FI Top 25 walks in Ireland

TOP WALKS IN IRELAND

A selection of the best day walks in Ireland

Introduction by Christopher Somerville Irish Independent walk of the week author

W

alking the old drove road along the cliffs of the Burren on the coast of County Clare, wild flowers spattering the rocks with a dozen colours, the setting sun splashing gold across the Aran Islands out ahead in Galway Bay, I knew this was a little slice of heaven. And the further I’ve walked across the magical green island of Ireland, seeking out country hikes for my ‘Walk of the Week’ column in the Irish Independent, the more heavenly slices of landscape, legend, wildlife and good company I’ve found.

Lucky Ireland possesses some of the best walking country in the world – green and lush, wild and hilly enough to look sensational, yet not so lonely or mountainous as to be daunting. Everyone wants to walk here, locals and visitors alike. There are more than 30 Waymarked Ways to cater for the serious long-distance hiker. Yet thanks to inadequate mapping and a tangled history of who owns precisely what, it’s always been hard to set out on the sort of circular country walk that you can do in a morning or an afternoon, without wondering if you’re really supposed to be there and where exactly you’re supposed to go.

Up till now, that is!

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ow a fabulous network of National Looped Walks has been established all across Ireland, both north and south. There are well over 200 to seek out – and here in this booklet you’ll find tasters for twenty-five of the best, all of which I have walked and written about in the Irish Independent weekend magazine:

• near Dublin, both north (Hill of Howth) and south (Wicklow hills)

• the east coast from Carlingford Lough to the Midlands and the Slieve Bloom hills

• the south-east around the Blackstairs and the Comeraghs, two contrasting hill ranges

• the sensational wild flowers of the Burren, Co. Clare, and the walking hub of the Ballyhoura hills on the Cork/Limerick border, both jewels of the Shannon region • the famous south-western counties of Cork and Kerry from the Sheep’s Head peninsula to the mountains and lakes of Killarney National Park • the romantic west - the Connemara mountains of west Galway and the rugged coasts of Mayo • the north-west from the splendours of Donegal’s Glenveagh National Park and the gentle lake county of Cavan to the glories of the Sligo coast (‘Yeats Country’) • Northern Ireland’s wonderful hills – legendary Slieve Gullion down in South Armagh, the rolling Sperrins of Co. Tyrone, the foothills of the famed Mountains of Mourne, and St Patrick’s holy hill of Slemish

Cover Image: Dursey Island - West Cork

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These walks have brought me all the winds and weathers Ireland can throw at a walker: a good drenching on the sandhills of the Low Rosses out on the Sligo coast (necessitating a complete change of clothes in the pub corridor!), snow flurries in the Dublin Mountains, a blasting gale on the Sheep’s Head peninsula in west Cork, and perfect weather among the flowery Burren hills. I have walked with the shades of ferocious queens, martial giants, wicked witches and enchanted swans. Romantic castle ruins, tangled woodlands with secret gardens, underground tunnels, shrines in the mountains.

Orchids, seabirds, mating frogs, running deer.

Mind-blowing views from mountain-tops, the savour of secret valleys and hollows.

• For details and maps for over 200 National Looped walks, long distance routes, walking holidays, walking festivals & great walking destinations throughout Ireland visit: www.discoverireland.ie/walking • Christopher Somerville’s ‘Walk of the Week’ column in the Irish Independent: www.independent.ie/travel/inside-ireland Acknowledgement: with thanks to the Irish Independent Newspaper for reproduction of text & maps.

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Contents No.

Walk Route

County

Pg

1

Howth Peninsula,

Co. Dublin

06

2

Fairy Castle,

Dublin Mountains

08

3

Ballycumber Hill, Tinahely,

Co. Wicklow

10

4

Barnavave and Carlingford,

Co. Louth

12

5

Silver River and Paul’s Lane Loops, Slieve Bloom Mountains, Co. Offaly 14

6

Kilmacoliver Hill,

7

Dolmen Loop, Lisvernane, Glen of Aherlow, Co. Tipperary 18

8

Carne to Rosslare Harbour,

9

Coumduala Lough, Comeragh Mountains, Co. Waterford 22

10

Lighthouse Loop, Sheep’s Head Peninsula, Co. Cork 24

11

Mount Hillary,

12

Muckross Lake and Torc Waterfall, Killarney National Park, Co. Kerry 28

13

Windy Gap, Iveragh Peninsula,

Co. Kerry

30

14

Máméan, Connemara,

Co. Galway

32

15

Children of Lir Loop, Carrowteige,

Co. Mayo

34

16

Arigna Miner’s Way,

Co. Roscommon

36

17

Black Head Loop, Burren,

Co. Clare

38

18

Canon Sheehan Loop, Ballyhoura Mountains, Co. Limerick and Cork 40

19

Glenveagh National Park,

Co. Donegal

42

20

The Rosses,

Co. Sligo

44

21

Castle Lake, Bailieborough,

Co. Cavan

46

22

Tollymore Forest Park to Meelmore Lodge, Mourne Mountains, Co. Down 48

23

Slieve Gullion,

Co. Armagh

50

24

Vinegar Hill Loop, Sperrin Hills,

Co. Tyrone

52

25

Slemish Mountain,

Co. Antrim

54

Co. Kilkenny

Co. Wexford

Co. Cork

16

20

26

19. Glenveagh National Park ANTRIM

LETTERKENNY

Broughshane

DONEGAL

DERRY

25. Slemish Mountain

BALLYMENA

STRABANE TYRONE

DONEGAL

Draperstown

24. Vinegar Hill Loop

ANTRIM

COOKSTOWN

OMAGH

20. The Rosses 15. Children of Lir Loop

LISBURN LURGAN

16. Arigna Miner’s Way

Carrowteige

ENNISKILLEN

ARMAGH

Rosses Point FERMANAGH

MONAGHAN

DOWN

ARMAGH

22. Tollymore to Meelmore

Newcastle

SLIGO

NEWRY

SLIGO

MONAGHAN

BALLINA

Keadew MAYO

23. Slieve Gullion Carlingford

LEITRIM

DUNDALK

CAVAN CAVAN

Bailieborough

ROSCOMMON

4. Barnavave and Carlingford

LOUTH

21. Castle Lake

WESTPORT LONGFORD

DROGHEDA

LONGFORD ROSCOMMON MEATH

MULLINGAR

Maam Cross

WESTMEATH

MAYNOOTH DUBLIN Howth

ATHLONE

GALWAY

14. Máméan

DUBLIN GALWAY

17. Black Head Loop

TULLAMORE OFFALY

KILDARE

Silver River & Paul’s Lane Loops

Black Head

1. Howth Peninsula 2. Fairy Castle

KILDARE

BIRR PORTLAOISE

5. Silver River and Paul’s Lane Loops

WICKLOW

LAOIS

ENNIS

Tinahely

CARLOW

CLARE

3. Kyle Loop

CARLOW

THURLES

SHANNON

KILKENNY KILKENNY

TIPPERARY LIMERICK NEWCASTLE WEST

MITCHELSTOWN

Glen of Aherlow

CLONMEL

NEW ROSS CARRICK-ON-SUIR

WEXFORD

Ballymacarbry

KILLARNEY

Glenbeigh

DUNGARVAN

Muckross

CORK

Munterwary or Sheep’s Head

9. Coumduala Lough, Comeragh Mountains

CORK

KENMARE

13. Windy Gap

TRAMORE

Banteer

Killarney National Park

7. Dolmen Loop, Lisvernane 18. Canon Sheehan Loop

BANTRY

11. Mount Hillary

SKIBBEREEN

12. Muckross Lake 10. Lighthouse Loop

8. Carne to Rosslare Harbour

ROSSLARE HARBOUR

WATERFORD KERRY

6. Kilmacoliver Hill

WEXFORD

TIPPERARY

Ardpatrick TRALEE

WICKLOW

Howth Peninsula, Co. Dublin A beautiful late winter’s morning, cold and blue, as a bunch of us left Howth DART station to walk the cliffs of the Howth peninsula. Soon we’d passed above the broad curve of Balscadden Bay and were out among the heather and gorse of the Nose of Howth, with wonderful views to the north over the green sister islands of Ireland’s Eye and Lambay. A seal surfaced close inshore, bobbing in the water like a fat bald man in a wetsuit as he watched a fisherman take up his catch.

By the white Baily lighthouse we stopped to stare across Dublin Bay at the graceful line of blue mountain peaks twenty miles off in mist-hazed Wicklow. The path passed exotic sub-tropical gardens, and dropped to Doldrum Bay before looping inland and back to Howth through head-high thickets of gorse on the slopes of Shielmartin.

In Howth Demesne lies a great portal dolmen with a hundred-ton capstone a quoit thrown from the Bog of Allen by the mighty arm of Fionn MacCumhaill.

That’s a fitting end to a legend of a walk.

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Top walks in Ireland

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1,50,000 Discovery 50 TRAVEL: Dart to Howth from Dublin City Centre. Car: M50/ Junction 3 WALK DIRECTIONS: (Purple arrows) From the DART Station go left along Howth harbour. (detour right up Abbey street to collegiate ruin, then right again up church street for Howth Abbey). Continue along the harbour, then follow the purple arrows for four miles along cliffs, past Bailey lighthouse and on past Doldrum Bay. Just short of Martello tower, bear right to cross Carrick-brack road. Follow the purple arrows through gorse over the golf course and onto the Bog of Frogs. Bear left downhill through Balkhill park estate to Howth DART station. (detour left along the road for 400m to find gates to Howth castle, Howth Demense & Aideens Grave) LENGTH: 6.5 miles: allow 3 hours GRADE: Moderate CONDITIONS: Coastal tracks DON’T MISS…!

• Howth collegiate and Abbey • View from the eastern cliffs of Dublin bay •

& the Wicklow Mountains Beaches around Doldrum Bay

REFRESHMENTS: Abbey Tavern, La Cucina.

