The Kings River

Through king Turlough's land I flow

Snakelike, shaping as I go

Upon my bed rest ancient stones

Washed crystal clear, as my body runs

Changed to shine in different forms

When kissed by rays of golden sun

Sparkling natural gems are born

I earthly years some say I'm old

Some shy from me when summer's gone

For fear of catching winter's cold

Great pity them, for missing out

On my hypnotic tranquil sounds

Oh come, sit down by my side

And hear me sing, in beautiful tones

Songs of beauty old and new

I am a river fit for the king

Majestically my waters flow

Forever on in timeless mode

Johnny Carroll, October 2017

Johnny, a friend of mine, is into poetry in a big way. He claims to write a poem a day, or more, a feat that is quite alien to me. Poetry rarely tickles my fancy but this one caught my ear mainly, I suppose, because it is about something I love.  Naturally I wanted to find out more about the poem's allusions.

Doubtless the king in the first line is Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair aka Turlough Mór O'Connor, King of Connacht (1106–1156) and High King of Ireland (ca. 1120–1156). I can, however, find no evidence that the name "Kings River" refers to this king in particular, although there is a Turlough Hill close to its source. But the hill was named Turlough quite recently and in any case the name is common and means a low-lying area which becomes flooded in wet weather, a description that could apply to a large percentage of Ireland. That's OK, I'm not complaining - I don't mind a bit of "poet's licence".

As far as being "crystal clear" the river is, as most are in this area, peaty brown but is otherwise clear and with a quality of "pristine nature" as testified by this report by the EPA. And I love to swim in it and clamber on the many rocks it flows around.  In the summer, that is.

I thoroughly identify with "great pity them" - I wonder that so few people really appreciate the Kings River. Spurred on by this poem I have made a mental note to do more exploring next summer (if we have one) like starting at Ballinagee bridge and rock jumping all the way to its source.

In the unlikely event that my reader is as besotted with Kings River as I am, the best mapping I can find is by Bing (much better aerial photography than Google maps in this area). Here you will see that the source of the river is on the western slope of Tonelagee towards Stoney Top.