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OCEANHALL 1. The Rock of OceanHall ©By Veroni Burns In the cave on the second beach in
High on the cave wall, it can be seen at low tide. There are also more inscriptions but due to erosion bearably visible. It reads ‘OCEANHALL’ 1867. On
At the back of the cave is a mini-cave leading into a tunnel, which I attempted to go into. I tripped and fell. Feeling like I’d just been through turbulence on an aeroplane I came too at the entrance to the main cave.
A man approached, familiar but strange. He reminded me of my Grandfather, but taller. He was carrying a sack of tools. I greeted him but he ignored me. He then took out a chisel and started to work on the cave wall, I panicked and shouted at him to stop, He would surely ruin the original engravings. He looked around as if a petal had landed on his shoulder, shook himself and continued. I stood beside him and tried to pull him away from the wall when a piece of rock and dust fell into my camera bag. Oh God I thought, my caera lenses will be destroyed. Going out into the sunlight on the beach to empty the ‘rubble’ out of my bag I could see some people approaching, an older woman and a couple. The older woman called out in direction of the cave: ‘Packie come up to the house Roger is home and waiting for you’. I approached the younger of the two women and asked her who the man in the cave was? She replied – Packie Burns my brother. I enquired about the man and woman with her. She replied – My mother Ellen Gillan-Burns , and my husband Michael Bruen. Young Ellen Bruen-Burns then asked me who I was and where I came from, when suddenly Packie called from the cave: “Veroni someone is looking for you”. Returning to the cave I could see my mobile phone lying in the entrance to the mini-cave where I’d fallen. I bent to pick it up and again fell. The same turbulent feeling overcame me. Getting up I noticed ‘the man’ and his friends were gone.
I returned to the house in Rossepoint and unpacked my camera bag with it's precious contents, the camera lenses and the piece of rock –The Rock of OceanHall. Three days later I had to go to Drumclif cemetery and to my amazement, the names of the people I’d met in OcenaHall were all engraved in stone on my great -great grandfather’s grave. For five years I often looked at The Rock of OceanHall, now on my dressing table, and wondered. Finally in 2005 on the same day at the same time, I returned and entered the min-cave to revisit the past and my relations . 2. A visit Back
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