ACCOMMODATION: Clontarf Castle. +353 (0) 1 833 2321 www.clontarfcastle.ie FURTHER INFORMATION: Downloadable maps & walks details www.discoverireland.ie/walking

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Fairy Castle, Dublin Mountains

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 50

Rising right on Dublin’s southern doorstep, the Dublin Mountains make a downbeat overture to the symphony of the Wicklow Hills. But many a mightier mountain owns views far less stunning than those from the modest peaks of Kilmashogue, Three Rock Mountain and Fairy Castle.

Christopher Stacey of Footfalls Walking Holidays led us up through the pines of Kilmashogue forest to the Three Stones, wind-sculpted granite tors in whose shelter we savoured one of the most breathtaking panoramas in Ireland – the Sugarloaf and Kippure spattered with snow, the swell of the higher Wicklow peaks trailing whorls of hill fog, and an enormous slice of coast from the Cooley mountains to the lumpy outpost of Wicklow Head. At the summit of Fairy Castle, high over the Three Stones, the prospect was even better. From there we scrambled down in snow flurries and followed the Wicklow Way back to base.

Two verticals claimed the eye among the horizontals of the city lying dead ahead – the twin chimneys of Poolbeg power station, striped red and white like a Cork hurler’s stockings.

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TRAVEL: Rail (www.luas.ie): Luas Green Line to Balally (3½ miles) Bus (www.dublinbus.ie): 44B to Blackglen Road (2½ miles) Road: M50 Jct 13; R133, R113 towards Rockbrook; pass under M50, then immediately left uphill for ½ mile to Kilmashogue car park on left (OS of I ref O 151245).

WALK DIRECTIONS: From car park follow Wicklow Way ‘walking man’ markers (WW) up forest road for 1½ miles. Where WW turns right up steps (OS ref 164232), ahead for 20m, then fork left along gravel road for ¾ mile to pole barrier and road (175234). Right to Three Stones to admire view over Wicklow Hills and Dublin Bay. Return to junction just below radio masts (176233); left by Coillte notice, up path to cairn on Fairy Castle (172224). Straight ahead down clear track for ¼ mile to turn right (166222) on WW; follow to car park.

LENGTH: 6 miles: allow 3 hours GRADE: Easy/Moderate DON’T MISS…!

• breathtaking views over Dublin Bay and the Wicklow Hills from the Three Stones

REFRESHMENTS: Picnic ACCOMMODATION: The Merrion Hotel, 21 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2 www.merrionhotel.com FURTHER INFORMATION: www.coillteoutdoors.ie Footfalls walking holidays www.walkinghikingireland.com

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Ballycumber Hill, Tinahely, Co. Wicklow In the jovial company of Hugh Coogan, farmer and walker, and his friend and neighbour Mary O’Connor, we set off along the Wicklow Way through the hills of South Wicklow. At the seven-gated Ballybeg Rath a great lump of red and white quartzite lay in the leathery old throat of an ancient ash, and around Ballycumber ford the stream banks were splashed sky-blue with brooklime.

After tea at Kyle Farmhouse we climbed Ballycumber Hill to a sublime prospect – Eagle Hill with its warty lump of rock, the wide farming plains of Carlow out west where great flats of milky rain went sliding across fields, woods and boglands, and Lugnaquilla’s purple back rising like a fish on the long wave of the northern skyline.

At the far end of the crest we savoured another tremendous viewpoint over Carlow and Wexford to the peak of Mount Leinster, capping the Blackstairs range twenty miles off, before bowling down an old green cart track to find the Wicklow Way curling at the foot of the hill once more.

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WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 62 TRAVEL: M11/N11 to Exit 20; R747 Arklow-Aughrim-Tinahely.

Entering village, where road turns sharp left to cross bridge, turn right up minor road. Take first left (Mangan’s Lane); follow it uphill for a mile to Trailhead at Mangan’s (OSI ref T 0342748).

WALK DIRECTIONS: (Purple arrows/PA; yellow Wicklow Way/WW waymarks): From Trailhead, follow PA to path junction; right along Wicklow Way (WW) past McNamara Memorial (043751) and Ballybeg Rath (050763) to Ballycumber Ford. Left up surfaced road for ½ mile to pass old school house (044773).

Following PA, continue for ½ mile; at right bend (045780), left over stile, up forest track for 300m, then right on forest road for mile to road at Sandyford Bridge.

Ahead for ¼ mile (‘Kyle Farmhouse’). At Ros Aoibinn house gate, left up laneway. Cross Kyle Farmhouse drive; head up walled lane. In 50m, right through gate; follow track uphill, then beside forestry fence along hilltop for 1½ miles. Where fence turns left (029762), follow it left downhill for 350m; right over stile; follow path opposite downhill through heather to meet cart track. Left to meet Wicklow Way, and return to Trailhead.

LENGTH: 9 miles: allow 3-4 hours GRADE: Moderate CONDITIONS: Field and forest paths, green lanes, minor roads DON’T MISS…!

• • •

Sensational views from Ballycumber Hill Ballybeg Rath Luke O’Toole’s memorial

ACCOMMODATION: Kyle Farmhouse, Tinahely, Co. Wicklow +353 (0) 59 647 1341 www.kylefarm.com

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Barnavave and Carlingford, Co. Louth The beautiful inlet of Carlingford Lough separates the Mourne Mountains from the steep green slopes of the Cooley Peninsula. Cooley is the setting for the Táin Bó Cuailnge, the epic poem that recounts a bloody struggle between Queen Medbh of Connacht and Cúchulainn, champion of Ulster.

From the saddle of Golyin Pass high over Carlingford one looks west over the mythic battlefield, to Windy Gap, gouged out in three days by Medbh’s army, and the shallow valley of the River Cronn where famed Ualu drowned under his flagstone. Pictured from here, the old tale still holds its magic.

Under the peak of Barnavave in Medbh’s Gap, the steep pass where the wild queen and her cohorts camped, lies a court tomb an alignment of mossy stones perhaps 7,000 years old. And a little way down the slope you come to an abandoned village of stone-built houses, huddled together along a tangle of cobbled lanes and bracken-smothered potato fields - a vanished society as far removed from our modern way of life as any brave old legend.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 36; downloadable map/ instructions (highly recommended) TRAVEL: Bus: 161 Dundalk-Newry (www.buseireann.ie); 502, 701 (www.louthlinx.com) Road: M1 to Dundalk; R173 to Carlingford. Main car park by Tourist Information Centre.

WALK DIRECTIONS: Walk past Taaffe’s Castle to town square; up Savage’s Hill (to right of Savage’s Butchers). Where tarmac ends, ahead up walled green lane. Halfway up hill, track passes through gate on left and continues upward as green path. Turn right up Táin Way when you meet it (yellow ‘walking man’ marker). At pass, ‘Slieve Foye’ marker points right. In 50m, Táin Way ‘walking man’ arrow points ahead; left here up fence towards Barnavave. Keep fence (then wall) on right; steeply down Medbh’s Gap. 50m below left-right dogleg, right through wall (Court Tomb lies uphill in angle of wall). Path bears diagonally downhill to deserted village. Follow wall to right, then left by houses down walled lane. In 50m, right between walls; in 100m, right through wall; descend; left along lane. In ¼ mile, ahead (not right!) at fork; continue ¼ mile to tarmac road; left to Carlingford.

LENGTH: 5 miles: allow 3 hours GRADE: Moderate/Hard CONDITIONS: Field and forest paths, green lanes, minor roads DON’T MISS…!

• Views from saddle over Carlingford Lough to • •

Mourne Mountains Megalithic tomb in Medbh’s Gap Deserted village

REFRESHMENTS: P.J. O’Hare’s, Tholsel Street, Carlingford ACCOMMODATION: Beaufort House, Ghan Road, Carlingford +353 (0) 42 937 3879 www.beauforthouse.net FURTHER INFORMATION: Guided walks: Contact Aude Laffon +353 (0) 871 335159 www.setantatours.com

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Top walks in Ireland

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Silver River and Paul’s Lane Loops, Slieve Bloom Mountains, Co. Laois & Co. Offaly The Slieve Blooms are full of keen walkers.

From Dempsey’s pub in Cadamstown a cheerful bunch of us set out along the Old Munster Road, an ancient highway stretching straight to the skyline. In a field alongside we found the remnants of St Lughna’s monastery – a fragment of gable rising between two thorn trees on a grassy knoll, an arched wellhead below an enigmatically staring stone face.

We crossed the Silver River and walked on under hillsides running with trickling streamlets. Every sprig of heather and spear of rush held a row of trembling drops, sent flying in showers of glassy brilliance as we brushed against them in passing.

Up in the forestry we trod a grassy track between the sombre conifers.

A quiet, chesty purring, like that of a well satisfied cat, emanated from the wet hillsides where dozens of mating frogs were deep in their springtime delights. Under the trees we followed sunken paths, to emerge into daylight and follow the Silver River back to Cadamstown through a glen of sparkling waterfalls and weirs.

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WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 54; www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Rail: (www.irishrail.ie): Roscrea or Tullamore (13 miles) Bus: (www.buseireann.ie): Birr (12 miles) Road: N7 to Mountrath, R440 to Kinnitty, R421 to Cadamstown WALK DIRECTIONS: From Dempsey’s pub car park, Cadamstown, left over bridge; in 200m, left along Old Munster Road (signed). In half a mile, on left bend, turn right across field to St Lughna’s Monastery and Well. Continue along road; through gate, bear left down to cross river. Continue (green arrows, Slieve Bloom Way ‘walking man’) to May Scully’s Cottage. Just beyond, hairpin back left (green arrow) on forestry track. Enter trees; in ¼ mile, left (watch out for green arrows on post and tree), follow green arrows through trees to cross Purcells’ Brook. Continue (green arrows, soon joined by red arrows) down to turn right along Silver River (red arrows), back to Cadamstown.

LENGTH: 4 miles approx: allow 2-3 hours GRADE: Easy/Moderate CONDITIONS: Green arrow waymarks. Steep and slippery along the Silver River.

DON’T MISS…!

