Our Name And Motto
The Name ImmramaThe word 'Immram' [pl. 'immrama'] derives from the Old Irish im ram meaning 'rowing about'. In Ireland, there is a long tradition of making journeys and of the ensuing descriptions. The accounts include the early echtraí or outings, voyage tales of a fantastic nature where, for example, a hero travels across the sea to the land, often an island, of eternal youth [Tir na n- Óg] and on return after hundreds of years turns to ashes.
The Blue Sky Bends Over All
The motto 'The Blue Sky Bends Over All' is taken from a line in William Makepeace Thackeray's finer piece of travel liturature, The Irish Sketch Book. He visited Lismore and he includes a description of the town and hinterland in his book published in 1843:
"The church with the handsome spire, that looks so graceful among the trees, is a cathedral church, and one of the neatest kept and prettiest edifices I have seen in Ireland. In the old graveyard Protestants and Catholics lie together- that is, not together; for each has a side of the ground, where they sleep, and so occupied, do not quarrel. The sun was shining down upon the brilliant grass- and I don't think the shadows of the Protestant graves were any longer or shorter than those of the Catholics? Is it the right or the left side of the grave-yard which is nearest to heaven, I wonder? Look, the sun shines upon both alike, 'and the blue sky bends over all'."
