Stage 24 of Coastal Run: Carrickart to Creeslough (via Rosguill Peninsula): Saturday 22 Sept 2018 (39.9k or 24.8 miles)
 

Running around Ireland - strictly by the coast - and once a month since Feb 2017.

I’m really enjoying researching and writing this blog as part of the coastal adventure. I’ve now completed over 1,000km since I left Omeath, Co. Louth last year with Helen and Sean. This month I found myself in a very remote part of Donegal in the Rosguill Peninsula where apparently, the last of the O’Boyles died in 1360, before the MacSweeneys of Scotland took over. So really, I’m just reclaiming the old O’Boyle land back again!  

Island Roy - first stop today!

  It’s a damp start to the day as I leave Carrickart just about 9.00 am. I can even count the nine church bells ringing in the distance as I’m leaving the village, heading north towards Island Roy.

View of Fanad and Blaney Bridge from Island Roy

Island Roy (Oilean Ruaidh)
Apparently on some maps Island Roy is not even shown and I must admit I’d never heard of it before. However I liked this wee island and I found it easily enough, sign-posted, just a mile or two north of Carrickart. So I cross a small bridge and arrive on Roy (or Oileán Ruaidh, meaning ‘red island’ due to the rusty colour of the vegetation). Apparently before the bridge/causeway was built to the island, children used get to school on the mainland by wading across on stilts at low tide.  (By the way, this is now the third island I’ve been too as part of my coastal run and I’m not including Island Magee in Co. Antrim - which isn’t actually an island!)

With Maura O'Neill who I met on Island Roy

On the island itself I get chatting to a lady (called Maura O’Neill) for a while. She tells me that it’s not possible to actually run around the whole island. I turn right anyway and run as far as I can until I come to a dead end (farm gates). Still there’s a lot to admire about Island Roy with magnificant views across the sea towards the Donegal hills and the new Blaney Bridge to Fanad is clearly visible.    

Immediately after leaving the island I take a sharp right turn and run along a slightly rocky shore. After a while I notice a grassy path up off the shore which is much better for running on. However, the path gets narrower and then comes to an abrupt end so I have to go back down on the shore again. I feel at this stage I must be close to Rosepenna, so I leave the shore again, passing through the garden of (an empty) holiday home and I arrive on a proper lane/boreen. I eventually come to Rosepenna pier and I take a sharp left turn just before the pier (on a better road now) and then a right turn at a T junction and I head north.

Singing Pub! Must come back here some time!

The rain has now stopped completely. It was never that wet to start with anyway and now the sun is coming out. It turns out to be another beautiful day in Donegal! It’s very quiet on these country roads. I pass the ‘Singing Pub’ (it would be nice to pay a visit sometime!)

My knee is still causing me problems and over the last week or so I’ve tried to rest it in preparation for today. In any case I don’t push it too hard today. (As I write this, a week later, the knee is still not really recovering!)

The sign towards the beach

So all is going well so far in Rosguill – no problems yet! I’m heading north but conscious that I should be closer to the sea. After passing the ‘Singing Pub’ and a ‘viewing point’ (lovely sight across to west Fanad), I see a sign to the right towards Tra na Rossan.

Tra na Rosann

 I decide to take this turn as I knew it would bring me closer to the coast. I really should have consulted my map at this stage! If I had, I would have noticed that Tra Rossan is actually on the west side of Rosguill.

Anyway, in short, I got my bearings wrong. It took me a while to get down to Tra Rossan (it was a beautiful beach and I had it all to myself, so I don’t regret that part).

I'm trying to mark my first 1,000k (Tra na Rosann)

Proud of my selfie with Tra na Rosann in background

So as I stood there on the beach, I thought I was on the east coast of Rosguill but I was actually on the west coast.






Sometimes you forget it’s such a narrow peninsula and only about 2k can separate the west and east coast. I tried to turn left at Tra Rossan beach but there were cliffs and so I returned (back up the hill again) to the original sign I saw. Then I took a right turn, still thinking I was heading north on the east side of Rossguill (I was actually now following the coast road towards the west side!)

