What would you expect to see inside this old overgrown cottage on the side of the road in Donegal? Would you just pass by or would you try and get in to have a look?  Well, I was passing this cottage every day a few years ago until eventually, my curiosity got the better of me.

It wasn’t that difficult to enter, despite the tangle of brambles and weeds, but the door was open so I walked in. Ooooh, but it was eerie. There was a hole in the roof which let in some light from above. But I got such a fright when I saw someone peering back at me in the gloom! Hang on, it was me! I was actually staring at a dusty, cobwebby old mirror. See below.

I was on an artist’s residency in Donegal and I had met with the Gaelic poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh…