed imho. I was out for several hours in a relatively trackless part of Connemara not long ago. A wonderful wild walk and met not a single other sinner on the heights. Imagine my surprise then on the final summit of the day, looking over the Atlantic towards Inishturk with Mweelrea to the right, to find a skateboard memorial of all things cemented into the ground. It was just utterly incongruous with the surroundings. I’m sure the chap commemorated on the plaque was a fine person. I’ve blurred out the name but if anyone recognises this and knows who put this skateboard memorial there, please ask them to remove it. There must be a better place to mount it. I stress that it’s a fine memorial in itself but it’s in completely the wrong place.

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