I love Ireland. I am probably biased because of my surname, but every time I have been there has been fantastic. It is so picturesque, so utterly charming. So, when I met David and Ethel Walker on my trip to Switzerland in May of 2022 and they offered to host me for another trip, my first extended time in the north, we worked it out for June of 2023. This was my sixth time in Ireland. The first four times all were to play golf (best courses in the world), two with my dad and two with friends (Greg Wright twice), in 1992, 1995, 1999, and then 2015. In 2019 I went to hike the Kerry Way in 6 days in my favorite area, the southwest. This trip was to be mostly sightseeing with some hiking, and I would also meet my friends from Zambia (I met them in Swaziland), Michael and Grace Chilombo, and stay overnight with them after arriving and before departing. I visited them in 2015 and 2019 where they live just outside of Dublin, near the airport.
Drama: This time was fairly limited. I was getting into very good shape in May and then hurt my calf on Memorial Day weekend. I then hurt it worse the next weekend and again the weekend after that, so I went into the trip just able to walk, though as always, I want to run every day when I am traveling. Otherwise there were weather delays for the flight going over, direct from Newark, and then a 3.5 hour delay in getting my bag on returning, also blamed, somewhat suspiciously, on the weather. There was a little drama on my trip Sunday to Derry as well.
The Agenda: Saturday I was to arrive in Dublin around lunch time. Sunday I was supposed to travel to Derry, in the North. Once there, we would travel around the north and west of Ireland, trying to see some of the Wild Atlantic Way. I would come back to Dublin on Saturday and catch an early flight on Sunday morning to Newark.
YouTube Video Link: https://youtu.be/8qpTfU7aMMw
The video was very hard to make due to troubles with iMovie, so I tried to put more of the photos it would not let me use in this blog.
Running: I was able to run every day from Sunday through Saturday. The first morning I did a walk-jog for just over 2 miles and felt fine. Then I did more jog than walk Monday for nearly 4, then at least 4 miles a day the rest of the week without problems. I enjoyed each run immensely. I needed my phone with me in Derry as there are many nice but circuitous paths and it was easy to lose one’s bearings.
Pull-ups: I had done pull-ups in the Republic of Ireland before, but not the north. On my Sunday run/jog I did some pull-ups and dips at an outdoor gym in the local park. Northern Ireland was to be the 24th or 25th country for me to do pull-ups in, but I could not find a place there - no outdoor gyms I could find - Thanks, Brexit - until Saturday morning while on a tour of the Walker’s barn - popped 4 quick ones holding onto the bricks above a doorway.
Day to Day Diary: Saturday: The flight was delayed 2.5 hours as the plane could not get there in time due to storms elsewhere. Then we sat in the taxiway at Dublin for 25 minutes until we could get a gate to park the plane. The passport line was quite slow, and then the guy I was waiting for, behind two others, got up and left after not taking anyone new for 5 minutes, so we had to get in another line and that one went the slowest, so I was just about the last person to get out of the passport area (it took so long the baggage handlers were taking my bag off the track to store as I arrived). Grace and her son, Chichi, were waiting for me when I walked out of customs. Chichi is 11 and Grace is as beautiful as ever. Their house is close to the airport. Once there I ate a bowl of cereal and chatted before lying down upstairs for a nap. When I got up, Michael was back, and we had a great talk about lots of topics, catching up on his career. Then we drove to nearby Blanchardstown for dinner, where we ate outside despite some showers and had a lovely meal, entertained by a Native American server from northern Virginia. I went to bed around 10:30 and slept well.
Sunday: Grace and I had chatted about taking a road trip to Derry and doing some sightseeing, but it is 2.5 hours of driving each way, and then she got in an accident a week or so before. Her car was still in the shop. She had a rental with a stick, and she didn’t feel up for the drive, which was fine. We figured out which bus to take from a stop at the airport, but when we got there it was sold out. We figured out I could catch a train from the city center if I hurried, and we made it to one of the Dublin stations with about 15 minutes to spare. I got on the correct train and headed out, in communication with the Walkers. I brought some energy bars for lunch. It is a 4+ hour train ride, and I found out, through David, it would be a tight window to get a train from Belfast to Derry once I arrived there. There was not another train for 2 hours, so it was pretty critical for me to make that train. The Irish rail system has wifi, but it has unhelpful websites, and I had to talk to David several times and then the conductor before we stopped to try to do my best to make it. It all went well, and I was on the trackside with 5 minutes to spare (I did hustle). It was a pleasant and relaxing ride, unlike the first leg, and we were often along the seaside. I arrived at the station and was walking through it when I saw Ethel Walker, but she did not notice me. I got her attention and a warm greeting, and then we found David outside. He has a nice car and drove us to their house, which has a name, and we did a quick walk around. He is a collector of large metal pots and other things, and they have a nice little orchard with apple trees from Robert Frost’s homestead in the US (David wrote to the site and they sent him cuttings, which his gardener/orchard guy grafted onto trees they had. That is in Derry, New Hampshire).
