Early Purple Orchid
Orchis mascula

Early Purple Orchid, or Blue Butcher, is a short- to medium-sized perennial, a widespread member of the orchid family. The flowers are a deep purple, or more rarely pinkish mauve or white. The leaves are long and blotched. It is to be seen all over the country near wood and on open pastures, and is especially attractive growing, as it does, in west Clare, where it flowers in late May among the Gentians, wild Geraniums and Mountain Avens; the other plants soften the Orchid's starkness.
The flowers are at their best in April and May.
Early Purple Orchid grows all over Europe, in North Africa and in northern and western Asia.