• • •

St Lughna’s Well and monastery Farming landscape hidden in the forest Waterfalls along Silver River

REFRESHMENTS: Dempsey’s pub, Cadamstown +353 (0) 57 913 7103 ACCOMMODATION: Ardmore House, Kinnitty, Co. Offaly +353 (0) 57 913 7009 www.kinnitty.com FURTHER INFORMATION:

www.slievebloom.ie

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Kilmacoliver Hill, Co. Kilkenny On a breezy, sunny day in Kilkenny it was wonderful to walk the shaded lanes at the foot of Kilmacoliver Hill. A long mile up the mountain we passed the ruined farm of Bregaun. Maidenhair ferns sprang from the naked gables, moss lay thick in the window frames, and sinews of ivy were slowly and silently easing the damp old walls into their component stones.

The path led up through open fields pungent with pineapple-scented mayweed to the summit of Kilmacoliver Hill, where a great circle of rough and jagged rocks enclosed the recumbent, weather-eroded stones of a megalithic tomb. The flatlands of Kilkenny stretched north for maybe forty miles, the humpy spine of the Comeragh mountains rose in Waterford far to the south-west, and nearer at hand the Hill of the Women, Sliabh na mBan, curled gracefully in a recumbent female shape of slate blue and pearly grey.

We lingered long over this breathtaking prospect before descending the northern slopes of Kilmacoliver Hill. Looking back we saw the old stones at the crown standing proud, black and tiny against the blue sky.

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WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 75; downloadable map/ instructions (highly recommended) at www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Rail (www.irishrail.ie) to Carrick-on-Suir (5 miles) Bus: (1890-42-41-41; www.ringalink.ie) to Tullaghought Road: From Kilkenny, N76 to Callan; R698, 697 to Tullaghought (signed). Right at village crossroads; trailhead car park in 300m on right (Loop Walk noticeboard).

WALK DIRECTIONS: Continue along road from car park, passing shrine to Our Lady, then side road on right. In 150m, opposite house with white railings, left up lane (purple arrow waymark/PA). Follow lane round right bend by farm. Track surface turns from tarmac to dirt; continue for nearly 2km, to go over step stile by gate and pass ruined farmhouse of Bregaun. In 50m, muddy track swings right into field; but keep ahead here up walled lane (PA) for 70m, then right up steps to follow PAs through open fields. Keep hedge on left and follow PAs up to triangulation pillar and stone circle on summit of Kilmacoliver Hill. Turn right off hill, following fence line to bottom. Right past gate (don’t go over!); in 100m, left over step stile; follow path through woods to road. Left to house with white railings; right to car park.

LENGTH: 4 miles: allow 2 hours GRADE: Moderate DON’T MISS…!

• • •

Spring and ponds at start of walk Stone circle and tomb on Kilmacoliver Hill View from the hill

REFRESHMENTS: Take a picnic ACCOMMODATION: Selection of Guesthouses, B&Bs, Hotels www.discoverireland.ie/kilkenny FURTHER INFORMATION: www.trailkilkenny.ie

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Dolmen Loop, Lisvernane, Glen of Aherlow, Co. Tipperary If you want to meet a man with a twinkle in his eye, go walking with Michael Moroney of Lisvernane. Rarely can so much enthusiasm, so much energy and good humour have been packed into one human frame.

Sliabh na Muc is a beautiful hill, a smooth climb to an outstanding view. At the top of the mountain Michael pointed out the lichen-blotched grey structure of Shrough dolmen, a massive portal tomb built to hold the mortal remains of Stone Age grandees some five thousand years ago. No-one with an ounce of soul could fail to appreciate just why this spot was chosen, with the whole uplift of the Galty Mountains spread superbly in the south, their high tops and flanks still streaked today with late snowfall, seen in full glory across the glen that opened a thousand feet below.

Moving on was a wrench. But we had the graceful curl of Sliabh na mBan as a lodestone in front of us as we headed west along rocky, peaty rides, then down into the Glen of Aherlow once more.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 66, 74; downloadable map/instructions at www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Rail (www.irishrail.ie): Tipperary (10 miles) Road: N8 to Cashel, N74 to Tipperary, R664 to Newtown, R663 to Lisvernane.

WALK DIRECTIONS: (follow red arrows): From Moroney’s pub, left; in 200m, left (arrows on wall) up lane. In mile, right (arrows) up muddy boreen. In 200m, right (arrows) up forest track. Left at top (arrows). In ¼ mile, Pádraigh’s Loop (blue arrows) curves right; but go left here (red arrow, ‘Ballyhoura Way’ sign), then left again (arrow) down through trees. Right (arrow) up boreen; follow this for ¾ mile to bench.

Sharp right (arrow) up ridge of Slievenamuck for 1 mile to dolmen at summit. On for 250m; right (arrow) through young trees for 150m; left on lower track. Then follow arrows east for 1 mile, to turn right (arrow) on grassy path going west. In 300m Pádraigh’s Loop rejoins; in another mile hairpin back to left (arrows) down through trees for ½ mile to The Avenue. Right (arrows) for ¾ mile to road junction; right into Lisvernane.

LENGTH: 7 miles: allow 3-4 hours GRADE: Moderate CONDITIONS: Muddy on the forest tracks DON’T MISS…!

• Views of the Galtees and Slievenamon from Slievenamuck

• Shrough Dolmen (a.k.a. Diarmuid and •

Gráinne’s Bed) A pint in Moroney’s after the walk

REFRESHMENTS: Moroney’s pub, Lisvernane +353 (0) 62 56156 ACCOMMODATION: Aherlow House Hotel, Glen of Aherlow, Co Tipperary. +353 (0) 62 56153 www.aherlowhouse.ie

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Top walks in Ireland

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Carne to Rosslare Harbour, Co. Wexford

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 77; detailed map/ instructions in ‘Slí Charman’ booklet guide.

A glorious winter’s morning on Carne jetty, with a peerless blue sky plastered over the County Wexford coast. We ran along the shore like a pair of fools, then sauntered arm in arm on the sands, letting the great curve of the beach draw the eye on along the low sandy cliffs to vanishing point a couple of miles ahead.

TRAVEL: Rail (www.irishrail.ie) or bus (www.buseireann.ie) to Rosslare Europort; bus service 378, Wexford-Carne; taxi (087 236 6756 or 087 991 0233) to Carne. Road: N25 towards Rosslare Harbour; at Kilrane, right on minor roads to Carne.

Out at sea the dark upturned hull of the Whilkeen Rock broke the small waves into foam, and on the strand lay ancient boulders of granite, hulking and sea-smoothed, criss-crossed with thick raised seams like the back of a much-flogged old salt.

LENGTH: 5 miles: allow 2-3 hours

Once we got to Greenore Point the strands came alive with hurrying, stooping, pattering birds: dunlin, turnstones, sanderlings, cormorants with outheld wings. The nondescript, blackish rocks off the point were ancient when Noah was a lad. They have been lying here for 1,700,000,000 years. That was something to picture as we turned the corner of the headland and made for Rosslare Harbour over a crunchy carpet of clean-picked crab and mussel shells.

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WALK DIRECTIONS: From Carne Pier, walk north along coast to Rosslare Harbour – it’s that simple! NB It’s best to do this walk on a falling tide. High tide can make St Helen’s Pier and Greenore Point impassable, but you can detour inland from St Helen’s to Rosslare Harbour (see map).

GRADE: Easy CONDITIONS: Sandy strands or coast path.

DON’T MISS…!

• Multicoloured ribbon weed and shells along the strands

• Shore waders around Greenore Point • Ancient rocks off Greenore Point – they are 1,700,000,000 years old!

REFRESHMENTS: Lighthouse Inn, Carne - +353 (0) 53 913 1131 ACCOMMODATION: Glendine House, Arthurstown, Co. Wexford +353 (0) 51 389 500 www.glendinehouse.com FURTHER INFORMATION: ‘Slí Charman’ booklet guide by Ray McGrath available locally and at Tourist office

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Coumduala Lough, Comeragh Mountains, Co. Waterford Breakfast at Hanora’s Cottage Hotel in the Nire Valley – now that’s a god-like start to a misty day among the Comeragh Mountains in the company of Michael Hickey, a man of the hills whom you would trust to take you there and lead you back through all winds and weathers.

From the hillside at the end of the valley road, Michael named the peaks and hollows - Tooreen ridge, Coumfea (‘Deer Hollow’), and Curraghduff (‘Black Moor’) sheltering the twin loughs of Sgilloge.

We followed a sedgy old green road towards The Gap, then forged steeply uphill over knolls and dips until we could look down from the spine of Knockanaffrin (‘Mass Hill’) onto Lough Coumduala lying five hundred feet below, pear-shaped, with the muted gleam of a polished bronze mirror.

Descending the steep breast of the Mass Hill, Michael Hickey flung out an arm to embrace the mountain ranges in view - Comeraghs, Galtees and Knockmealdowns. ‘If only people would lift their eyes from working 24 hours a day and look what’s there for the taking, they’d all be out walking.’

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WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 75 TRAVEL: Rail: (www.irishrail.ie): Clonmel (12 miles) Bus: (www.buseireann.ie): 386 (Tuesdays), 388 (Fridays) to Ballymacarbry (4 miles from Hanora’s Cottage) Road: N24 to Clonmel; R671 (Dungarvan road) to Ballymacarbry; left on minor road to pass Hanora’s Cottage near Labartt’s Bridge; continue for 2 miles to car park at end of road (OS of I ref. S 278128).

WALK DIRECTIONS: From car park, follow brown ‘The Gap’ sign and white posts uphill, making for a wall on your right.

Cross wall through gate; follow white posts for 1½ miles on moorland path to a stile at The Gap. Left here, steeply uphill with a fence on your right. In mile another fence comes into view, running downhill to left. Cross fence on your right by stile here; go to edge of cliffs to view Coumduala Lough (NB Please take great care! Unfenced sheer cliffs!). Continue along fence for 100m to recross by another stile; turn downhill with fence on your left, and follow it back to car park.

LENGTH: 4 miles: allow 2-3 hours GRADE: Hard CONDITIONS: Rough moorland tracks; avoid in heavy mist.

Steep upward climb from The Gap to Coumduala Lough viewpoint.

DON’T MISS…!

