Seals in Wicklow
On a July evening four of us step along the uneven coastal path going south of Wicklow Town. We are hoping to see the seals who have made these coves their home and a place to play, to raise a family and to greet their human cousins who must seem more like fish out of water to them.
Of course we pride ourselves on our achievements in travelling into space or being able to send messages round the world in an instant or devising microscopes and medical equipment and have no memory of having once been water babies ourselves!
Along the way, John Feehan points out the wild flowers discreetly following the Little Way of St Thérèse and a cushion of sheep’s bit that catches his eye. But mostly we are looking with one eye on the wide Irish Sea in search of these curious creatures.
Happily we manage to see three of them, two at play, and one who comes close to the shingle beach to say hello. We gaze at one another for a while then the seal dives and resurfaces like a child saying, ‘see what I can do!’ And we do see and inwardly applaud. Although we will never understand their seaview we feel some lost connection stirring in us that knows we are kin. It confirms that they too are at home here, that they belong as much as we belong.
Evening is closing in as we return, strangely at peace and grateful, minding our step.