We had a nice dinner and then left to do some local sight-seeing, heading first to an old fort southwest of Derry. Grianan of Aileach was up on a hill and it was raining when we got there and then off and on while we toured it. The walls were all that were left, with several tiers. We walked all around, taking in the views and then headed back to Derry.
Once back in Derry, it stopped raining and was not too bad. We parked near the old city walls and then walked up onto them and went around, nearly a mile. The walls are quite wide, like a two lane road (wider than lots of Irish roads), and they served as barriers during the troubles. The river used to come right up to one side, but now it was a hundred or so yards away. It was really nice, easy on the eyes, and I took a lot of photos with my new mirrorless digital SLR Lumix camera (selfies with my Google Pixel6A).
Monday: We were able to leave a little early. David is still active in managing/owning McDonalds franchises in the area, but he was sort of off (he took a few phone calls a day - they were also helping Ukrainian refugees get settled and employed) and Ethel was retired from teaching. Ethel drove her Ford Puma plug-in hybrid as we left Derry and got on the Giants Causeway coastal road. We usually had a view of the sea after we got out of Derry, and the first nice spot was a scenic overlook with a statue of St. Columba on the front portion of a boat. The day was hit or miss weather-wise, with occasional showers, but at that point it was nice.
We passed near Port Stewart and arrived in Portrush, home of famed Royal Portrush Golf Club, where the 2019 Open Championship was held to much acclaim. The Walkers have a second home there, but for now we walked the promenade on the seaside and had a stop for coffee for them and a smoothie and chocolate treat for me.
It was not far to the Giants Causeway from there. It is a major tourist attraction. There is a education center and a large parking lot. We talked to a sentry and parked in the last available space in the hotel parking lot adjacent. We skipped the education center and walked down the long road to the site. There was a shuttle bus that drove down and back regularly, as it was not a short or easy walk - probably around 3/4 mile each way and all uphill on the way back. The Causeway is so named as myths told of a giant using the area to stage revenge missions, etc. It is an interesting formation of basalt that expanded with a volcanic eruption and then contracted in the mud and cooled into these columns, many of which are hexagonal, with the exposed rock pieces about the size of a dinner plate. They reminded me of stacks of coins, or, especially, tootsie rolls. I carefully walked over much of the area while Ethel and David waited. David did take a few photos of me sitting in a popular spot called the throne (I think), and I went through the opening to the other side twice. The second time, with them, we posed on another rock called the chair, and a woman took a badly lit photo of us (included). As we started to leave, it began to rain hard, with large drops, and we walked all the way back in it. It stopped at the top and we walked back a different way to the car with broader views of the area. It is well worth the visit. This earth has so many peculiar and fascinating places!
We stopped for lunch at a very popular restaurant (deservedly so), and then visited several different harbors, most notably Ballintoy, which had signs documenting several scenes from Game of Thrones which were shot there (I have not seen any of that show and never plan to). At Ballintoy, the skies opened and poured as we parked, but it didn’t last too long. We started over to the caves that caught my eye by a cottage that turned out to be named “O’Rourke’s Cottage.” We took a lot of photos there and David kept asking why I was not inviting him in for tea. After a short walk past the cottage, we came back to beautiful light with storm clouds in the distance. The rocky features of the harbor are stirring, and the huge white cliffs in the distance gave a great backdrop.
The town of Bushmill was nearby and they wanted to go to the distillery there. We parked and only walked briefly on the grounds and went to the gift shop. David wanted to buy me a bottle of the whiskey, but I was able to talk him out of it and into a few coasters. I didn’t buy anything else. From there we drove by a few more beaches and then took a walk around a golf course, passing on another trail to a swinging bridge as the weather didn’t look good. We finished off the trip with a stop by their house in Portrush, which is like a beach cottage but not that close to the beach, and we got fish and chips from their favorite place (it wasn’t that good). After that we drove back to Derry. It was a great day of awesome scenery.
Tuesday was another busy day, with showers off and on. We drove south to Donegal town. I had looked forward to seeing it and that area, but after parking it started to rain hard and steadily. We spent most of our time there in a clothing store (well known for its tweeds), where we also ate lunch (really good), before heading west along the coast.
