The far north of Ireland

It was cold but dry when we left Swinford. We headed up towards Sligo, but bypassed it and started following the Wild Atlantic Way, hereinafter called the WAW. This is a scheme whereby little, not so little and some big roads are linked so that travellers can follow the coast. It has been good for business for smaller towns that would otherwise be missed by tourists.

Our first stop was Strandhill Beach where swimming and canoeing are banned. It allows surfing and we did see a few hardy souls, but why you would bother is beyond us.

An interesting sign led us to walking along a path that traversed beach and dunes, and around an airport runway, taking us to the ruins of Killaspugbrone Church. It was in a beautiful spot, and Robyn joked that the graves there enjoyed an even better view than Gerringong Cemetery where Uncle Jock is buried.

We took a few other little sojourns, but all of a sudden we found that we were running out of time. Nevertheless we made it to Malin Head just on 4pm, in time to meet Mary, our host.Read more