The Mealagh Valley is conventionally considered to be amongst the most beautiful valleys in West Cork. And although a couple of small curly bumpy roads with loads of potholes do show that there were never any serious attempts made to penetrate the valley, it also means that rural simplicity and miles of unspoilt scenery are still in existence.

Having travelled all of Europe, having tasted life in America and Canada, having lived in big cities, in finding the Mealagh Valley I was renewing a pact with my boyhood and it quite lived up to my young dreams. Around here I found the most civilised way of life.

I remember Paddy Mike Owen, very convincingly as storyteller and actor, 'showing me around' in those first days. Gone is the time that mighty Big William would show up with his willow stick looking for water, or - after a drop of the 'Holy Water' - would put up a stone-built wall, leaning against the wind....

The waterfall of endless stories Jer Connie Pad (or Jerry Moonshine) used to tell on wet winter evenings has dried up as well. He taught us how to play 35. At midnight he would double the stakes and put the kettle on for the grand finale.... twice a week, all winter long. To me he was a classical example of an unpolluted Irish countryman with an in-built bullshit detector.

A silky mist can roll inland from the sea and up the colourful hills, the tops of many of which are sliced off like you would an egg. Bright stars can spatter from mighty night skies. In the meantime Pat Connie Pad or Jerry O'Shea East might have built another dry-stone wall.

The country is experiencing rapid and profound change. Rural Ireland hasn't escaped the attention of hungry and often greedy developers who look at valleys as commodities. The Mealagh Valley is coming under intense pressure and it will get increasingly difficult to maintain its character. In this sudden oasis of calm, with pure crystal silence, sightings of leprechauns have been rare lately. A soft green carpet of new grass is no guarantee any more for the presence of the little fellas. Where have they gone? The valley has been badly beaten by thunderstorms lately. Who will now pull the lightning down to hide it in the bog? Have they left the valley out of fear of change? Can't they cope with the threat of high-voltage powerlines? Or have they just found refuge in a cabinet, amidst the shirts of the Bantry Blues, in a well known surgery in Newtown? Hard to know. Yerra, maybe Doctor Denis has the answer.....

From the book: "It Might Have Been But Yesterday"
compiled by Denis Cotter in 2000