The goal was Slieve League, a large area of seaside cliffs. We passed through the small town of Killybegs, where there were lots of medium sized fishing ships and a large cruise ship. Somewhere past it we missed the turn and found ourselves in the countryside. We decided to go on to Glencolmcille, a small touristy town they had not been to. There wasn’t much in the town, but just past it was a pretty spot where they had a folk village, with thatched roof huts and outbuildings we could pay to tour. I didn’t want to go in, and somehow David did briefly, but then we took some photos of the nearby inlet and left.
As we started to drive back and look for the correct turn, I realized the car had a GPS system they did not know how to use. I programmed it for Slieve League and it took us down some really narrow roads, but we got there (we made a lot of fun of Ethel’s skill on the narrow streets). There is a parking lot at Slieve League, but it is not big. We got one of the last spots after someone pulled out. From there, it is an impressive walk only for the fit (Handicapped placards were allowed to drive out). The initial hill was very steep, recalling Baldwin Street in Dunedin. Once to the top of that, it was a relatively flat mile or so to the main cliffs viewpoint, but the entire area was cliff scenes. Unfortunately it started to rain as we walked up. I went ahead and took some gloomy photos with my waterproof camera. Slieve League has some high cliffs and a group of rock formations called the table and chair, below in the water, but with the rain coming down, it became a metaphor for the rest of the trip of a mild disappointment (not a huge one, like Chariots of Eggs). I walked around a lot, and we did get a delicious ice cream cone (honey!), but the sun never came out. The walk back was better and I noticed the scenery much more without my hood up.
From there we headed to our hotel, Harvey’s Point, along Lake/Lough Eske. The roads there were very narrow, but it was a nice spot. It had signs saying it was one of the top 10 hotels in Europe and was even #1 one year (!). It was nice, but no gym or spa, and those terrible roads in. My room was massive, with an antechamber, a huge bathroom with a large jacuzzi (that had a small Venus de Milo on the shelf above it), a large bed, and then a sitting area with a view of the lake. I was impressed, and I thought I was going to be paying for both of our rooms for the two nights, but the Walkers paid and would not let me reimburse them. We had dinner reservations there at 7. The food was excellent but the portions small, and I don’t remember any of the course (I now recall a single crab ravioli as a starter), though we did have a palate cleansing sorbet after the initial dish (it was a 4 course prix fixe menu for 65 E). I was still pretty hungry so I ate a protein bar when I got back and then went for a walk on the grounds, with some photos of the lakeside, before going to bed.
Wednesday: This was the first day we would split up. Ethel and David were going to go towards Sligo sight-seeing (and David did more clothes shopping :-), and I was to go for a hike. They had talked about me going into the hills north of the lake to look for an old crashed plane, but I talked to the concierge at the hotel and thought going around the lake would be better for me, especially since I was only a few days removed from a sore, tight calf. We met for breakfast, which was a fantastic array of food. I ate so much, but the most interesting thing was hot porridge with honey combs and jelly mixed in. After breakfast I got ready and left. It was nice and quiet early, but then the dark clouds rolled in. It started to rain while I was on a trail to the tip of the little peninsula south of the hotel. I was following a marked trail, the Bluestack Way, which I had run on (a portion on the road by the hotel), and I made the (incorrect!) assumption it would go around the lake, since it was not on the map I had. It was a nice, wide gravel and pine needle covered path, and I knew I would want to run on it the next day, but it came out onto some roads and I followed it up some steep hills. Finally I looked at my phone, which I had set to not use data, and I was way off where I wanted to be, and there was a sign to Donegal (I was actually on the very narrow roads we had driven in on!!). I turned around and hustled back down the hills to the junction and took the correct way to get back to where I wanted. From there it was all on roads, and not very scenic, weaving through the neighborhoods along the lake. It took forever to connect with the road I’d run on the western side in the morning, and the total hike was just over 13 miles, a lot of it in a light drizzle.
After cleaning up I rested with my feet up. We left for Eske Castle, which was a resort adjacent to Harvey’s Point, for dinner. It was a nice old castle, with big portraits hanging, but the dinner was in a modern wing. I finally paid for something. It was very good and more filling: a mushroom stuffed puff pastry, butternut squash risotto, and a raspberry tart from the “vegan” menu.
Castle Eske, I think restored about 150 years ago.
Thursday: After another big breakfast, we headed out for the Wild Atlantic Way north and west. It was a very pretty drive and the nicest weather of the week. We stopped for coffee in Dunloe, and continued up through small towns and past many small harbors to Dunfanaghy. There we had a rushed lunch and Ethel and David left for Derry. I was to stay in Dunfanaghy and do whatever I wanted until lunch on Friday.
