This photo was taken in the mighty summer of 2018: a pair of standing stones set in a rich summer meadow. I like it firstly because it’s the small details that you come across in your travels and fieldwork that add interest to a map. Secondly for the abundance of this meadow bursting with a variety of plants. And not least the arrangement of these stones reminding us that others too have paused here over the centuries gone.

Meadows vary widely across the country, this is an old upland meadow in Limerick. Round where we live on the Carlow/ Wexford border, meadows tend more towards expanses of ryegrass. Coming from this and visiting Clare a while back, I was amazed at the colourful richness of the meadows there in the stony walled fields.

Nature has a way of putting us in our place and it won’t be too long now till the fields and forests will be bursting with life again.