• • •

South and westward views from Knockanaffrin Eastward views from The Gap Prospect over Coumduala Lough from the cliffs

REFRESHMENTS: Picnic ACCOMMODATION: Hanora’s Cottage, Nire Valley, Ballymacarbry, Co. Waterford +353 (0) 52 613 6134 www.hanorascottage.com

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Lighthouse Loop, Sheep’s Head Peninsula, West Cork, Co.Cork Sheep’s Head is wild. It’s rough, and it’s windy. The northward view from above Lough Akeen is stunning - the sleeping whale shape of Bear Island, with the great hummocks of Slieve Miskish and the Caha Mountains beyond forming the dinosaur spine of the Beara Peninsula. Even Jimmy Tobin, who has been farming these hill slopes for more years than he cares to count, leaned on his stick and gazed around in appreciation at a view he must have seen ten thousand times.

Along the north coast of Sheep’s Head the path grew progressively wilder, running along the very rim of sheer cliffs that plunged past kittiwake ledges to a yeasty, milky green sea. We made inland through a jigsaw of small stone-walled fields. Jimmy gestured to the overgrown square of a tiny hayfield. ‘I last took a cut of hay out of that with a scythe when I was fifteen, and carried it back to the house barefoot. That was the way of it,’ said Jimmy, half to himself, ‘and we weren’t any the worse.’

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 88; downloadable map/ instructions at www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Bus (www.buseireann.ie): Service 255 (Saturday only) from Macroom and Bantry to Kilcrohane Road: N71 Bantry towards Ballydehob; R591 to Durrus; minor road signed to Ahakista, Kilcrohane and Tooreen (Sheep’s Head Café).

WALK DIRECTIONS: (Follow blue arrows): From Sheep’s Head Café, ahead down road, then path. Cross lower end of Lough Akeen; follow ‘lighthouse’ sign past helicopter pad to lighthouse. Return and pass along left side of green stores container; continue along valley, then north coast clifftops for 1 mile to marker post with blue arrow pointing right. Aim for post above; follow rough waymark boards and orange/yellow waymarkers back to café.

LENGTH: 2½ miles: allow 2-3 hours GRADE: Moderate CONDITIONS: Can be very wet and boggy underfoot – walking boots advisable after rain. Slippery paths near unguarded cliff edge in places – keep kids under control.

Bring a stick for balance, and midge cream.

DON’T MISS…!

• Panoramic view over Lough Akeen • Sheep’s Head lighthouse • Sheep’s Head Café’s apple pie, fresh-baked by Bernie Tobin REFRESHMENTS: Sheep’s Head Café +353 (0) 27 678 78 ACCOMMODATION: Hillcrest Farm, Ahakista, Durrus, Sheep’s Head, Co. Cork +353 (0) 27 670 45 www.ahakista.com FURTHER INFORMATION: www.discoverireland.ie/cork

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Mount Hillary, Co. Cork The forest track up Mount Hillary (‘Cnoc an Fhiolair’, or Eagle Mount) climbs steadily between dark walls of spruce, pine and fir. The information panels along the trail are uniformly excellent, a treasure-house of rural lore, natural history and geology. You learn variously of the folding of old red sandstone, of how young walkers can make a dreamcatcher from willow and feathers, of rowan berry cures for gout, scurvy and the squitters.

An old forgotten road runs far below, an ancient cattle-droving highway thirty yards wide between thick hedges. Magnificent views begin to open northwards across the plains of Duhallow to the long grey backs of the Mullaghareirk, Ballyhoura and Galtee ranges out on the skyline.

The track tops out on the summit of Mount Hillary at 1,283ft (391m).

Here’s the place to sit and take in the southward view, a rolling sea of hill crests and slopes broken by the Boggeragh hills and the far-off mountains of Derrynasaggart, like a school of smooth old porpoises in a surf of cloud.

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WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 80; downloadable map/ instructions at www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Rail (www.irishrail.ie): Banteer (5km).

Bus (www.buseireann.ie): 243 from Newmarket (Saturdays).

Road: From Mallow, N72 Killarney road; left on R579 through Banteer. In 2km, left across Glen River (brown ‘National Loop Walk Trailhead’ fingerpost). Trailhead in 3km on right.

WALK DIRECTIONS: From Trailhead follow ‘Mount Hillary Loop’ red arrows (RA) up forest road. In 150m, right (RA).

In 2km, left (RA) past posts, up steep bank with steps. Right along forest road. In 2.5km, where ‘Father Murphy’s Loop’ blue arrows point ahead, turn right off road (RA) through trees, then left (RA) up track at edge of trees to summit triangulation pillar. Continue past telecommunications masts (RA); in 500m, trail swings left and descends by long zigzags to Trailhead.

LENGTH: 6½ miles: allow 3-4 hours GRADE: Moderate (but with one short steep section) CONDITIONS: Walking boots recommended DON’T MISS…!

• • •

Views north and south Excellent information boards Prehistoric communications mast at summit!

REFRESHMENTS: Picnic; or White Country Inn, Banteer +353 (0) 29 562 57 ACCOMMODATION: Hibernian Hotel, Mallow Tel: +353 (0) 22 582 00 www.hibernianhotelmallow.com FURTHER INFORMATION: ‘Walking Duhallow’ leaflets available from local Tourist office, or from IRD Duhallow, James O’Keeffe Institute, Newmarket, Co. Cork www.discoverireland.ie/cork

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Muckross Lake and Torc Waterfall, Killarney National Park, Co. Kerry Given the hundreds of thousands of sight-seers who throng Killarney National Park every year, it’s remarkable how those wonderful lakes and mountains of County Kerry have retained their tranquil beauty and their air of peace and quiet.

On a brisk afternoon between winter and spring I set out through the grounds of Muckross House. The path ran west along a narrowing isthmus among gnarly old yew trees. A gleam of water on my left hand, and suddenly Muckross Lake lay spread in all its glory, sparkling as if a million diamonds had been strewn there. Lough Leane opened on the right, as big as a sea inlet by comparison, with a ridge of mountains far away on the northern skyline – Slieve Mish, the backbone of the Dingle Peninsula some 15 miles off.

I strolled the circuit of Muckross Lake, then climbed the steep zigzag path to Torc Waterfall. The cataract sluiced down a dark mossy channel, in creamy skeins as delicate and lacy as a Shetland shawl, turning once before crashing down into a pool in a rainbow mist.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 78; Muckross Estate map from Killarney National Park visitor centre, Muckross House. www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Rail (www.irishrail.ie) to Killarney; jaunting car or bus (www.buseireann.ie) to Muckross.

Road: N71 from Killarney towards Kenmare; Muckross House signed on right in 3 miles. Free car park.

WALK DIRECTIONS: Leaving Muckross House, ahead along avenue; left in 250 yards (‘Dinis Cottage’). Follow track for 2½ miles around Muckross Lake to Dinis Cottage tearooms. (Meeting of the Waters: down steps beyond lavatory block.) Continue along surfaced track for ¾ mile to N71 Killarney-Kenmare road. Bear right to cross (take care!); follow gravel track (yellow, blue, red trail arrows; ‘Muckross House’ fingerpost). In ½ mile descend to road. (a) Return to Muckross House: cross road, follow path (‘Muckross House’) (b) For Torc Waterfall (steep up and down, many steps!): Don’t cross road, but bear uphill (ignore ‘Torc Waterfall’ arrow pointing other way!) on good path, steep in parts.

Path zigzags, then levels out; take left fork (coloured arrows here point back the way you’ve come!) to cross Owengarriff River. In 25m, left (ignore arrows and ‘Kerry Way’ sign), following path directly above right (east) bank of river. Path soon slopes and steepens down steps to Torc Waterfall. Continue down path to cross N71. Through gap in fence; left along path; in 50m, right (‘Muckross House 1.8 km’) to return to car park.

LENGTH: 5½ miles around Muckross Lake (easy; allow 2 hours); 7 miles including Torc Waterfall (moderate; allow 3-4 hours) CONDITIONS: Well surfaced paths. Torc Waterfall extension: steep ascent, steep descent with many steps.

DON’T MISS…!

• • •

Lake views from north side Window graffiti in Dinas Cottage Torc waterfall

ACCOMMODATION: Arbutus Hotel, College Street, Killarney +353 (0) 64 310 37 www.arbutuskillarney.com FURTHER INFORMATION: Muckross House: +353 (0) 64 31440 www.muckross-house.ie 28

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Top walks in Ireland

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Windy Gap, Iveragh Peninsula, Co. Kerry This windy day in County Kerry I was lucky enough to have Sean O’Suilleabhain as a walking companion. A gently humorous lifelong walker, Sean is the founding father of the Kerry Way long-distance footpath, and a fountain of fact and fiction.

We passed the stark shell of Glenbeigh Tower and climbed the zigzag path to Windy Gap. A captivating view opened over Lough Caragh lying sheltered in its wooded valley, brushed by bands of sun-silvered rain. All round stood a protective ring of mountains, rising to the hanging valley of the Coomloughra Horseshoe, dark and thunderous under the cloud-obscured peak of Carrantuohil.

‘Ireland’s highest mountain at 3,406 feet,’ observed Sean. ‘I used to take schoolfriends up there from my uncle’s house in the Brida Valley. Somehow I survived!’

As we came down the road under the wrinkled flanks of Commaun towards the tumbling sea in Dingle Bay, I thought of what a huge debt is owed to Sean O’Suilleabhain and his fellow walkers, who have kept the green roads open with such persistence and energy.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 78; downloadable map/instructions at http://tcs.ireland.ie/dataland/ TCSAttachments/341_TheKerryWay.pdf TRAVEL: N70 from Tralee or N72 from Killarney to Killorglin; N70 to Glenbeigh. For two-car walkers, park one car neatly up side road off N70, ¼ mile west of Caragh Bridge, and drive other car on for ¾ mile into Glenbeigh. Park near Towers Hotel in Main Street.

WALK DIRECTIONS: By Towers Hotel turn up road past church (Kerry Way/KW ‘walking man’ waymark post). In mile take first lane on left (KW). Follow KW to end of tarmac, then up track to cross Windy Gap and descend to 3-way fingerpost.

Keep ahead (‘Scenic Route’) to reach road and follow it down to N70 and return car near Caragh Bridge.