The quiet country road in Rosguill

Luckily for me it was a beautiful day. There were magnificant views across the sea and I could clearly see Horn Head and even Tory Island in the distance (probably about 25k away).

View of Tory Island on right - Horn Head on left

Anyway I kept running until I saw a road sign. (I notice all the road signs are in Irish but the names in the map are all in English, which can add to the confusion!)  I decided to stop and consult my map. I stood there for a few minutes (scratching my head!) and a man and his two dogs came out of his house. I get talking to this friendly man, his name is Kevin McBride and he tells me I’m only two miles north of Downings beach. This came as a bit of a shock as I thought I was very near Melmore Head at the top of Rosguill!

With Kevin McBride

Kevin's nice wee cottage

So I arrived shortly in Downings (quicker than I thought, having not covered all of Rossguill – I will go back though someday to complete the whole peninsula!)

At Downings, I followed the sign (right) for the pier and went down the steps to the wide expansive beach. I carried on running along the beach until it came to end at the golf course.

Downings Beach



Downings Beach - sand for feet of the runner!

There was a nice wide road and path to run on as I headed for Creeslough. Maybe I should have tried to get down onto the beach after the golf course (and continued along Tra More) but I stayed on the main road to Creeslough which wasn’t too busy. 

The O'Boyles causing trouble again!

 

View across bay to Doe Castle

As I got closer to Creeslough there were lovely views across to Doe Castle and shortly afterwards I crossed a very picturesque bridge over the river Lackagh (An Leacach)



Bridge over river Lackagh

I avoided the main road into Creeslough by following the Cycle signs (right turn towards Doe Castle). With Muckish Mountain standing tall behind it was a lovely quiet way to approach Creeslough and complete Stage 24. The adventure continues!



Muckish Mountain

Today's finish line!

Total distance to date: 1,023k or 639miles  
Next Stage: Saturday 20 Oct (Creeslough to Dunfanaghy)  

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Stage 24 (the bit I missed last month): Rosguill Peninsula to Melmore Hill (starting and finishing at Tra na Rosann): Sunday 21 Oct 2018 (9.6k or 6miles)

 
I convinced Maureen and Brian to go back to the scene of the crime! The crime was that I hadn’t complete Stage 24 properly last month. I missed a bit! This six mile stretch might not seem very long but it involved climbing three hills in a remote area ...with my son Brian... and Maureen did some of it too!

The day didn’t start well. It rained all morning and there was a particularly heavy shower as we left Arnolds Hotel in nearby Dunfanaghy. I wondered if Maureen and Brian would be able to tackle this walk (no I didn’t expect them to run it!).

Anyway we arrived at Tra na Rosann beach in Rosguill at about 11.15am. On the positive side I had detailed instructions about walking to Melmore Head. I had found this sheet (on the internet) outlining the route to take which proved invaluable. 

And so we walked along Tra na Rosann to the end of the beach (keeping the sea on our left on this occasion) and then began our climb. Our first hill, Crocknasleigh is the highest point in Rosguill.

We could clearly see the beach below us and with the sun coming out; Tory Island was stretching out in the distance. Maureen doesn’t quite make it to Crocknasleigh but Brian and I carry on up to the top.

We follow our instructions from the sheet, making our way to the next hill. It turns out Brian is quite fit and makes it up to the second hill/peak without too much difficulty.

However, getting down from this hill poses a problem. We can see Boyeeghter Strand below us but it’s quite a descent.

We slowly make our way down and then have a lovely flat grassy stretch to walk on with Melmore Lough on our right hand side.

We head over to Murder Hole Beach (nobody seems to know how it got its name!) Anyway, Brian is still in good form as we slide down the sand dunes onto the strand at Murder Hole.

 

It’s turned out to be another sunny day with no sign of any more rain. We find our way to the ‘old derelict farmhouse’ and climb our last hill, Melmore Hill and eventually come back to the large caravan park and follow the main road out of the park. I reckon Brian has done enough today – I’m so proud of him! Maureen comes to meet us at Melmore Caravan Park and I complete the loop on my own, running back along the main road to Tra na Rosann beach. Mission accomplished – Stage 24 completed in full!