President Michael D Higgins paid tribute at the ceremony in Connemara
President Michael D Higgins and Martin O’Malley, right, with John Drever and Rosie McGurran. Picture by Andrew Downes
The late writer, cartographer and artist Tim Robinson once described the Aran islands, the Burren and Connemara as “the ABC of earth’s wonders”.
So it was only fitting his and his wife Mairéad’s ashes should be scattered in Connemara waters off Roundstone harbour, Co Galway, yesterday.
Turf burned from braziers. Musicians Don Stiffe and Marcus, Brendan and Proinsias Hernon performed The Traonach, and President Michael D Higgins joined a gathering on the pier close to the Robinsons’ former waterfront home.
The couple’s ashes, bound in cloth and each tied with an Aran “crios” or woven belt, were handed to mariner Martin O’Malley by the couple’s nephew, Professor John Drever.
“It had always been their wish to come back,” Mr Drever said earlier, recalling how his uncle had wanted to make one last visit to Roundstone bog.
The couple had left for London in 2015 due to increasing ill health and died within several weeks of each other in early 2020.
The ashes are scattered in the sea. Picture Andrew Downes
Family and friends stood in silence as O’Malley rowed a currach out to the last buoy in a light south-westerly wind. Some shed silent tears as the ashes were taken by the Atlantic currents.
Three of Mairead Robinson’s siblings, Ingrid O’Brien, Stephen Lalor and Rosa Ronan, along with two nieces and three nephews, had travelled from New Ross, Co Wexford and the US.
The Robinsons’ caretaker, John Woods, and neighbours Kevin and Suzanne Cronin and close friend Paddy Browne (101) were there.
They were warmly welcomed by Professor Drever, Dr Nessa Cronin of the University of Galway, Dr Fidelma Mullane and artist Rosie McGurran, who had organised the event with the Roundstone community.
At a memorial in the Roundstone House Hotel, poet Moya Cannon read from her work, Consider the Cocosphere, and continued with The Twelve Bens.
“Though the poppies lasted all that summer the weight /
of that beauty on its frail stems was almost too much /
to bear — the dead rustled like leaves in the air — but /
beauty and the new life pushing up out of the mulch /
history leaves under our feet is what gets us through; /
that and what most call love, and some call tomorrow.
“Hope is out of the box again, a hare rising to its full height, /
ears tuned to some satellite older than the moon.”
The late Tim Robinson pictured near Roundstone, Connemara, Co Galway. Picture by Brian Farrell
Mr Higgins recalled the couple’s “unique collaborative and creative partnership”.
From his very first encounter with Tim Robinson “one could not be but overwhelmed by his respect for the nature of place, tradition and ecology”, he said.
“From the magnificent Folding Landscapes maps to his stunning trilogy on Connemara and his Stones of Aran volumes, Tim Robinson will be remembered in particular for his thorough understanding of, and affection for, the landscape, heritage and people of the Aran Islands, the Burren and Connemara.”
He described how the writer sought to “draw attention to the incalculable value and beauty of the natural world, those who interacted with it, and the threats that exist to both in terms of our linguistic, cultural and physical heritage”.
The couple had “lived their lives to the full in pursuit of meaning, and did so with deep creative endeavour that rang with authenticity”, Mr Higgins said — noting “how lucky we in Ireland” that the couple chose the west coast for their home.
Roundstone Harbour in Connemara, West of Ireland. Picture by Bill Heaney