LENGTH: 6 miles: allow 3 hours GRADE: Moderate CONDITIONS: Good tracks and country roads DON’T MISS…!

• Ruin of Wynne’s Folly • Wonderful views over Dingle Bay from Windy Gap

• Stunning vista of Caragh Valley and Lough, backed by Carrantuohil, from old road beyond Windy Gap REFRESHMENTS: Olde Glenbeigh Hotel +353 (0) 66 976 8333 www.glenbeighhotel.com ACCOMMODATION: Kerry Ocean Lodge +353 (0) 66 976 9666 www.kerryoceanlodge.com GUIDE BOOKS/LEAFLETS: The Kerry Way by Sandra Bardwell (Rucksack Readers) WALKING OPERATORS: Go Ireland +353 (0) 66 976 2094 www.govisitireland.com Offer guided walks & walking holidays

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FURTHER INFORMATION: Tourist Office: Iveragh Road, Killorglin +353 (0) 66 976 1451 www.discoverireland.ie/southwest

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Máméan, Connemara, Co. Galway As you climb the stony track to Máméan, the Pass of the Birds, the Twelve Bens of Connemara stand high and handsome behind you across the Inagh Valley, Bencorr in front, with Beanna Beola and Benbaun peeping over her shoulders.

Ahead the gleaming quartzite slopes of Binn Mhór and Binn Mhairg cradle the rising path.

Up at the pass you find a tiny chapel, an altar and the cave-like recess called St Patrick’s Bed. A statue of the saint broods over the path, a sheep at his heels. Did the good shepherd Patrick once walk these slopes, bless the holy well nearby and sleep in the cave? Many down the centuries have believed so, and it was they who forged the pilgrim path to the pass with its breathtaking views over the Inagh and Maam valleys.

Wandering round the penitential beds of pebbles, dipping at the holy well, savouring the mighty rushing wind and the never-ending Connemara march of pelting showers, sunbursts and rainbows, one catches the power and pull of this high place. Paul Henry, Mildred Butler, Martin Gale...a cornucopia.

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WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 37, 38, 44; downloadable map/instructions at www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Road: A two-car walk. Park one car at Keane’s pub, Maam Bridge (junction of R336 and 345); drive other car R336 to Maam Cross, N59 towards Clifden. Entering Recess, just before bridge, right on country road (OS ref. L 873475; ‘Slí Chonamara, Máméan’ sign) for 2 miles to parking place at foot of Máméan (OS ref. 892495).

WALK DIRECTIONS: Follow yellow ‘walking man’ waymarks for 2½ miles up over Máméan pass and down to road (922519); ahead for 1¼ miles to Cur/An Chorr; right for 2 miles to R336; left to Keane’s pub.

LENGTH: 6 miles: allow 3-4 hours GRADE: Moderate CONDITIONS: Steady climb and descent on rough mountain path, then country roads DON’T MISS…!

• Views back toward the Twelve Bens • Tobar Phádraig at the pass • Views to your left, while descending, up Gleann Fhada to Barr Sliabh na Ráithe REFRESHMENTS: Picnic at the pass ACCOMMODATION: Rosleague Manor, Letterfrack +353 (0) 95 41101 www.rosleague.com FURTHER INFORMATION: Tourist Office: Oughterard +353 (0) 91 552 808 www.discoverireland.ie/west

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Children of Lir Loop, Carrowteige, Co. Mayo Carrowteige is one of Mayo’s remotest Gaeltacht outposts, a scattered village hidden in a vast landscape of bog and windswept mountainside. From the lonely shoreline graveyard of St Ghallagáin below the village, I found myself embarking on one of Ireland’s most breathtakingly wild and beautiful coastal walks.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 22; downloadable map/ instructions at www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Road: R314/315 to Ballycastle; R314 to Belderg, minor roads via Porturlin and Portacloy to Carrowteige.

WALK DIRECTIONS: (blue arrows/BA): Leaving the Seanscoil, right up road; in 200m, fork left (BA) on road past Cill á Ghallagáin graveyard. Continue down to shore; right up tarmac road (BA) for 400m, then left across machair, to follow Black Ditch sod fence along cliffs (take care!) for 2 miles to reach Children of Lir (BA) monument. Inland (BA) along road. In ½ mile, just after bog road joins on right, turn left (BA) on road to Carrowteige.

LENGTH: 6½ miles: allow 2½ - 3 hours

I followed the stumpy sod fence of the Black Ditch, a half-toppled wall, above Tráigh na bhFothantaí Dubha, the beach of the black precipices, where the sea creamed in tight ruffs of white foam under dark cliffs. Up on the crest of the mountain, the views stopped my breath – a landward prospect of immensities of bog, a seaward panorama of great stepped cliff edges full of huge dark hollows, rising to the magnificent 830-ft prow of Benwee Head. Just offshore, Kid Island rose from a collar of spume. A few steps more and I was gazing out at the Stags of Broadhaven, five sharply-cut shark teeth of rock rearing out of the sea a couple of miles off Benwee Head. This is a magnificent landscape, empty, wild and enchanting.

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GRADE: Moderate/Hard CONDITIONS: Boggy along Black Ditch – wear boots! A couple of steep, short climbs/descents. Cliff edge unfenced: keep dogs and kids under strict control.

DON’T MISS…!

• View over Tráigh na bhFothantaí Dubha from Black Ditch path

• View of Stags of Broadhaven from cliffs near •

monument Children of Lir monument

REFRESHMENTS: None en route; picnic from Garvin’s shop, Carrowteige GUIDEBOOKS/LEAFLETS: The Placenames and Heritage of Dún Chaocháin by Uinsíonn Mac Graith and Treasa Ní Ghearraigh, and other booklets etc. available at the Seanscoil, Carrowteige +353 (0) 97 88 082 dunchaochain1@eircom.net FURTHER INFORMATION: Tourist Office: James Street, Westport +353 (0) 98 25 711 www.discoverireland.ie/west

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Arigna Miner’s Way, Co. Roscommon A crisp day after rain, with streaks of cloud over Lough Allen and the Iron Mountains.

Just off the lane up to Kilronan Mountain I found a couple of sweathouses sunk in a bank, half smothered in ferns. Sick folk were once inserted into these tiny stone hutches to sweat in the roaring heat of a turf fire, before being plunged into an ice cold stream. If it didn’t kill you, it sometimes cured.

At the ridge of Kilronan Mountain was a five-star view over Lough Allen to the long whaleback of Sliabh an Iarainn.

Soon the path began to wind between blackened heaps of coal mining spoil, and I descended the hillside to enter the subterranean world of the Arigna Mining Experience.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 26; also in Miner’s Way booklet (see below) TRAVEL: Arigna is signposted from R280 Drumshanbo-Drumkeeran road just north of junction with R285 Keadew road, 2½ miles from Drumshanbo.

WALK DIRECTIONS: From Miner’s Bar at Derreenavoggy Bridge (OSI ref 193314), uphill. Just past Arigna Fuels, keep ahead up lane; in 300m, over crossroads, on uphill. In ½ mile pass cottages on right, then lane; in 250m, sweathouses over gate on right. In another 200m, ‘Miner’s Way’ post on left; right up steps; up path; at top, right (arrow) past another sweathouse. Follow marker posts and yellow waymarks. Left over stile onto path across moorland. In ½ mile, right (arrow) towards Lough Allen. At escarpment edge, left over stiles and through gates (arrows) for ½ mile to Miner’s Way fingerpost.

Don’t turn downhill, but continue for ¾ mile through old colliery sites, then right downhill (arrows), and right along road. In 1 mile pass Arigna Mining Experience on right; continue, and in ¼ mile, left down lane to Miner’s Bar. LENGTH: 5 miles: allow 2½ hours GRADE: Moderate DON’T MISS…!

Coal was mined here for decades. With guide Michael, an ex-miner, I tramped the eerie tunnels and hefted the solid weight of pickaxes and pneumatic drills.

‘It was very hard, tiring work, aye,’ said Michael. ‘But there was something about it. Mining got in your blood, I suppose.

That was it.’

• The sweathouses – keep your eyes peeled!

• Views from Kilronan Mountain over Lough Allen •

and Iron Mountains Arigna Mining Experience

REFRESHMENTS: Miner’s Bar, Derreenavoggy Bridge: +353 (0) 71 964 6007 GUIDE BOOKS/LEAFLETS: ‘Miner’s Way & Historical Trail’ map guide booklet, from local tourist offices and shops ARIGNA MINING EXPERIENCE: +353 (0) 71 964 6466 www.arignaminingexperience.ie

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FURTHER INFORMATION: Tourist information Office: Boyle +353 (0) 71 966 2145, Roscommon +353 (0) 90 662 6342 OR Sligo +353 (0) 71 916 1201 www.discoverireland.ie/northwest

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Black Head Loop, The Burren, Co Clare Domed grey hills framing a slaty blue sea. Field walls of axe-blade stones delicately balanced, with the sky shining through in blue and silver like a celestial stained glass window. People adore the incomparable Burren landscape, especially when they’re exploring on foot with Mary Howard, Burren resident and devotee. Today there were Connemara ponies on the skyline and goats on the limestone terraces.

Wild flowers spattered rock and sward, as if a mad painter had dipped his thickest brush in every pot and flicked it all over the land. We found pale pink squinancywort - ‘A cure for a smoky throat!’ – and mountain avens, a creamy bowl of petals with an intense yellow centre.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 51; downloadable map/ instructions (highly recommended) at www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Bus (www.buseireann.ie): Galway-BallyvaughanCliffs of Moher, Services 423, 050 Road: From Galway – N18, N67 to Ballyvaughan; R477 to Fanore. Park in Fanore beach car park.

WALK DIRECTIONS: Left along R477 (take care!) for mile; right at Fanore Bridge (OSI ref. M 145089) up side road for 2½ miles. Pass turning on right (174069; ‘Burren Way/BW’); in 30m, left up track (BW; yellow ‘walking man’; purple arrow/ PA), past Cathair an Aird Rois, down to road (190070). BW turns right, but go left (‘Blackhead Loop’ fingerpost; PA) for ½ mile along lane, over stile, past house (PA). Right up path (188078), levelling out on Poulanegh Hill and turning west, following PAs to meet cobbled path (197066) after 2 miles. Downhill towards sea; left (189097) along slopes. At gate on right, keep ahead (PA) along jungly mile; descend above Aghaglinny North onto track; left along cliffs for 3¾ miles to R477; left (take care!) to car park.

