The Mountains of Mourne

nevj · 30 January 2026 10:52

Mountains and sea

There is something about mountains near the sea. They evoke feelings that are a compination of awe and serenity. It is known that both mountains and sea have biological, stress reducing effects.

There is a whole spectrum of cultural recognition of this effect. For example, the Irish song “Mountains of Mourne”, sung here by Don McLean

Look past the Lyrics… it is a simple poem about a young Irish gentleman in London being dazzled by the urban culture and conveying it to his Lady back in County Down, Ireland. Look at the pictures in the video. This is typical

and you can understand why someone would want to call this home

Actually, mountains near the sea occur in many places. They form when the edge of a tectonic plate is the coastline. … for example the East coast of Australia has amountainrange within 50Km of the coast, and the mountains come right to the water at some spots, eg where we live in NSW

We live in the foothills of that small mountain which is within 1Km of the pacific ocean.
It is amazingly similar to the Mourne Mountains photo above… except our hills are covered with Eucalypt trees and in Ireland they have Gorse or bare rocky peaks. .

They called our state New South Wales, because of similarity with the south of Wales, but they could just as easily have called it New Northern Ireland.

Our mountain is spiritually important to thr local indigenous people, and it really does have a powerful effect… more than just a landmark, more like someone or something watching over you. We are very happy living in the shadow of our mountain.

Here is another shot, showing the mountain is also right at the mouth of the Shoalhaven River, and you can see the main range in the distance. The blue haze is real…Eucalypts exude an oil which vaporizes and the droplets refract light to produce that blue fog. It is there on still days, and more prominent in the Summer.

Do any of you feel the same about the mountains and sea combination?
Do you have any images to share?
Do we have anyone who lives in or has visited County Down? Are those Mourne Mountains really so enticing?

callpaul.eu · 30 January 2026 12:44

As i look out of my front window I see the sea fed lake that surounds our apartment and in the distance (50km) the snow capped mountains that seperate france and spain.

For me its the sea the big attraction, but many worry about costal flooding in the area with raising sea levels, hopefully will not happen in my life time.

The great thing about the sea is the free ions it releases, being near water is relaxing.

berninghausen · 30 January 2026 15:29

This 4000 meter beauty is part of the skyline where I live. It’s roughly 60K from my house, 70K from the Japanese Garden where I took this picture. It’s interesting, sharing a neighborhood with an active volcano–Mt St Helens is about 100K north, and Mt Hood has some fumaroles that recently vented a bit of steam.
Its beauty pervades our lives, reflected in business names and place names in about six counties. I play golf at Mountain View GC, where this mountain is framed by the first fairway and makes for an intimidating tee shot.

Living next to a mountain does indeed have a spiritual aspect.

pdecker · 30 January 2026 17:28

This is more the view I would see.

easyt50 · 30 January 2026 19:49

I live in a city, but feel lucky that across the street from me is a park, so I am not looking directly to another house.

One of the nicest views of the mountains and a lake I have seen is Hallstatt, Austria.

nevj · 30 January 2026 21:31

Yes , to have mountains you must have ( or have had in the past) volcanic activity..
The West Coast of America is a fault line.
Thanks Bill, now I know someone shares the feeling.

nevj · 30 January 2026 21:42

I forgot about lakes. Yes, they convey the same feeling of serenity as the sea.

We lived in suburban Sydney , before retiring. It changed, in my lifetime, from a nice suburban area with parks like yours and areas of native bush, to an out of control development with concrete and overcrowding. We opted out at retirement… it was a good move.

I have lived and worked in the western plains in .au. Some areas are so flat that you can flood irrigate it without grading. In the summer there are mirages… what seems to be a shimmering lake in the distance but is actually an optical phenomenon.

No mirage there but you can see how flat it is. One of the flattest places on earth.
The feeling you get is entirely different… lost and disoriented. Get off the road and you can actually become lost… there are no landmarks except the sun.

Cornfields and wheatfields convey a different feeling… still natural but more an admiration of man’s ability grow foodcrops. Farmers grow corn here…some of them right on the river bank… it is a feed crop for dairy farmers.
I like your rolling hills.

nevj · 31 January 2026 01:26

See the picture of Hay Plains … I added it to previous reply.

The contrast of feeling is obvious. The absence of landmarks gives a feeling of there being nothing to belong to.
I have mustered sheep in that environment… you can easily become disoriented away from the road.
Landmarks are important to our sense of well being.
What is your favourite landmark?

AI says this
" The natural environment profoundly enhances human well-being by improving mental, physical, and cognitive health, primarily through stress reduction, increased physical activity, and improved mood. Exposure to green and blue spaces (water environments) reduces cortisol levels, lowers blood pressure, and boosts immune function. Both direct immersion and feeling connected to nature are linked to better sleep and improved mental health."

