"With a bit of land at Lough Swilly and a fishing rod you wouldn't need a job." said one of my Northern Irish in-laws dreamily. Well,that's an exaggeration, but it spoke to my self-reliant instincts. This beautiful lough goes deep inland, and on its eastern sides is the quiet Inishowen Peninsula, whereas on the western side there are the rugged hills of Donegal. Maureen and I drove from our holiday cottage at Rathmilton up fo Fannad Head and stood on the foreland that juts into the Atlantic, which that day was tranquil, but we were not deceived that this was anything but a slumbering Leviathan waiting to pounce.
Further south there are some scenic bays. Clew Bay in Mayo is studded with small islands, the products of dumping by a glacier. No one lives on them, as they are uninhabitable, for they are too small, exposed and lack fresh water, but they make a great view from Croagh Patrick, Ireland's holy mountain,on whose stony exposed and misty summit summit St Patrick was said to have spent his lenten fast. John Lennon let a group of hippies dwell on one island there that he owned, but they only lasted the summer before the Atlantic storms forced their evacuation. There was, they realized, a reason why the local Irish did not inhabit the islands.
Not far away is Killary Harbour, a small, but perfectly formed fjord jutting into the ancient and stark mountains of Connemara, one of Ireland's wildest places. It is a natural harbour and was where the French fleet landed on its ill-fated expedition to support the Irish rebels in the 1798 rising. Killary is worth seeing.
South of this is Galway Bay at whose head is the town of Galway, a settlement worth a visit. At times I have stood on the north shore and enjoyed a warm, moist and gentle south westerly blowing up from more southerly climes, a delightful experience. Take time to see Lough Corrib, the large lake that drains steeply through the fast flowing river Corrib, into the bay. It is worth taking a boat trip.There are in the lough, my sister once noted, some very large eels.
Towards the south the bays of Kerry a narrow and long. They are not fjords like Killary, but rias, drowned, unglaciated estuaries, created when valleys deepened after the Ice Age by running water were flooded by rising seas. Dingle Bay is my favourite, and it is quite shallow except for the narrow channel in the middle, which is deep enough to allow small vessels to pass. But the bays are windy. Once when walking at the head of the bay in a wind from the sea I had my head down and suddenly became aware of a presence behind me. On looking round I found that I had strayed into the middle of the road and a friendly police man had placed his car behind me. He told me that the wind had been steadily pushing me towards the middle of the road and that,having seen what was happening, he had come up at my rear for my protection. This was a common problem with tourists who do not know the area, he explained. I thanked him and took more care afterwards.
Comments
Good idea. I think that trying to do it all in one go is demanding, for you do not have time to really reflect on the richness of the scenery and the history. Soaking in the atmosphere takes time and reflection.
We are seriously thinking of doing this next year or at least part of it
Thanks for this stunning post .
I am delighted that you enjoyed what I wrote. I love to visit Ireland, and it is a couple of years since I was last there, up at Lough Swilly in Donegal.
I really enjoyed reading your article, Frank, and seeing your amazing photos. Thank you. If I have the opportunity to visit Ireland again, I will certainly try to see these places you've mentioned.
This reminds me of an old college colleague, whose family farm was near the south western tip of Kerry. The windows and door faced inland for protection from the sea,and in winter they used to listen as the Atlantic threw pebbles at their back wall.
I once applied for a job in a college in Limerick, which is near the Wild Atlantic Way, but my Gaelic, though I have some, does not meet national requirements, so I didn't get the job. If I had got the job I was planning to live north of the Shannon in County Clare I would have loved to have lived there.
It is beautiful there, and reading your article makes me want to go back! I didn't get to see as much as you did, but enough to imagine how beautiful it would be in warm weather. It was certainly wild in February, when the wind blew seawater well inland to lash the cottage where I stayed some years ago.
I understand how wind can push a person. And it is difficult to keep one's eyes open in strong winds, so it is easy to end up in the middle of a road.
Look at the picture of the Burren. I think that it was at that boulder that I turned round and went back to camp, for it seemed a natural place to turn.
Killary is in Mayo, just near Mweelrea, which is why your visit to Galway overlooked it. By the way,fjord in Geology denotes a kind of flooded valley, whereas in Norway it also denotes a lake or sea loch.
The cracks in the limestone of the Burren in Summer are rich in wild flowers.
Absolutely lovely. Your photos show how exquisite Ireland is.
Regarding The Burren In Galway, it is very strange to visit. It is a limestone pavement which feels like a lunar landscape, ethereal in its solitary beauty.
I missed Ireland's "only Fjord " when I was in Galway. I do know though that Strangford Lough was named Strangford because the Viking riders and settlers though it was a strong fjord.
I am back in Ireland later this month.