LENGTH: 15 miles: allow 6-8 hours GRADE: Moderate (occasionally difficult)

Towards evening we dropped down a concertina path, and followed an old drove road back along the cliffs of Black Head among two very special botanical treats – Irish eyebright on a long bronze stalk, and the very beautiful white spiral of autumn lady’s tresses. Watching the sun dip seaward over the Aran Islands, I knew this was a little slice of heaven on earth.

CONDITIONS: Uneven stones on Poulanegh Hill; jungly stretch, slippery descent to Aghaglinny North.

DON’T MISS…!

• • •

Fabulous wild flowers on all sides Wild goats (keep your eyes peeled!)

Mass house and shebeen in Cathair an Aird Rois

REFRESHMENTS: Picnic ACCOMMODATION: Hylands Hotel, Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare +353 (0) 65 707 7037 www.hylandsburren.com FURTHER INFORMATION: Burren Guided Walks: Mary Howard - www.burrenguidedwalks.com +353 (0) 65 707 6100 www.burrenguidedwalks.com

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Canon Sheehan Loop, Ballyhoura Mountains, Co. Limerick and Cork Canon Patrick Augustine Sheehan might be forgotten these days, but his name still resonates around the Ballyhoura mountains whose landscape and people he depicted with humour and humanity in his 1905 novel Glenanaar.

Walking the forest track through Glenanaar Forest in the southern ranges of Ballyhoura, we gazed over ‘Canon Sheehan Country’. The vale around Doneraile and Kildorrery lay low, its frosted hills riding like islands in a smoky sea of mist. Across the hill we came to a mossy old Mass Rock, three-sided and massive, lying under the trees. Rumours tell of a priest shot while praying here and buried secretly on the banks of the Ogeen River. Down there among the cold exhalations of the Ogeen as it rushed over its sandstone bed, we found ancient broadleaved trees bearded and coiffed with frozen mosses.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 73; downloadable map/ instructions (highly recommended) at www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: From Kilmallock, R512 Kildorrery road. 2 km beyond Ardpatrick, right (brown ‘Ballyhoura Forest’ sign). In 4 miles, ‘Ballyhoura-Glenanair’ sign points right to forest car park.

WALK DIRECTIONS: (Canon Sheehan Loop/CSL - blue arrows): Pass striped pole; down track; cross Ogeen River. NB This walk follows CSL in reverse! Ignore CSL arrows to right; keep ahead left, up track to T-junction at top. Left (purple arrow/PA); follow track along hillside. In 1½ miles, where track begins to descend, right (CSL, PA) up rising track. In 100m, pass Mass Rock (signposted left); continue ½ mile, descending to cross tracks and continue down to cross river. Turn right beside river, soon recrossing to right bank. In mile, pass ‘Mass Rock’ fingerpost/CSL on right; in another ¼ mile, at next ‘Mass Rock’/CSL/PA, left down bank; path to recross footbridge; track to car park.

LENGTH: 5 miles: allow 2-2½ hours GRADE: Moderate CONDITIONS: Forest tracks DON’T MISS…!

• • •

Fantastic views over ‘Canon Sheehan Country’ The Mass Rock Tolkien-like trees by the Ogeen River

REFRESHMENTS: Picnic

Through Patrick Sheehan’s eyes we still see the old Irish countrymen, ‘made for hard work and wild tempestuous weather.’ Sheehan lamented in Glenanaar: ‘No Wordsworth has yet sung the praises of these Irish dalesmen’. He himself did the job - superbly, too.

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ACCOMMODATION: Deebert House Hotel, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick +353 (0) 63 31200 www.deeberthousehotel.com FURTHER INFORMATION: Ballyhoura Fáilte Tourist Information Office: Kilfinane, Co. Limerick +353 (0) 63 91300 www.ballyhouracountry.com

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Glenveagh National Park, Co. Donegal Glenveagh National Park is the pride and joy of Country Donegal, a haven not only for Ireland’s largest herd of red deer, but for plants, trees, bog insects, birds and anyone of the human persuasion who loves these things.

I strolled by the dark waters of Lough Veagh, looking out across the lake to the lumpy spine of the Derryveagh Mountains, as far as the gardens of Glenveagh Castle with its granite turrets and massive walls. Then it was back along the beautiful loughside and through a pinewood to emerge in the wild moorland of Derrylahan, cradled in sunlit mountains. Pink fairy bonnets of lousewort spattered the bog. Electric blue dragonflies hovered. Red deer trotted with easy grace over the hillsides beyond stunted oakwoods.

It was Cornelia Adair of Glenveagh Castle who established the red deer herd in the 1880s. Local people liked her as much as they had despised her arrogant husband.

She enhanced the little kingdom of Glenveagh with flowers, trees and the free-running deer, and everyone is the beneficiary of that generous vision today.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 6; map/instructions in Visitors’ Guide TRAVEL: Glenveagh National Park Visitor Centre is signposted on the R251 Gweedore-Letterkenny road, 10 miles/16 km east of Dunlewy). NB A shuttle bus service (€2) operates between Glenveagh Visitor Centre and Glenveagh castle WALK DIRECTIONS: From Glenveagh National Park Visitor Centre, turn left along tarmac drive. Pass to left of National Park headquarters, and follow drive between entrance gateposts, then beside Lough Veagh for 1½ miles to reach gates to Glenveagh Castle grounds. Go through, and follow paths through gardens to reach castle. Return along drive to car park, and join the Derrylahan Trail (detailed in Glenveagh National Park Visitors’ Guide), with numbered guide posts. Turn left between two boulders onto path that descends through trees. Go through gate and follow path through Scots pine wood, until it leaves wood through forest gate. 30m beyond gate, turn left along path. In another 100m it forks; don’t take rough track that climbs straight ahead, but bear right along lower, grassy track into sedgy hollow.

The gravelled path steepens to climb through a little wood and run east across moor to meet a fence. Bear right along fence; then, halfway to trees ahead, turn left through a deer gate in fence to reach a road. Right to return to car park.

LENGTH: 5 miles: allow 2½ hours GRADE: Easy CONDITIONS: Boggy underfoot in some of the hollows and on the moor of Derrylahan; otherwise fine underfoot DON’T MISS…!

• • •

Glenveagh Castle and gardens The red deer of Derrylahan Fantastic views along Lough Veagh

REFRESHMENTS: Tearoom at castle (open Easter and June-September); restaurant at the Visitor Centre ACCOMMODATION: The Mill Park Hotel, Donegal Town. +353 (0) 74 972 2880 www.millparkhotel.com FURTHER INFORMATION: Glenveagh National Park +353 (0) 74 913 7090 www.glenveaghnationalpark.ie

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The Rosses, Co. Sligo

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 16

A wet old morning at Rosses Point beside Niall Bruton’s haunting sculpture ‘Waiting on Shore’ - a woman in wind-whipped skirts, her arms stretching seaward. Her counterpoint the Metal Man straddled offshore in 19th-century naval officer’s uniform, pointing ships to the safe channel up to Sligo’s quays. On the skyline, Knocknarea and Benbulben smoked with cloud.

TRAVEL: Rail (www.irishrail.ie) to Sligo.

Bus (www.buseireann.ie): Service 473 from Sligo.

Road: N15 or N16 to Sligo; R291 to Rosses Point. By ‘Waiting On Shore’ statue, left to car park above lifeboat station.

We strode out fast along the rain-pocked sands, boots crackling over crab claws hollowed out by gulls, whose melancholy, whinging cries gave a bitter-sweet edge to the morning. Down onto the long dune spit of the Low Rosses, stars of insectivorous butterwort made lime-green rosettes, and burnet moths in tar-black and crimson clung to the flowerheads of harebells and pyramidal orchids.

GRADE: Easy

Out at the far point we lingered. The Yeats brothers, poet William and painter Jack, knew and loved the Rosses all their lives. Most poignant and beautiful of all Jack’s mystical late paintings, Leaving The Far Point has himself, his wife Cottie and Uncle George Pollexfen, as transparent as ghosts, walking the wet sands of Rosses Point on a wild day like this, long ago.

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WALK DIRECTIONS: Follow tarred path towards sea; then follow cliff path and strand to Rosses Point. Cross side of golf course (watch out for flying balls!), keeping to cliff edge path.

Continue clockwise around Low Rosses sandspit. Return across neck of spit to Rosses Point; retrace steps to car park.

LENGTH: 6 miles: allow 2-3 hours

CONDITIONS: Cliff paths, sandy beach DON’T MISS…!

• • •

Metal Man and his Consort Views of Knocknarea and Benbulben Flowers of the Low Rosses

REFRESHMENTS: Hackett’s Bar on seafront, Rosses Point +353 (0) 71 917 7142 ACCOMMODATION IN SLIGO: www.discoverireland.ie/sligo JACK YEATS COLLECTION: Model Arts and Niland Gallery www.modelart.ie FURTHER INFORMATION: Tourist information Office: Temple Street, Sligo +353 (0) 71 914 1905 www.discoverireland.ie/northwest

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Castle Lake, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan It was local walkers and tale-tellers Jo Ed Sheanon and Peadar Reynolds who took us off around the Town and Castle Lakes of Bailieborough, a neat, proud little plantation town in the heartland of County Cavan.

On the outskirts of town we threaded the shore of the Town Lake, steely cold and wind-ruffled; then followed a boreen lined with tall foxgloves, under fine beech trees and on into the former castle demesne.

Fed by snaking rivers and streams, Castle Lake gleamed between the trees.

Round at the head of the lake a pair of swans was busy shepherding their brood of seven cygnets. We went on along the shore to where a side track led away among the trees. Up there lay the ruins of Castle House, a fragment of stone walls tumbled under mats of honeysuckle; and in a tangle of laurels not far away, the stone-walled cemetery of the Marist monks who once occupied the house. Seven graves in a row among the bushes; seven ornate crosses; seven modest inscriptions – a poignant corner of the quiet woodland.

