Would you know where to find our rarest heather?

ANOTHER LIFE: ON THE OTHER side of Mweelrea, where the steep side of the mountain slopes into Killary Harbour, the remains of a pre-Famine clachan perch above the shore.

The clachan is called Derry, for the clump of gnarled sessile oaks that crouch among the rocks, but its real botanical distinction is the thicket of chest-high heather growing along the clachan’s old lazy beds. While the oak buds still clench on bare twigs, the pink flowers of Erica erigena, now called Irish heath, are crowding into early bloom.

I lift this picture from memory, as too many fences and too much rough terrain now stand in my way, but a new book from Charles Nelson, long an energetic student of Ireland’s flora, reminds me that the Killary thickets are “one of the most remarkable colonies” of this particular plant, unique among our heathers for blooming in late winter and spring.        Read More