Stage 26: Dunfanaghy to Falcarragh (including parkrun and Dooey Peninsula) : Sat 19 Jan 2019 (34k or 21miles)
Running around Ireland - strictly by the coast - and once a month since Feb 2017.
I was joined on this month's coastal run by my good friend Johnny McGrath who also lives in Bangor. It’s the
first time I’ve had any company since crossing the Derry/Donegal Border in
March 2018. After completing 456k on my own, I’m delighted to have a running
partner today!
It’s a wet morning as Johnny and I leave Bangor at 5.50am, making sure we make it to Falcarragh in time for the 9.30 parkrun. The weather is slowly improving and by the time we cross the Foyle bridge and head towards Donegal the rain has cleared and its brightening up nicely.
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| Sunny forecast for Donegal! |
As per the forecast, it turns out to be a beautiful day, perfect for running!
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Bridge of Tears
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Bridge of Tears: Johnny and I have a lovely drive through the hills of Donegal and just before we get to Falcarragh, as the road winds around, we cross over a small bridge. It’s called the Bridge of Tears. The sign in Irish says ‘family and friends of the person leaving for foreign lands would come this far’. We can imagine how sad and heart breaking that must have been saying goodbye to someone, possibly for ever.
Falcarragh parkrun: It was a long way to
come to do a parkrun but the welcome we got made it all worthwhile. We meet the
organisers, Tom and Paul and about 100 people complete the parkrun which is
quite a big crowd for a winter’s morning in north west Donegal. It’s a lovely
run through a small forest and orchard. After the parkrun we join everyone for
tea and buns. Two runners, Peter and Janet, kindly drive us back to our
starting point in Dunfanaghy (Fort of the Fair-Haired Warrior)
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| With Paul at Falcarragh parkrun |
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| With Tom at Falcarragh parkrun |
Dunfanaghy and the
Famine:This
part of Donegal suffered even more and a
workhouse was opened in Dunfanaghy in the 1840’s to feed the needy. The French
sociologist, de Beaumont made a trip to Ireland in 1835, more than ten
years before the famine and wrote "I have seen the
Indian in his forests, and the Negro in his chains, and thought that I saw the
very extreme of human wretchedness but an entire nation of paupers is what was
never seen until it was shown in Ireland."
So Johnny and I leave
Dunfanaghy at 10.50 am and make our way north as far as Horn Head bridge, just
about 1k outside Dunfanaghy. We were both in good form starting stage 26 of the
coastal adventure, just as this writer felt.
‘I shuffled home past
Horn Head bridge
From collecting' sticks and kindling
While corncrakes rasped from Figart Ridge
As summer light was dwindling’
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| Leaving Dunfanaghy |
Immediately after
crossing Horn Head bridge we take a left turn along a rough trail towards the
sea. We follow the trail, which eventually fades away but we can see the sea in
the distance and we carry on over fields and sand dunes. After about 2k we
reach the amazing Tramore (large beach). I suppose I can say that I’ve reached
the WEST coast of Ireland.
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| At Tra More, near Dunfanaghy |
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| Tra More |
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| Low Tide on Tra More |
The sun is shining now, the sea is calm and Johnny
and I enjoy running on the sand (lovely ‘sand for the feet of the runner’).
It’s low tide too which means we have a huge massive beach all to ourselves
with perfect views of Tory Island and also nearby Inishbofin (island of the
white cow) and two smaller islands, Inishdooey and Innisbeg. I was talking to a friend of mine, Allen Cox and he explained
how he proposed to his wife on this romantic beach!
The beach is about 3k
long and at the end there’s a cliff and headland ahead which separates us from
the next beach (Falcarragh strand). We start to climb the lower part of the
cliff but decide it’s an unsafe option and so we backtrack a little and head
inland over the lower sand-dunes. We climb a steep hill or two and start
looking for this trail/lane we’ve seen on our maps. Just as we feel we’re getting
near the lane we see a ‘private property’ sign and so we have to look for an
alternative way that takes us inland.
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| Trying to find trail off Tra More |
Eventually we find the lane and run along it for about 1k before we take a left turn and after another 1k we take a right turn, back down towards the sea. Just before we come to a few houses and farmyard we take a rough trail left.
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| Daffodils think its Spring! |
At the end of this lane, there’s another ‘private
property’ sign at an empty farm but we know we’re near the sea so we carry on
over a gate or two and finally arrive on Falcarragh beach. More perfect sand
for the feet of the runner!
We’re really enjoying
running along another beautiful beach but after about 1k we come to a shallow
stream flowing into the sea. We try to run around the stream or look for a
shallow part but eventually decide the best option is to cross the cold stream
in our bare feet.
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| Crossing stream on Falcarragh beach |
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| With Orla and Damian on Falcarragh beach |
We meet a young friendly couple, Orla and Damian (not sure if
there was another proposal here too!). We get chatting to them and tell them
about our Coastal adventure. We put back on our
shoes and run to the very end of Falcarragh beach, aptly named Finlays Point
(same name as Johnny’s son!). We can see across the narrow passage to the Dooey
peninsula (Drumnasillagh strand) which we plan to tackle later this afternoon.
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| Johnny at Finlays Bar, looking across to Dooey peninsula |
For now, we continue to follow the coast (keeping the sea on our right hand
side, as always!) and shortly arrive in Falcarragh. We run back to the GAA club
where the parkrun started this morning and where we left our car.
Dooey/Magheroarty
Peninsula: As it was a
relatively short stage today we decide to complete this peninsula as well (it
will save me about 5 miles on my next stage). We drive from the GAA club in Falcarragh
and park near Tory Island Pier. (the word Tory comes from the old Irish word Tóraidhe which means bandit) As the tide is coming in now, we
decide to run this peninsula clock-wise (keeping the sea on our left for a
change). This heavy sand is definitely not for the feet of the runner. It’s
hard going for Johnny and I but at least we’re able to enjoy the views of
Inishbofin.
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| Johnny on Dooey peninsula - the other side! |
We struggle to the end of the peninsula, looking across at Finlay’s
Point and Falcarragh beach. When we do turn right around the ‘corner’ we notice
the sand is harder and much easier to make progress. We leave the beach and
come to a nice coastal trail that brings us back to the carpark at Tory Island
pier.
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| At Tory Pier after completing Dooey peninsula |
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| Deserved pint at Colls Bar, near Tory Pier |
So with Stage 26 completed, Johnny and I enjoy a nice sunny walk to the end of
Tory Pier and afterwards we head up to Colls Bar for a well-deserved pint!
Stage 19 (the bit I
missed in June 2018): On the morning after doing
Stage 26, Johnny and I drove to Inch Island (outside Buncrana) and circled the
island and so completing Stage 19. You’ll have to go back to Stage 19 to read
about it!
Total distance to date: 1,128k (705miles) Next Stages: Falcarragh to Bunbeg - Sat 2 March and Bunbeg to Kincasslagh - Sat 30 March
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The beach is about 3k
long and at the end there’s a cliff and headland ahead which separates us from
the next beach (Falcarragh strand). We start to climb the lower part of the
cliff but decide it’s an unsafe option and so we backtrack a little and head
inland over the lower sand-dunes. We climb a steep hill or two and start
looking for this trail/lane we’ve seen on our maps. Just as we feel we’re getting
near the lane we see a ‘private property’ sign and so we have to look for an
alternative way that takes us inland.