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 35; downloadable map/ instructions (highly recommended) at www.discoverireland.ie/walking TRAVEL: Bus (www.buseireann.ie): Bus Eireann services108, 166 to Bailieborough. Road: Bailieborough is signed off N3 Navan-Cavan road at Virginia. Park in Main Street.

WALK DIRECTIONS: Follow R178 Virginia road past library.

In 500m, left through gates, past St Anne’s Church. Cross Chapel Road; follow path by Town Lake). Left along Cavan Road for 500m. At 50 kmh sign before left bend, follow pavement to right. In 30m, left by bungalow, past metal barrier. Follow track into castle demesne. In mile, reach path crossroads. Turn right (purple arrow). From here, Official Looped Walk circles Castle Lake. Castle House ruin and Maris Brothers’ Graves detour: follow Looped Walk round Castle Lake for 1¾ miles (passing car park). At ‘Castle’ signpost on left, right up gravel track for 500m to crossing of tracks at Hanging Tree. Right for 200m to metal barrier on right; left for 200m to Castle House ruins. Retrace steps; left by barrier, downhill for 200m to T-junction of tracks.

Left for 400m to return to Looped Walk track, detouring left up bank to see Maris Brothers’ cemetery. Rejoin Looped Walk (blue arrow); right to cross river and reach path crossroads at purple arrow; forward to retrace steps to Bailieborough.

LENGTH: 5 miles: allow 2-3 hours GRADE: Easy DON’T MISS…!

• •

Swans and cygnets at Castle Lake car park Maris Brothers’ cemetery

REFRESHMENTS: Town Café, Main Street, Bailieborough +353 (0) 42 967 5589 ACCOMMODATION: The Bailie Hotel, Main Street +353 (0) 42 966 5334 www.bailiehotel.com FURTHER INFORMATION: Cavan Tourist Office, Fernham Street, Cavan +353 (0) 49 433 1942

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LOCAL WALKS AROUND BAILIEBOROUGH: Wednesday evenings – contact John Ed Sheanon on +353 (0) 42 966 5342

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Tollymore Forest Park to Meelmore Lodge,

WAY TO GO INFORMATION

Mourne Mountains, Co. Down

MAP: OS of Northern Ireland 1:50,000 Discoverer 29, or 1:25,000 Activity Map ‘The Mournes’; downloadable maps/instructions for the area at www.walkni.com

This was a beautiful spring walk in the skirts of the Mourne Mountains, starting among the Victorian follies of Tollymore Forest Park.

TRAVEL: Bus (www.nirailways.co.uk): Ulsterbus to Newcastle; Mourne Rambler (July/August) or taxi (Donard Cabs (0) 28 4372 2823; Shimna Taxis (0) 28 4372 6030 – about £8) to Tollymore Forest Park. Return from Meelmore Lodge by Mourne Rambler or taxi.

Road: A2 to Newcastle, B180 to Tollymore Forest Park

Jane and I followed the Shimna River, crossing it by stepping stones, before turning up the path from Altavaddy Bridge beside the aptly-named Cascade River which came tumbling spectacularly down a rock staircase. High in the forests we stood entranced, gazing southwards at a tremendous panorama of the Mournes’ north face – the smooth back of Luke’s Mountain, the jagged and fantastically shaped summit of Bearnagh, and the tall cone of Slieve Meelmore crowned by the Mourne Wall with its pimple of a tower.

We dropped through the trees to follow the Mourne Way out of the forest. Under Clonachullion Hill three lambs and a horse put their heads through the farm gate to be patted. We climbed the old smuggling route of the Trassey Track with a spectacular prospect ahead up to the high saddle of the Hare’s Gap. A final stretch below the mountains, and we were dropping down to Meelmore Lodge with tea and cakes in mind.

WALK DIRECTIONS: From Lower car park (OS of NI ref J 344326), walk down lawn, under Horn Bridge (labelled), down path. Cross track (red arrow); on down; right along Shimna River.

Pass The Hermitage (342322); in 320m (¼ mile) left across stepping stones (339320). On far side red arrow points left, but go right past Meeting of the Waters across Altavaddy Bridge (336319).

Immediately left uphill (Mourne Way/MW waymark) with Cascade River on left. Opposite wooden shelter, detour left down steps to see The Cascade. On up MW to cross path (333314 – MW to left, Red Route to right); keep ahead up zigag forest road. In 0.4km ( mile), left (330314 - yellow arrow/y.a.) into trees. Follow forest road for 600m ( mile) to viewpoint southwards to mountains (324313).Right here down forest road for 1.5km (1 mile), following y.a., to path crossing (323319). Y.a. points right, but go left past MW on post to cross bridge. Follow MW for 1.5km (1 mile) to road by farmhouse (311313). Left up Trassey Track (MW, y.a.) for 1.2km (¾ mile), through kissing gate, up to go through another kissing gate in wall (313303). Right (MW) along wall for 500m ( mile); right over ladder stile; lane to Meelmore Lodge (306308).

LENGTH: 6 miles: allow 3 hours GRADE: Moderate CONDITIONS: Forest tracks, stony hill paths; one ford; some stiles. Walking boots.

DON’T MISS…!

• • •

The Cascade View of Mournes from Trassey Track Meelmore Lodge home baking!

ACCOMMODATION: Mountain View, 74 Castlewellan Road, Newcastle (0) 28 4372 2634 brianclaire@hotmail.com FURTHER INFORMATION: www.walkni.com 48

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Slieve Gullion, Co. Armagh

WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Northern Ireland 1:50,000 Discoverer Series Sheet 29.

I was lucky to have knowledgeable walker Ron Murray as a companion during this hike over the big dark hump of Slieve Gullion. We climbed, short and sharp, to the southern peak of the mountain, centrepiece of a remarkable volcanic landscape set in the green farmlands of South Armagh.

If you can see one mile, you can see well over a hundred from the summit north-east to the hummocky backbone of the Mountains of Mourne, north to the tumbled hills of Antrim, west to the Sperrin Hills and on round over the vast Midland plain, and in the south, as pale and tiny as tin cut-outs, the hills of Wicklow more than sixty miles away. Nearer at hand, a ten-mile-wide circle of craggy volcanic mini-mountains encircling Slieve Gullion like courtiers round a king.

Ron and I explored the neolithic passage grave at the peak (home of the witch who turned mighty Fionn MacCumhaill into a feeble old man), and the Lake of Sorrows with an enchanted millstone lying on its shores. Stories, stories ...

TRAVEL: Bus: Service 43 (Newry-Forkhill) to Forest Park entrance Road: N1/A1 Dublin-Newry; B113 (‘Forkhill’); in 3½ miles, right (‘Slieve Gullion Forest Park’) to car park.

WALK DIRECTIONS: (Ring of Gullion Way/RGW blue arrows): From top left corner of car park (OS ref J 040196), left up path through trees. In ¼ mile join Forest Drive (038191), up slope, then level, for ¼ mile to RGW post on left (035190). Right up drive, past metal barrier; left uphill for 1½ miles to car park (018200). Beyond picnic table, right at white post, steeply uphill to South Cairn on Slieve Gullion summit (025203). Walk past Lake of Sorrows to North Cairn (021211); then aim north for Sturgan Mountain (left of Cam Lough), then white house between you and lake. Path divides by grassy ‘lawn’ with boulder beyond; right here, aiming for house. Through gate, down to road (025230).

Right along road for 3 miles, passing Killevy Old Church (040221) and Clonlum Cairn (047206), to northern entrance to Slieve Gullion Forest Park (046199). Right to car park.

LENGTH: 8 miles: allow 3.5 hours GRADE: Moderate CONDITIONS: Can be muddy DON’T MISS…!

• • •

Cailleach Beara’s house Lake of Sorrows and enchanted millstone Sensational views from Slieve Gullion

REFRESHMENTS: Slieve Gullion Courtyard Centre café/restaurant ACCOMMODATION: Murtagh’s Guest House, 13-15 North Street, Crossmaglen + 44 2830 861378 aidanmurtagh@hotmail.com FURTHER INFORMATION: www.walkni.com www.discoverireland.ie/walking Slieve Gullion Courtyard Centre: 44 2830 849220 www.clanryegroup.com

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Vinegar Hill Loop, Sperrin Hills, Co. Tyrone With hill walker and mountaineer Martin McGuigan we walked the old stony road that winds like a scarf around the upper shoulders of Gorticashel glen. We looked down into a silent bowl of fields, some green with good grazing, others hazed under bracken and sedge. Abandoned farmsteads lay dotted across the slopes, each tin roof an orange blob among green shelter trees – eloquent testimony to the hardships faced by small country farms in County Tyrone’s Sperrin Hills these days.

‘Lazybed strips.’ Martin’s finger pointed out the corduroy rows of potato ridges on the slopes of the glen. ‘I’ve dug rows like that myself,’ Martin observed. ‘It’s hard enough work. Lazybeds are very effective – but they’d break your back.’

We passed tumbledown cottages half smothered with fuchsia and Himalayan balsam, ferny old mills, ancient potato-digging machines; also working farms with guardian roosters and full turf sheds. It’s good to think that, with the opening of the Vinegar Hill Loop, cheerful voices will be heard around the abandoned steadings and boots will tread the forgotten green roads of Gorticashel once more.

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WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Northern Ireland 1:50,000 Discoverer 13; downloadable map/instructions soon to be available at www.walkni.com TRAVEL: From B74 between Plumbridge and Draperstown, follow brown ‘Barnes Gap’ tourist signs. Park in car park/toilet/ picnic area (OSNI ref. H 551905) at foot of Mullaghbane Road by ‘Plumbridge 5’ sign.

