Carraig an tSaighdiúra

A rock marks a signifigant place

on the shore of the long penninsula

Dooras – facing Gleann – on the Corrib.

My father pointed it out to me on a Saturday

in May, drifting a southerly over Cassidy’s Point.

West of the old two-storey house

in the rushy fields near Cloonbroone.

Years later, I could not locate it positively,

though I’m sure he did so, between two casts.

It was in a meadow down from Liam John Joe’s.

A Spanish soldier is buried there,

an escapee inland from the Armada,

hidden among the dark natives of Dooras,

left sallow skin and hazel-brown eyes there,

buried secretly in Joyces, Coynes or Sullivans.

His death may have been natural

or roused by resentful young lovers,

who envied the charms of the stranger.  

He is buried near a shore where few recall

his demise, in drifts off Carraig an tSaighdiúra.

Carraig an tSaighdiúra - The Soldier’s Rock

Pronounced (karr-ig-un-thigh-jura)