Wild About Wildlife: Exploring an exciting townland

THE MID-West is full of interesting villages and when the opportunity myself and Harry like to take the opportunity to explore. Thankfully we recently got the opportunity to explore Toem, just across the Tipperary border near Cappawhite and we discovered a hidden and peaceful community full of history and wildlife.

We parked in front of the impressive remains of the old church. This Church of Ireland building dominates the skyline of Toem and was built in 1838. There is easy access to the graveyard by a style in the wall. Google was very handy and we found out the church is called St Anne’s. All that remains now is the tower with the rest have been demolished.

We walked around the graveyard taking in some of the local names and the dates of their passing. The graveyard is not level like modern ones but has several natural levels. The surrounding fields have fine hedgerows for birds and animals. The village beckoned next and we headed towards O'Neills bar. A high stone wall borders the church and the grounds are a few meters higher than the surrounding land.

I love old farm machinery and trying to figure out what it was used for. There is a fine display by the pub of old farm machinery. The plough was easy to identify but the other we are still uncertain about. It had a big wheel and was probably used to mangle beet or turnips.

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In the little bed there was a flowering currant with fresh leaves coming out. The flowers smell like the currant drink and are also visited by bees in the summer.

We followed the new path by the community green area. There were several birch trees here and we also found a member of the cabbage family in flower. A small stream flows alongside the park. The shaded and damp bank of the river was full of ferns. On the bridge wall there was lots of rusty back fern growing and also maidenshair spleenwort.

There were a good few plants of giant hogweed and the leaves were just emerging. This is a nasty invasive and if you get the sap on your skin and this comes in contact with sunlight it causes severe blisters. This is a plant the needs to be controlled and it can be registered with the council for a proper management plan.

The next part of the path was edged was a south facing sunny grassy bank. The pink flowers of red dead nettle were out and these are a good source of pollen and nectar for early bumblebees. They have long tongues that can reach the sweet nectar at the bottom of the flower.

The sun was out and we decided to explore more of the twisty country road. Swarms of flies were dancing in the early afternoon sun and if the weather remains warm they might entice out a hungry bat.

We found the location of the village pump but the pump itself was gone. These are very popular with gardeners and tidy towns groups. These pumps were once great meeting places and many a romance took hold at the handle of the pump on the pretext of going to fetch water.

There was lots of bird activity and we heard the warning calls of a blackbird, hooded crow and wren. It is brilliant to see life returning to the countryside and there were several new houses at various stages of construction.

A robin was singing from a tall ash tree growing in the roadside hedgerow. Over the hedge we could make out the distinctive outline of a Rath. These ancient dwellings were considered to be the home of the fairies and if you damaged any part it would bring bad luck. This superstition helped preserve many of these sites till modern times.

We could have kept going for ages but after a peek around one last turn it was time to head back.

As we reached the car we saw a woodpigeon flying and the squeaky calls of the dunnock from deep within the hedgerow.

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albert.nolan@rocketmail.com or 089 4230502.