WALK DIRECTIONS: Walk up the upper Barnes gap road (‘Craignamaddy Circuit/CC, Ulster Way’ sign) past farm (barking dogs!). Right along Magherbrack Road for mile; left (552896; CC) along dirt road. Follow it round Gorticashel Glen for 2 miles to road near Irish Town (558873). Right for mile to crossroads in Scotch Town (548875; ‘Gortin’ left, ‘Plumbridge’ right). Straight across here and over next 2 crossroads (544875 and 538880) for 1 mile, to pass turning on left (536883 – tarmac stops here). Ahead for 300 metres; right (534885; ‘Vinegar Hill Loop’) on stony lane. Follow it for 1 miles to road (550892).

Forward to Barnes Gap road; left to car park.

LENGTH: 7 miles: allow 3 hours GRADE: Easy CONDITIONS: Minor roads, country lanes DON’T MISS…!

• Views from Barnes Gap - north to High Sperrins, south to Mullaghcarn

• Old mill and potato digger at Scotch Town bridge • Standing stone behind hedge near Garvagh (ref.

538881) REFRESHMENTS: Picnic ACCOMMODATION: Crosh Lodge, 22 Plumbridge Road, Newtownstewart (0) 24-8166-1421 OPERATORS/COMPANIES: Walk On The Wild Side +353 (0) 24 8075 8452 or +353 (0) 77 14 835 977 www.walkwithmarty.com FURTHER INFORMATION: Tourist Information Centre, Strule Arts Centre, Omagh +353 (0) 24 8224 7831 www.walkni.com www.discoverireland.ie/walking

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Slemish Mountain, Co Antrim You can’t picture Slemish without thinking of St Patrick minding Chief Milchu’s pigs in the pastures under the mountain. As soon as Jane caught sight of the old volcanic plug rearing skyward from the green fields of Antrim, she wanted to climb it.

Of the bubbling, smoking sea of boiling magma that formed these uplands some 60 million years ago, Slemish remains: a giant plug of basalt, craggy and proud, standing 500 feet above the surrounding lands, dominating all. Up where the smooth pasture fell back and the path steepened among naked rocks of purple and black, we got a proper sense of climbing a mountain, a slip-and-slide upward progress. Underfoot the piled rocks gave out a hollow ring. All around were heather, coarse mountain grass, clumps of tiny eyebright flowers and a spatter of sulphurous yellow tormentil.

Up on top we gulped in the cold air, gasping over an immense prospect: the giant volcanic steps of the Antrim coast, a blur of mountains overlooking Belfast, Lough Neagh a sword-shaped gleam, the rain-occluded Sperrins. Truly a mountain worthy of its Saint.

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WAY TO GO INFORMATION MAP: OS of Northern Ireland 1:50,000 Discoverer 9; downloadable map/instructions (highly recommended) at www.walkni.com TRAVEL: Road: From Ballymena, A42 to Broughshane; Slemish is signposted (brown signs) from the town WALK DIRECTIONS: From Slemish Visitor Centre car park (NB closes at dusk), follow the path towards the mountain (‘Antrim Hills Way’ waymarks). A very steep, well-worn path leads straight up the flank of Slemish to the summit. At the top, turn right to the southern end of the summit ridge, and bear to your right down a grassy path, very steep and slippery, to the bottom of the mountain. Turn right along the path, passing ‘Antrim Hills Way’ waymarks, to return to the Slemish Visitor Centre car park LENGTH: 1¼ miles: allow 1½ hours GRADE: Hard CONDITIONS: This is a climb that most can manage. Take your time. Both upward and downward tracks are very steep for short sections. Slippery after rain – a stick helps balance.

Sensible footwear with good sole treads is essential.

DON’T MISS…!

• Displays in Slemish Visitor Centre • Mountain wildlife - pipits, skylarks, buzzards, ravens; eyebright, tormentil, elaborate star mosses

• The stunning view from the top, as far as Scotland on a clear day

REFRESHMENTS: Lally’s Larder, Main Street, Broughshane +353 (0) 28 2586 2366 ACCOMMODATION: Loughconnolly Farmhouse, Broughshane +353 (0) 28 2586 4380 www.loughconnollybandb.co.uk - £46 double B&B INFORMATION: Tourist Office: The Braid, Ballymena +353 (0) 28 2563 5900 www.ballymena.gov.uk www.discovernorthernireland.com

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Walking in Ireland For Information on travelling to Ireland visit www.discoverireland.com For information on walking tour operators, local walks with downloadable maps including Discover Ireland’s National Loop Walks, and walking festivals throughout Ireland: www.discoverireland.ie/walking

Walkers Check list 1. Have you checked todays weather forecast? Check www.meteireann.ie 2. Do you have suitable clothing for the expected weather? Wear walking boots or shoes suitable for use on rough ground. Have a map, hat, gloves and waterproofs.

3. Do you have enough food and water for the day?

4. Do you have a map or guide for the intended walk?

5. Bring your mobile phone in case of an emergency.

Walking Holidays

Look out for the walkers welcome logo in walking destinations around Ireland and you are guaranteed a memorable walking experience. There are lots of advantages involved in using a local walking operator to plan and organise your trip, your accommodation, your meals and even your luggage transfers.

The itinerary will be expertly arranged based on the extensive experience of the guide. You’ll be given the best possible accommodation choices, as well as being directed to buzzing evening venues for traditional music, song and dance and other entertainment. You’ll also receive personal insights into the local region, its history, culture, flora and fauna. Going on a guided walking holiday can be a huge amount of fun, with great company provided along the way. And it’s always good to know that a fully qualified group leader is never far

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away, whether they are on foot or using the power of the pedal. Some operators have been mentioned along with walks featured in the guide.

For a full list of walking operators based in Ireland see: www.discoverireland.ie/walking

Long Distance way-marked ways For the more avid walker, Ireland’s Long distance way-marked ways are a great way to discover the country. The linear trails take between 2-10 days to complete and a good level of fitness is required.

Each route is divided into stages with accommodation along the way. Many looped walks are spurs off the long distance routes. For maps and details for all long distance routes around Ireland visit www.irishtrails.ie

National Parks Ireland’s national parks are very popular with walkers.

Co. Wicklow, Killarney, Co.Kerry Connemara, Co. Galway The Burren, Co. Clare and Ballycroy, Co. Mayo offer a variety of well-signposted walks ranging from short strolls to wild mountain tracks. The National Parks protect areas of outstanding beauty so you are guaranteed a wonderful experience. For further information: www.npws.ie

Forest parks & Trails Coillte, Ireland’s forestry company, welcomes you to the huge range of recreation opportunities they provide at many sites across the country. You can access miles of walking, hiking, multi access, and long distance trails, enjoy the thrill of cycling world class bike trails, fish, picnic, watch wildlife, launch your canoe on the rivers, visit megalithic sites or just sit and enjoy the outdoors.

The choice is yours.

For maps and details visit www.coillteoutdoors.ie

Canal Towpaths Numerous inland waterways in Ireland offer a different walking experience. The midlands is one area

particularly rich in canals – old trade routes at the forefront of transport in the 1700’s. Towpaths have been modernised providing a perfect amenity for walkers of all ages. For further information visit www.iwai.ie

Pilgrim paths Uniquely Irish in character, pilgrim paths follow the centuries old pilgrimage routes so entwined in Irish heritage. There are five pilgrim paths around Ireland each with its own distinct tale and dotted with ancient religious monuments. Visit www.heritagecouncil.ie

• •

Ballyhoura Walking Festival- May bank holiday weekend each year Burren Peaks Walking Festival-September

West • Castlebar 4 days walks Festival - July each year • St Patrick’s Heritage Way Walking Festival, Co. Mayo - March • Leenaun Walking Festival, Co. Galway - May bank holiday weekend • Achill Island Walking Festival - June

Ireland Walking Festivals Walking Festivals take place all over Ireland throughout the year. They are a great way to discover Ireland at its best with a lively mix of organised walks suiting all levels and ability, great accommodation and nightly entertainment in local pubs & hotels. Everything is organised from the walks, food, accommodation & transfers making it a great weekend away at any time of the year. Below is a sample of the main festivals by region taking place each year. For dates and a full listing see www.discoverireland.ie/walking South East • Glen of Aherlow Summer Walking Festival, Tipperary. June bank holiday weekend each year • Nire Valley, Waterford Walking Festival October each year • Carlow Autumn Festival October each year

Ireland Leave No Trace outdoor ethics The Seven Principles of Leave No Trace 1.

Plan Ahead and Prepare 2.

Be Considerate of Others 3.

Respect Farm Animals and Wildlife 4.

Travel and Camp on Durable Ground 5.

Leave What You Find 6.

Dispose of Waste Properly 7.

Minimise the Effects of Fire Further information: www.leavenotraceireland.org

East Coast & Midlands • Táin Walking Festival - March each year • Laois Walks Festival - June each year • Wicklow Walking Festival - September Shannon • The Slieve Blooms Walking Festival- May bank holiday weekend each year

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Notes

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Notes

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There are regional tourist information offices all over Ireland who provide a broad range of local tourist information.

The main tourist offices by region are: North West Temple Street Sligo T. 071 9161201 W. www.discoverireland.ie/northwest

Shannon Region Shannon Town Centre Co. Clare T. 061 361555 W. www.discoverireland.ie/shannon

South East 41 The Quay Co. Waterford T. 051 87823 W. www.discoverireland.ie/southeast

Failte Ireland West Forster Street Galway City T. 091 537700 W. www.discoverireland.ie/west

Dublin Dublin Tourism Centre, Suffolk St Dublin 2 T. 01 6057700 W. www.visitdublin.com

South West ร ras Fรกilte, Grand Parade Cork T. 021 4255100 W. www.discoverireland.ie/southwest

Fรกilte Ireland, Amiens Street, Dublin 1

Disclaimer: Every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy in the compilation of this brochure. Fรกilte Ireland cannot, however accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Some sporting activities may by their nature be hazardous and

Tel: 1890 525 525 / +353 1 884 7700 Fax: +353 1 855 6821 www.failteireland.ie www.discoverireland.ie www.discoverireland.com

involve risk. It is recommended in such cases to take out personal accident insurance. While most outdoor activity operators would have public liability insurance it is desirable to check with the establishment or with the operator concerned as to the level of cover carried.

FI/11008-11

East & Midlands Market square, Mullingar Co. Westmeath T. 044 9348650 W. www.discoverireland.ie/eastcoast