Sunday 24th May
We woke up to more wind and grey skies. We all said our
goodbyes and set off in different directions. Quite a few were heading south
down the WAW and a couple were heading to Dublin to catch ferries.
Our plan had been to drive up to Keem Beach and see a bit
more of Achill Island but, to be honest, we just wanted to move off and try and
find some better weather.
We headed east and I set Mrs Google to take us to Croagh
Patrick View Discovery Point, but there was no room in the inn so to
speak! We took a turn round the car park
and drove out.
By this stage the weather had improved - the sun was
shining, the sky was blue, it was warm but it was still windy.
Next stop was Bertra Bay where we were met by a height
barrier across the car park. Fortunately, there was room to park outside of car
park. We took Rio for a walk which he really enjoyed.
Ireland's ultimate holy mountain is Croagh Patrick
(nicknamed "the Reek") and looms behind Bertra Bay. It rises 2,507 feet above the landscape,
instantly recognizable by its striking, conical quartzite peak. The mountain has been a sacred site for
thousands of years, stretching back long before Christianity arrived. According
to lore, Saint Patrick spent 40 days fasting and praying at the summit in the
year 441 AD. It’s also where he supposedly gathered all the snakes in Ireland
and chased them into the sea. Long
before St. Patrick, the mountain was called Cruachán Aigli and was a major
gathering site for the Celtic harvest festival of Lughnasadh.
My lunch consisted of a blueberry muffin and a berry blast
smoothie from a coffee van while Richard had a sandwich back in Kiwi!
We set off for what, hopefully, was going to be our park up
for the night. It was a place called
Silver Strand (beach). We arrived at quite a large car park with just two cars
in it. We could see Achill Island
across Clew Bay - it was lovely. A few
more cars came and went until we were on our own, well surrounded by fields of
sheep.
We took Rio onto the beach but sadly to get to the main
beach we would have had to cross a fairly deep stream, if we had had shorts on
then we could have done it but we were both wearing jeans.
Still there was a little beach which Rio had
to make do with.
We had a rather nice sunset to watch
🌅
Monday 25th May
A great quiet night’s sleep - it’s just what I needed.
We were in no rush so it was about 11am when we set off.
Our plan for the rest of the trip is to follow the WAW as
much as possible, but there are places that are really not accessible in a 7.5
metre motorhome, so they will be missed out. There are 188 Discovery points
along the WAW and the plan is, before we leave one point, to set Mrs Google to
the next one. I don’t want to have my
nose in my phone as we are driving along as some of the scenery is fantastic.
We drove along the edge of Lough Doo - the scenery was
absolutely stunning. Jem says that the valley is one of the most hauntingly
beautiful landscapes in County Mayo - it certainly is. However, the valley is best known for a
tragic event during the Great Famine. In March 1849, hundreds of starving
people were forced to walk from Louisburgh to Delphi Lodge in freezing
conditions to be inspected by local officials for famine relief. After being
turned away empty-handed, many died of exhaustion, hunger, and cold on the
return journey through the valley. There
is a simple stone cross on the roadside as a memorial to the Doolough Valley
Famine Memorial. It bears a poignant quote from Mahatma Gandhi: "How can
men feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings?"
We drove on and found a coffee van beside the Lough. These
vans are not the typical burger types of vans that you find parked up in
British lay-bys. These seem to have a wonderful array of homemade cakes - there
isn’t a fried egg in sight! Today’s
lunch was a toffee muffin with a peanut butter topping which I had warm. This
is not going to be good for me!!
After the Lough we dropped
back down to sea level to Killary Fjord - a 10 mile stretch of water
which separates County Galway and County Mayo.
The fjord is well known for its aquaculture with a salmon farm and
mussel rafts.
Our next stop, only we didn’t stop, was Aasleagh Falls. Sadly,
we missed the car park but you can still see the Falls from the road (I have
borrowed a photo from the internet as I just couldn’t miss it out).
We stopped in a very small town called Leenane. It had a
pub, a cafe, a gift shop and a very small grocery shop which sold the water and
milk we wanted, so win, win!
We continued along the WAW passing Lough Fee and heading
towards Renvyle. However, I saw, in the distance, a small peninsula with
caravans on it, so we turned into the campsite, paid our money and “moored” up
with a lovely view.
I am a planner and this trip is not going to be “planned” as
such and driving into a campsite on a whim was certainly not on any agenda. I
felt rather elated that I had managed to do something on the spur of the
moment!
We took Rio for a walk on the beach which, of course, he
thoroughly enjoyed.
An expensive site (£36) CD but, I guess, you pay for the
view.
Tuesday 26th May
Another beautiful day but, sadly, the forecast isn’t too
good.
We turned right out of the site onto the Connemara Loop
heading towards Cleggan Harbour. It is
a Discovery Point but appears nothing special other than the pier was built in
1822. The other reason the place is
known is for a freak storm which in 1927 claimed the lives of 25 local
fishermen.
We then drove to Claddaghduff where there is a tidal
causeway over to Omey Island. The tide
was quite low but we didn’t really fancy it!
No one lives on the island now but for generations, Omey was a bustling
community (home to over 400 people in the 19th century). However, its permanent
population slowly dwindled over the decades. The island's last full-time,
year-round resident was a well-known local named Pascal Whelan, a former
Hollywood stuntman who lived there alone until his passing in 2017.
The next excitement was to do the Sky Road Loop, a 10 mile
circular loop. I’m still a bit confused as to which of three roads actually
form the loop, but the view from the Discovery Point at the top was stunning.
We then went off in search of Lidl in Clifden, the first big
town since Sligo. It was a decent sized
store though in Ireland alcohol is behind automatic doors which just open as
you get there. There must be a good reason for it! Well, there is, of course! It is all due to Section 22 of the Public
Health (Alcohol) Act, which officially came into force in Ireland in November
2020. The core philosophy behind the legislation is that alcohol is not
an ordinary grocery item. By forcing shops to hide it behind barriers or doors,
the law aims to reduce impulse buying. If you want to buy alcohol, you have to
make a conscious, intentional decision to walk through those doors to get it. I
still don’t understand it though 😣
We were heading to Bunowen Bay but stopped off at
Derrigimlagh Bog a vast, hauntingly beautiful blanket bog that is a major
milestone site for world history. This single bog was the site of Guglielmo
Marconi’s first commercial transatlantic wireless station in 1907, and it is
also where Alcock and Brown crash-landed their plane in 1919, after completing
the world's first non-stop transatlantic flight in 16 hours. After landing, the aviators used Marconi’s
nearby station to transmit the news of their triumph to London, effectively
linking the two historic achievements of the site. It is a 3 mile walk to see Marconi’s site and
it is no dogs.
When we got to Bunowen Bay our stop for the night was to
park against the harbour wall, a pretty amazing spot with a view over the bay
and beach. We walked to the end of the pier and chatted with a local fisherman
whose accent was so broad we could hardly understand him!
Also, from the van we could see the ruins of Bunowen Castle.
It was built in the 16th century and was once the home of the “Pirate Queen”,
Grace O’Malley and her husband Donal O’Flaherty. Sadly, in fell into a ruin
after the Great Famine.
I’m going to try an experiment!
I keep being asked where we actually are so
have decided to share our stop over What3words location.
If you have the app, by clicking on this link
you should find where we were!
https://w3w.co/operate.shaming.tractors
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