"A mid-summer downpour on the coast of Mayo reminds us why 'spate rivers' warrant their name. Short and steep, they gather in water from the runnels and streams of the high bog and rush it down to the sea in leaping, coffee-coloured torrents. On my own hillside I see waterfalls flashing on the flanks of Mweelrea, Connacht's highest mountain, and then a bronze arc of stained water curving out beyond the shore."