Donegal woman Geraldine Mullan, who lost her husband and two children following a tragic car accident, has worked with a local farmer to create a ‘Field of Hope’ in their memory.
On August 20, 2020, Geraldine’s husband John, son Tomas and daughter Amelia drowned when the family’s car plunged into Lough Foyle at Quigley’s Point, Co. Donegal.
Geraldine, who managed to survive the accident, has been working on a project, the ‘Field of Hope’, in conjunction with Redcastle Village Association and the Mullan Hope Sunflower Festival.
“‘Plant a seed and see what grows,’ my John always used to say. For many years, his garden centre offered rich evidence of those sage words,” said Geraldine.
What started as a conversation between Geraldine and Catherine Carlin, whose brother-in-law Kevin Barr is the coastguard who got into the water and saved Geraldine on the night of the accident, and with John’s refrain very much in mind, led to an unusual transformation of Donegal coastal farmland.
Previously Kevin’s father-in-law, John McCarron, would reap a barley crop from his 2.5ac that lies between the R238 and Lough Foyle.
“This year, he let two ladies convince him to try something different. The leap of faith was enacted in spring when he reached for sunflower seeds instead,” said Geraldine.
“Well his new tillage and the regular attention and care from Catherine, myself and the ‘sunflower fairies’ over the last few months has still produced a seasonal bounty of gold. It is just a slightly taller and more yellowy version than before.
“Bordered by a mixture of wildflowers from poppies to calendula, from cornflowers to daisies, this little slice of radiant nature is now a colourful forecourt to the water beyond.
“Just a few hundred metres from where that same water claimed my beautiful family on August 20, 2020 and where a memorial ‘Three Sleepers’ now stands in solemn commemoration, these majestic and eye-catching sunflowers are intended to bring much-needed hope in these times.”
“A virus that still lingers and claims, a conflict that has brought death and displacement and a myriad of personal trials and tribulations, our lives are challenged daily,” Geraldine continued.
“To the locals of Inishowen, to our Ukrainian refugees – for the sunflower is their national flower – to the many visitors that make their way to this beautiful part of Ireland and to those watching on from afar, gaze upon this fine work of nature and take a little something from it,” Geraldine said.
“My motto has been ‘never lose hope’, so when we thought up this project and named it accordingly, we wondered could we go a step further and have it physically expressed by the landscape.
“The idea became a reality when a maze was painstakingly carved out within the crop in the shape of those ‘Hope’ letters.”
Not only can one stand and admire the view but they can also take their own little journey through the field, Geraldine explained.
“Please don’t attempt this walking in future years if John has gone back to his barley growing,” she added.
The Field of Hope at Quigley’s Point in Co. Donegal (F93 DK84) will be open to the public 12:00p.m-5:00p.m on August 19-21. Entry is free but donations to the Mullan Hope Centre will be accepted in buckets dotted around the field.
“Park up safe and sensibly. Drop in for a look and a leisurely ramble through the rustic maze; no stilettos or good Sunday shoes. It is still a field after all,” said Geraldine.
“Talk to other visitors. Talk to loved ones who have gone ahead. Take a sunflower home and help spread the idea of hope and to ‘cherish every moment’.”