Patrick Comerford
I spent most of the afternoon in the heat of the big red-and-white marquee in Mary Lynders’ yard at the Quay in Portrane, working on the bookstall at the great bank holiday sale in aid of Heart-to-Hand and its projects in Romania and Albania.
It was raining when we arrived at mid-day, the ground was still wet from the heavy rains of recent weeks, and all the forecasts were predicting rain throughout the afternoon throughout Leinster. But the rain had eased off, even before the gates to the sale opened, and the sun was shining.
The big marquee is against a wall looking down on the surviving remains of the old quay for Lambay Island that gives the house its name. To the left (west) the shoreline eventually opens out in the Burrow Strand, with views across to Rush.
By mid-afternoon, the sunshine was beautiful, and the sky was a clear blue. I took a break and made my way east behind the yard, and down onto a smaller beach, with grey sand and black rocks. The sand was warm and inviting, the rocks were basking in the sunshine, and as I looked south towards Tower Bay I thought if I squinted my eyes I could imagine I was on a hidden beach in Santorini.
I walked back around the crumbling quay wall, and took a few more minutes on the rocks and in the sunshine, before returning to the marquee and the day’s task.
We made almost €300 on the bookstall this afternoon, and a great team effort took in over €8,000 in all this afternoon.
By the time we were leaving Portrane this evening, the tide was out on the Burrow Beach, a few sandbanks had appeared in the water and one heron was busy on the edge of the shoreline.
But the sale continues tomorrow [Sunday, 5 August 2012] and on Monday [6, August 2012].
If you join me either afternoon, we can have another walk along the beaches of Portrane, even if the weather lets us down.
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