I wonder whether blue sky makes us feel better than grey sky?

daniel.m.tripp · 31 January 2026 03:54

It does for me - more in a sense - I tend to feel depressed after several days of being stuck indoors - and even more so when its grey skies… And I think because I’m red-green colour blind - I’m more sensitive to blue…

My favourite “vistas” locally are the Swan River - or - “Derbarl Yerrigan” (Nyoongar name)… I live a 5 minute walk from it. Despite being 15 minutes by train from the Perth CBD - this area feels semi-rural - across the road is vacant land (it used to be the grounds of a mental hospital but it was decommissioned 25+ years ago and demolished 10+ years ago) that stretches out about 500 metres, before dropping down to the Swan River. And if I head North up my street (i.e. left out of my house) - there’s mostly empty or vacant land on my right. If I take a right hand turn at the next major intersection - I’m in the heart of the “Swan Valley” vineyards…

I love late Spring seeing the vista of all the green shoots of all the grape vines forming a “green shimmer”…

Anywway - despite the river being so close - the “plain” my house is on is a good 10 metres higher than the Swan River - it does occasionally flood the other side which is lower than where I live…

Here’s a photo of nearby where the Helena River flows into the Swan River - the Helena is a much smaller river :

The Helen River is really more of an inlet these days… And the Swan River is very brackish ever since the 19th century when they dredged the Fremantle Harbour - it is tidal - and I’ve seen the tide rise as high as 1 - 1.5 metres… Note: the Helena River is dammed up in the hills to form Mundaring Weir - which was a major engineering feat in the early 20th century, ostensibly to store drinking water - and transport it via a massive pipeline 700 km to the Goldfields of Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie…

West Australia is a very “flat” state - you don’t actually get “mountains” here till the far North, e.g. “the Pilbara”. We have “foothills” in Perth flowing down to the coastal plain, but they’re just that, “hills”…

Interestingly - Don McLean is not the only lyricist I know of to mention the Mountains of Mourne, the late great Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy mentions them in the song “The Black Rose” :

Where the Mountains of Mourne flow down to the sea,
Such a long long way from Tipperary

nevj · 31 January 2026 06:11

The blue and green are there, and the Eucalypts, and the blue sky.
I would say that scene feels attractive, but not overpowering like a mountain.

The psychology of our surroundings is interesting.

berninghausen · 31 January 2026 15:03

While I enjoy ‘bluebird days,’ a soft gray overcast is comfortable, especially when the midwinter sun is at such a low angle and glares at my driving eyes morning and evening. And who doesn’t love a sky full of darkening cumulonimbus clouds threatening rain?

nevj · 31 January 2026 15:55

You are right Bill, some structures are appealing.

It has been found that natural phenomena with a fractal dimension of about 1.5, tend to cause low cortisone levels, and therefore relax us.
It has been argued that human brains evolved to appreciate the fractal dimensions of natural landscapes

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360132325011758

nevj · 2 February 2026 15:43

Everyone missed it except Bill.

There is a well established reason for that connection between mountains and spirituality… it is mathematical… and it begins with the idea of recursion … yes the same recursion that is used in computer programming languages … and that is what links this topic to computers and FOSS.

Mountain ranges are fractals. Fractals can be generated from a recursive equation. Fractals have a strange geometric property …
a fractal of finite size can have an infinite outline length or perimeter. This demonstrates that something infinite (a fractal object) can be generated or derived from a finite starting point (the recursion equation).

The idea that our world could have been created from nothing … whether you believe in a big bang, or continuous creation, or a creator … is supported by the existence of infinitely complex natural objects such as mountains … because we now know from fractal theory that such objects can be created from a simple initial state. … That is why mountains have a spiritual aspect… they connect us (mentally) our infinite creator.

So next time you programmers use a recursive function, remember you are creating a loop that can be infinite, and put in a termination clause so that your creation will eventually reach the end of its world.

nevj · 4 February 2026 22:57

Read this… CS Lewis on the Mourne Mountains

https://www.heathergarth.org/serve_file/603734

Apparently it was his inspiration for Narnia
See the beautiful fractals in photo called “Snowy scene in Rostrevor, Ireland”

nevj · 5 February 2026 11:01

I have a collection of mourne mountain images that I think have suitable color balance for use as backgrounds.
Here is my favourite in MX

You can easily pick up these images with a google search.

I like the idea of having a background that will lift my spiritual awareness.

nevj · 18 February 2026 12:28

The ultimate mountain and sea experience… Lord Howe Island

We went there years ago when the only access was flying boats.
We had to depart at 4.00am so the flying boat could land on the lagoon at high tide.
It is a beautiful place . Some unique bird species and a strange temperate rainforest on top of those mountains which are nearly always cloud wrapped.
Only about 200 miles off the coast of NSW.

easyt50 · 18 February 2026 15:03

Maria Alm, Austria

nevj · 18 February 2026 21:49

I wish we had churches like that.