Just across an inlet from Dunfanaghy is a famous scenic area, Horn Head, and I thought I was going to hike it Friday, so I was a little thrown off when David told me I should do that hike on Thursday afternoon.I thought it was 14 miles, and I had just done 13 the day before. Once I sat down and looked at it, it looked more like 14km, which was easily doable. The weather was fantastic, so I filled up my Camelbak in the hotel bathroom (I could not check in, but I could leave my bag there). I had more stuff in my bag than I needed, but it would be fine. The desk clerk told me where to go and gave me a map (very handy), and I set off through the town and across the narrow bridge. It was all on the country roads to the parking lot for the view, almost all uphill, but only about 800 feet of elevation to ascend. There were more cars than I hoped on the road, but it was never dangerous. I caught up to a couple from Maryland about halfway up and we chatted about various things until we reached the parking area. They took photos of me and I of them, and then I went on a trail to the tip of the peninsula. The trail was never bad, a bit muddy only a few times, and it went to the collapsing stone building used for an observation point during World War 2. By this point the sky was a vivid blue and everything looked as good as it can.
I walked back to the parking area and then climbed the hill to the observation area. It had some nice views as well. Not sure what that concrete box was.
From here I walked back. There was a different road that went east and south and up and down some more, with a long downhill into the outskirts of the town on that side. The total distance was just over 10 miles.
I was able to check into the Hotel (Arnold’s) when I got back. I was happy to take a shower and get off my feet, but first I killed about 6 flies, and had to kill a bunch more the rest of the evening. The wifi was spotty, but worked in the restaurant, where I had a filling meal and debated what to do with the rest of the evening. I went for a walk right after dinner to contemplate further. There was a pub a few doors away with live music, but it was getting close to 9 and it had been a long day, so I went to bed. Slight regrets.
Friday: After breakfast, I again left my bag at the desk and went for a walk. This one was on the same route initially, so over the narrow bridge, then turning left to the Largabruck Nature Reserve. The beautiful (!) parking lot was crossed to enter the trails. It was advised to go counter clockwise, so I did, and I was beset with biting flies for the first 15 minutes, maybe getting 6 bites and killing just as many that were trying to get me. Once I got out of the forest and into the meadow, they were not as bad, and the wind picked up. I progressed to dunes land and that track took me down to a beach. The grass was often quite high I had to push through, and it was kind of grass that would scratch your legs, so I was glad I had long pants on. There were some huge sand bunkers near the end, and then I was back at the parking lot. It was a 5km circuit.
I stopped in a local store on the way back to the hotel and bought some souvenirs, including a beautiful wooden cutting board and a warm-looking wool hat with fleece lining. In the store I found one of the biting flies on me and failed to kill it, unleashing it on the other customers. I waited at the hotel for the Walkers to come. They arrived right around 12, and we drove through town to an art gallery where David had ordered a painting. Next door to that was a museum for one of the work houses during the potato famine, and there I bought some nice Irish chocolate bars (absolutely delicious!!). From there we went to a place in town they fancied for lunch. It was a nice meal with good dessert. I left a bit early to go to a sweet shop next door for some Irish treats for work (very good!). After a brief stop at a beach, we drove back to Derry, during which David and I fell asleep, much to Ethel’s delight.
When we got back, I did my laundry, which was a huge help, though their machines were small and it took a while. We went to dinner early at a hip, modern place in Derry. When we got back, we talked about travel, especially their trip to the Canadian Rockies. Before bed, I packed strategically so everything I would need was in my backpack and I wouldn’t need to open my big bag.
Saturday: As soon as I saw the Peace Bridge across the river, I knew I wanted to run across it. It was far enough I put it off until this morning, but it turned out, even with a few wrong turns, to only be 4.5 miles roundtrip. It is a beautiful bridge for pedestrians, and on each side are nice running and cycling paths. When I got back, I had time for a tour of the rest of the house and the property (when I snuck in the pull-ups). They took me to the bus depot and left me. The bus left right on time and took about 3:45 to get to Dublin airport. It took a while to connect with Micheal and Chichi there as this bus dropped passengers right at the main terminal, but then we were back to their place. We went to a nice restaurant for dinner and then to bed.
We left for the airport at 6am. Unlike the US, the gates didn’t even open until 3 hours before departure, so we waited in line a long time to check in, but everything else went ok. We thought we would leave early, but then, of course, not, and got to Newark at a time where there was no ground crew, so we waited again to park the plane, and then 3.5 hours for our luggage. It was terrible. But the trip back was ok from then on.
Summary: Ireland is a great place, one of the best destinations, and you should try to see all of it over several trips. I am so grateful to my Irish friends. They were beyond generous with their time and money. I cannot repay them, but I will surely try to see them again! Irish public transport is useful if a bit slow, and you can use it to get to the cities for sure. Be ready for rain, but even in a gloomy drizzle Ireland is a magical, charming place.