Lesser Spotted Ulster's Joe Mahon takes to the road and visits the shores of Lough Melvin this week where he carves up some sandstone, cuts some stain glass and smokes his own catch from the Lough,tomorrow night, the 16th November, at 7.30om on UTV.
Joe returns to Fermanagh when he comes to Garrison on the North Leitrim border and takes to the waters of the expansive Lough Melvin. Famed for its distinctive catch of sonaghan and gillaroo trout, this impressive stretch of water is surrounded by undulating hills and rolling bog land.
Pat McGuiness recounts the history of Garrison as he gazes out across from Sheenan Mountain, recollecting the demise of the area as a major ironworks in the 17th century. The serenity of this area belies the hardship imposed by the Great Famine, which reduced the population of the parish of Garrison by some two thirds by the late 1800s.
From the 19th century, Joe is transposed to the 21st century when he tours the Organic Centre at Rossinver – here he learns how every conceivable compostible material is used to produce every conceivable edible delight.
Under the watchful tutelage of the talented Byrne Family, Joe assists in chiselling a permanent monument to the programme and tentatively tries his hand at some stain-glass design.
"It never ceases to amaze me that even after 10 years of Lesser Spotted Ulster, there are still so many places left to explore," Joe explains.
"To be honest, we've hardly scratched the surface. For a relatively small place, we have an amazing variety of landscapes – mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, forest and coast – places where the pace of life is still best sampled on foot and where people still have the time to talk about the important things like the weather, the colour of the gorse and where to get the best bilberries. Yes, the modern world impinges on everything these days but we on the Lesser Spotted Ulster team have found that, if anything, there has been a strengthening of local identity over the past decade and a huge resurgence of interest in local history."
