Though exiled contentedly in Ireland for the past two decades, Jane Coyle cherishes her Welsh origins. So it was nothing short of bliss for her to celebrate St David's Day - last Saturday - among new-born lambs and nodding daffodils in the Glens of Antrim.
Along this ravishingly beautiful coastline and in its equally glorious hinterland, spring really is bursting out all over and a sense of renewal hovers in the air. Two years ago, the feeling was very different. As the tourist season began, the fields were empty and almost silent; vehicles were stopped at checkpoints for disinfection. The mood was despondent, for this is one of the most intensive sheep-rearing areas in the European Union and it was hit by the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 2001 with almost biblical force. No cloven-hoofed animal escaped the cull - not even the pet goat belonging to the Cushendun hotelier and historian Randal McDonnell: it was the last animal in the Glens to be slaughtered.
A bronze statue of a goat, presented to the village by the sculptor Deborah Brown, now stands beside the little harbour as testimony to that painful episode.
The other potentially lucrative industry in this part of the world is tourism. Since 1969, holidays in the North have hard to sell, even in an area so blessed with natural beauty as the Glens. The regional tourism organisation is the Causeway Coast and Glens, charged with finding ways to attract visitors from within Ireland and beyond.
But recently a new kid has arrived on the block, operating under the umbrella of the larger organisation. Antrim Glens Tourism rose out of the ashes of the foot-and-mouth outbreak and has already clocked up a major coup. Its voluntary public relations officer, Mary McFadden was named as UK and Ireland AA Landlady of the Year for 2002, in recognition of the excellent bed and breakfast service she provides at her Cushendun home.
"Foot-and-mouth was a hammer blow," she says. "A 10-kilometre embargo was placed around the area. It was a terrible time. But now we have to be positive about selling the Glens and making people aware of the wonderful things on offer here. We have set out to identify specific catgegories in which we can offer a top quality experience. One of those is hill walking.
"We've managed to persuade one of the most renowned tourism operators in the business to offer walking holidays in the Glens. From 2004, Ramblers Holidays UK, who run walking and sightseeing holidays all over the world, will be listing this area in their brochure. We're also encouraging coach companies to indude Cushendun as a stop-over point on their tours.
"We have a beautiful beach - one of the best in Ireland - clean public toilets, a large car park, a tea-room and two historic pubs. And we also have the statue of Johann the goat, which visitors seem to love."
Mary and her husband Joe - both professional artists and former art teachers - were drawn naturally to the Glens when they decided to find a weekend retreat away from the work pressures of Belfast. Mary's paternal ancestors were from Glendun; her late uncle was the distinguished Glens painter Charles McAuley. The pull of history was irresistible.
They found a house, high above the Torr Road, and planted hundreds of rowan trees around it - prompting them to call the place Drumkeerin, the hill of the rowans. At the time, Joe had recently retired from teaching but was still involved in counselling work, while Mary was working as regional director of the marriage advisory service Accord.
The idea of doing bed and breakfast started in 1995, at the time of a local triathlon, when a family of visitors needed somewhere to stay. To the rescue came Mary and Joe. "Then we started getting regular calls from the tourist office, asking if we could take people. Initially we found it very stressful, because we were not at all geared up for it," Mary recalls, laughing at the memory. "It was like running Fawlty Towers."
But 1995 was a special summer, when prospects of an end to the Northern Troubles seemed blessed by unforgettably fine weather: "We were celebrating a new peace and the summer of the century - everyone was filled with hope. One evening, we sat in the garden with an Italian family, who were drinking our wine, enjoying our company, admiring our view - and we were hooked."
Almost eight years later, her visitor books are crammed with words of ecstatic praise from many parts of the world - the United States, France, Germany, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Slovenia, Canada, Israel, Portugal, Hungary, Slovakia, Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland. Visitors write of returning and of staying in touch; many have become friends and a network of global contacts has built up.
"We could never have imagined our lives taking this turn," Mary says.
"What's lovely is that Joe and I are in this together and it's something our children and grandchildren can enjoy too. Since retiring and moving permanently to Cushendun, our lives have taken on a new momentum.
"There is so much to be done here; there are so many places in the world I want to visit. . . And I still long to paint the perfect picture".
And stretched out below - the crescent-shaped bay and harbour of Cushendun; the glens rearing up behind; the coast of Scotland clear on the horizon. . .The perfect picture, waiting to be painted.