Last month, while in Mayo, I had a list of places to see when I arrived in Newport. One of those on the list for the Friday evening I arrived was Burrishoole Abbey, although apparently it’s not an abbey, it’s a friary, as the Dominican order (who it was founded for by Richard de Burgo…
Climbing Slieve Riadh, Glenbrohane Sliabh Riadh (Slievereagh) is a 465m high hill in the Ballyhoura mountains, just outside Glenbrohane. Translated as the “King’s Mountain”, it is believed that a king is buried at the top of it. Unfortunately for the king, nobody seems to know his name. But, a huge mast crowns the site where…
I couldn’t let today go without posting this picture of Blacksod lighthouse and coastguard station that I took while I was in Mayo. Today, Maureen Sweeney, a 98 year old woman living in Mayo, received a special US House of Representatives honour for her role in changing the course of the second world war while…
St. Deirbhile’s Church, Aughleam, Belmullet, Mayo We were blessed with the most glorious weather on the Sunday of the June bank holiday weekend while we were in Mayo. Driving around the coast, out past Mullet and towards a place called Faulmore, we spotted the ruins of St. Deirbhile’s church. St. Deirbhile’s church (with at least…
Grace Kelly family ancestral home About six kilometres from Newport in the townland of Drumilra, Mayo, and overlooking the ‘Leg of Mutton’ lake, lie the crumbling remains of a three roomed cottage that actress and princess, Grace Kelly, purchased in June of 1976. Grace Kelly’s grandfather, John Peter Kelly had been born and reared in…
Distance: 26km Time: 11 hours When I originally signed up for this guided hike, I didn’t really believe that it would take ten to twelve hours to walk it. Sure, the guide posted enough advance warning on Facebook about the distance, and relayed, repeatedly, the fact that the trail was quite wet. But I thought…
I found myself with a couple of hours to spare last week and decided to go and explore the Ballard waterfall trail near Mountain Barrack in Cork. We had seen the signs for the waterfall when we were walking the Blackwater Way from Mountain Barrack to Fermoy and I’d seen pictures of the waterfall on…
Day 5 Ballyhooly to Killavullen Length: 18.25km Time: 4 hours, 58 minutes including lunch break and coffee stop Logistics This section of the Blackwater Way doesn’t actually pass through Killavullen, so we tried to find the closest point to Killavullen along the route where we could park a car. Using the Sport Ireland maps, I…
Day 4: Fermoy to Ballyhooly Length: 15.59km Time: 4 hrs 27 minutes including lunch break and coffee stop Day 4 of our journey along The BlackWater Way – Fermoy to Ballyhooly. Day 3 took us from Mountain Barrack to Fermoy and you can read about it here. Logistics We parked one car at the Church…
Slievenamon or Slieve na mBán (Mountain of the Women) is one of my favourite mountains. At 721 metres, it’s a nice walk to the summit, but it’s popular with both runners and walkers due to its easy to follow trail leading to the top. Parking at Slievenamon In recent times, the mountain has gotten quite…