Laurel’s Fall

Many tales inherit the emerald isle some are more tragic than others. Along the coast from the Cliff of Moher there is a small inlet cove with steep cliffs known today as Laurel’s Fall. During the potato famine that swept across the Irish Shore from 1845 t0 1852. Newlyweds John and Annie Laurel had a small holding not far from the fall which they tended daily. Poor and starving by the famine many immigrated to the land they had heard where the pavements were lined with gold. Desperate John left to find work promising to write every day until the ship took to sea. The letters stopped arriving and the days grew into weeks and then into months. The neighbours always asked if she had heard from John. Always she would shake her head. Knowing a sea passage took months, Annie did not worry too much and went on with her daily chore to eke out a little money so that she could eat and always hoping a letter would arrive. The months turned into years and she wondered when and if she would ever hear from her beloved John again, then one day news arrived the ship John sailed on was lost at sea. Heartbroken she carried on always hoping he had survived. Then one stormy night she thought she hears his voice. Grabbing a lamp followed the sound, but before she could reach it. A gust of wind came up and swept her from her feet carrying her over the cliff down to the rocks below where she was found after the tide receded the following day. The tragedy does not end there. A month later John returned. He had been rescued by a passing ship and spent two years at sea. Now he came home to find Annie, his wife and life was no longer there. Each time the wind howled he went out searching for her. Then one evening he thought he could heard her cries calling him and went out looking for her. A gust of wind swept him from his feet just like his beloved wife. When they found him the following morning they named the spot Laurel’s Fall in memory of him and his wife. It is said on some moonlit nights you can see them walking together near the cliff of Laurel’s Fall. 6 June 2015