Day III: Mountain Barrack to Fermoy
Length: 17.4km
Time: 5 hours, 5 minutes, including lunch in Glansheskin Wood and coffee stop in Fermoy
Route
Last week we walked from Crow Hill to Mountain Barrack – Section 2 of the Blackwater Way. This week’s walk would take us from Mountain Barrack to Fermoy.
Logistics
So, off to Fermoy we headed in the morning to park one of the cars. Because the distance is a bit further from home each time, we need to start out a little bit earlier. So we met at The Amber Garage in Fermoy at 10am where we got breakfast (actually, I got breakfast because I’m disorganised), and then we drove into Fermoy to the public car park. Walsh’s Pharmacy in Fermoy have parking details on their website (fair play to them), and the info was that the car parks were one euro per day. As luck would have it, the public car park is FREE at the moment, so that was a welcome surprise.
After parking up, we drove the second car back to Mountain Barrack and followed the signs for the Blackwater Way from there.
Blackwater Way – Mountain Barrack to Fermoy – The Route
There was a small stretch of road at the start before we came to a sign directing us down a lane towards a forest.
We passed some cattle in a field who were lying in the shelter of a ditch and I took that as an sign that it was probably going to rain.
For a while we walked along the edge of the forest under blue skies. We had to take the jackets and jumpers off at one stage as it got so warm.
A way marker sent us off to the left down this glorious cycle track/pathway. This was probably the only section of the walk where the surface was uneven and muddy. The track wasn’t very long, but it’s one to be careful of if you’re prone to falling.
As it had been raining there was a lot of water on the track. A pair of runners would have been suitable for this entire walk except for this small section.
We walked for as long as we could in the rain before the showers started to get heavier and we had to don all the rain gear.
Glansheskin Wood
A wooden bridge spanned the width of the Douglas River that flowed past us through Glansheskin Wood.
There were bluebells everywhere and, across the stream, there were thousands of them under the shade of the trees.
There were also lots and lots of fairy doors. I loved these ones all placed together with the bluebells growing in the background.
We eventually came into a clearing where there were several picnic benches, and plenty of parking for cars. Glansheskin Wood is an absolute gem of a place to bring children for a picnic and a walk.
We crossed over this stone bridge and were onto the road again towards Kilworth.
Kilworth
Kilworth is a well maintained, pretty little village. There’s a playground in the centre, a couple of shops, and a bar that was closed up (still not trading due to COVID).
I found the route from Kilworth to Fermoy the least pleasant of the three sections so far. A section of road was being resurfaced, there was a layer of chippings present, and cars certainly didn’t restrict themselves to driving at 25kph, not even when they saw us walking.
Then there was this section of main road towards Fermoy where cars sped along and the only place to dive for cover, in the event it was needed, was into a ditch full of nettles.
I don’t know what the little archway is on the left of the photographs below. Maybe it was part of an old lime kiln? Perhaps someone who reads this might know.
It wasn’t long before we were passing the Moorepark Teagasc Centre and we spotted the infamous cattle on the Fermoy roundabout. These sculptures, made from bog oak and galvanised steel (www.cathalomeara.com) were commissioned by Teagasc and developed by the artist, Lynne Kirkham.
We spent a few minutes drying to drive the cattle back up to Teagasc. Well, not really, but it was a perfect photo opportunity.
Fermoy
Coming into Fermoy, we passed this unusual signpost for the Tom Martin & Co. who are distributors of stationery, including the Faber Castell brand.
We rounded off our walk with two lovely creamy lattes at the Priory Coffee Company which, due to its beautiful stone work building, bright red sun parasols and lighting, is prominent on the corner as you approach Fermoy Town Centre. We were able to sit outside and people-watch for a while.
Blackwater Way Mountain Barrack to Fermoy – Review
All in all, this was the easiest stretch of the Blackwater Way so far and was mostly downhill. It might have rained on and off for the day, but that didn’t dampen our spirits, and there was plenty of shelter while we were in the forest.