A lifetime by the Cork coast, it has become part of my being

SOMETIMES, it’s the sound of the waves crashing on the shoreline; other times, it’s the smell of the ocean, or the feeling of the foam breaking on your toes... all these are the things that call me to the sea.

There will be days when you realise that you haven’t been there in a while, and there’s this inexplicable urge that needs satisfying and a voice in your head says... ‘just go there’, as if promising you that everything will be ‘OK’, once you breathe in the salty sea air.

Having grown up in Crosshaven and lived there my whole life, I am no stranger to what life is like living by the coast. And if I am honest, I don’t ever imagine myself living anywhere else — at least anywhere that isn’t near the ocean. It’s a privilege that I no longer take for granted.

For almost three decades, I was lucky enough to look out my bedroom window and see the sea, it was close, it was a constant, it was, in a way a grounding force, a confirmation that I was home. 

Many a night the eerie sounds of the sails and masts of nearby boats clanking and whistling sent me off to sleep.

Now I don’t have the luxury of an ocean view, but it’s a mere ten-minute walk to the sea from my home, in several different directions from our house — so I don’t think I am doing too bad at all!

It’s been well documented that living near the sea can have great benefits — it improves sleep and your mental health, the sea salt has healing properties, and it also benefits your physical health too.

My relationship with the sea has changed over the years — from days as a toddler waddling about in my nappy building sandcastles, to life as a teenager hanging with my friends blasting Guns N’ Roses over our ghetto-blaster, to the present day where I get to bring my own kids to the seashore for a dip.

Right now, I know it is something they take for granted, just as I did growing up — and they will probably only come to realise the joy, the comfort, the luck, in living along Cork’s coast when they have their own kids.

Being at the seaside conjures up so many memories for me. Rows of beautiful smelling fuchsia leading to the summer home where my gran used to stay. 

The ‘big hill’ we climbed after a day spent at the beach, which seemed like Mount Everest to our weary little legs.

The rock pools, where hours were spent fishing for crabs, only to find them and release them back again within minutes, and start the search all over again.

The promise of a treat from Charlies or Ms McGregor’s shop en route home.

The rock... yes, a big lump of a rock — now softened by the ocean crashing against it over these past few decades — where my nan used to sit on the beach, her favourite spot — and where I now sit.

I was back there again just last week, at the exact same spot where she sat so many decades ago. Maybe it’s a little smoother, but it hasn’t moved, it’s another constant in this ever-changing world.

I remember her sitting there, the skies full of grey clouds, and she promising us ‘there’s a little blue over there’ as she pointed upwards - always the optimist.

I can hear her giggle now as she made her false promises to us before the sky opened and soaked our skin. We always thought summers past were hot, but I always remember her having an umbrella close at hand!

I don’t sail and I rarely swim so you might think a life by the sea is lost on me — however, the bays around our home mean there are walks by the water for every need.

There is the walk along the river... a great place for a well-paced trot or jog — good to prepare for the mini marathon! Or there’s the cliff walk loop from The Point to Camden to pass the time when my girls are doing their GAA training.

Or a trek down onto Graball Bay —were you a Pegs or a Pipes person? (anyone who frequented that haunt as a kid will know what I am talking about!).

There’s the short car drive to Fountainstown or Myrtleville — the first is a great place for a wander when the tide is out. The second has grown an amazing community of swimmers.

Whatever direction, whatever pathway, walking by the sea is the place where I clear the cobwebs, or put the world to right in my head.

Luck, fate — call it what you may — has led to me being here, and it made me sad this past week to read that some primary school kids here in Cork have never even been to the beach... what a shame.

The sea has given me, my family, and community so much enjoyment. But it has also taken away from us too, as any coastal community knows.

There have been losses associated with the sea, in the past and recent times, both young and old, that have left a devastating imprint on those left behind.

Those that live by the sea never take it for granted, they know too well the dangers, as much as the joy it brings.

And so, when I think of Cork’s coast, I think of the generations that went before me — the ones who sat by that rock too, in a different decade, in a different century even, and I look to the future.

The ocean will be there long after us — I only hope that my kids’ kids, and their kids, and all the generations to come get to dip their toes in the foamy sea just like me and feel the immense joy that the sea gives...