Monk's Fishing House, Cong, Ireland

Monk's Fishing House - Cong, Ireland

Today has been a blessed "stay-at-home" day, doing only what "I want to do" stuff...(I love those days!) I went for a nice long walk with Captain Jack and D.O.G., and once again marvelled at how beautiful it is here, and how lucky I am to live in a place where I can walk for forty five minutes and hardly pass another house. The mists were hanging low today, but it made everything a little more magical, with the orange of the autumn leaves contrasting with the greyness everywhere else. 

I'd meant to use this as a thumbnail (only slightly larger) to plan a painting that I have envisioned, but it ended up being more of a fully realized sketch, and a pretty good value study, as well. It seems I get a bit fascinated with detail, and can't just stop at a study.

Anyways, this is from a shot I took while in Ireland in 2009. It is near Cong Abbey, and it is the Monk's Fishing House.  It is equipped with a hole in the floor, so that the monks could drop their nets and fish in the warmth and comfort of their little cottage with the fire blazing in the hearth.  It is thought that a line was connected from the fishing house to the monastery kitchen to alert the cook to fresh fish. is very, very old, assumed to be 15th century. There is more info here if you're interested.