Stage 27: Falcarragh
to Bunbeg (via bloody foreland) : Sat 9 March
2019 (40.7k or 25.4miles)
Running around Ireland - strictly by the coast - and once a month since Feb 2017.
''I mind the waiting valleys that light up the dawn of day and I mind the dawn light creeping on the rugged crests of grey'' (The Hills of Donegal)
It’s a wet (and cold) morning as I leave Bangor at 6.10am. I’m on my own today but I was confident it was going to be a straightforward run with a nice coastal path for most of the way. Driving through Belfast there’s already light snow coming down which continues all the way across the border.
Running around Ireland - strictly by the coast - and once a month since Feb 2017.
 |
It’s a wet (and cold) morning as I leave Bangor at 6.10am. I’m on my own today but I was confident it was going to be a straightforward run with a nice coastal path for most of the way. Driving through Belfast there’s already light snow coming down which continues all the way across the border.
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| Buying my new Clifton Hokas at Pure Running |
When I get onto the hills of Donegal,
the mountain road across by Errigal is just about driveable, but it does mean I
arrive later in Bunbeg than planned.
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| Errigal: Donegal's highest peak. |
I get a taxi from Bunbeg to Falcarragh and
arrive at the GAA Club just as the Falcarragh parkrun is finishing. I had not
planned to do the parkrun in any case, but get chatting to a man called Eddie
McFadden and I avail of a nice mug of tea (well a large paper cup of tea!) and some banana bread before I start
today’s adventure from Falcarragh.
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| With Eddie McFadden at Falcarragh parkrun |
The name Falcarragh (literally ‘the Wall Stone’) has
been used since 1850, as it was believed that the 'Na Crois Bhealaí', the Cross
Roads, was already too common in Ireland. Having said that, the crossroads in
Falcarragh is still the most obvious landmark in the town and so when I left
the GAA club/parkrun, I run to the Crossroads and head west in the direction of
Gortahork.
After a few miles I arrived at the small village of Gortahork
(or Gort an Choirce) where Johnny and I had stayed when we did Stage 26 back on
17 January. Since I was here last, there was a terrible fatal tragedy where
four young men lost their lives in a car accident.
On and on for another few miles along the country road and I reach the Tory Island/Inishbofin Pier. Luckily for me I don’t have to run around the Dooey/Magheroarty peninsula as Johnny and I already completed that section over the very soft sand back in January.
On and on for another few miles along the country road and I reach the Tory Island/Inishbofin Pier. Luckily for me I don’t have to run around the Dooey/Magheroarty peninsula as Johnny and I already completed that section over the very soft sand back in January.
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| View of Magheroarty peninsula |
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| Muckish Mountain |
It seems
to be a beautiful day now and I’m beginning to feel overdressed in my hat,
gloves and leggings. (later I’m really glad I wrapped up so much!) I stop here
to take a picture of the beach at Magheroarty (plane of the spring tide) and I
can clearly see snow-capped Muckish Mountain behind me in the distance.
I’m also now in training for my first marathon (the
Connamarathon) on 14 April so I don’t mind getting the mileage up today. I’m
still heading west and I pass Teach Coll (Colls Bar) where Johnny and I enjoyed
a pint last time!
Suddenly the weather has changed and the rain is coming down (this seemed to be the trend for the day, sunshine and showers!) Shortly I come to another ‘Crois Bhealai’ (crossroads) and I take a right (north) towards the sea, signposted as ‘Sli an Earagail’ and I follow this beautiful quiet coastal route all the way around the bloody foreland.
Suddenly the weather has changed and the rain is coming down (this seemed to be the trend for the day, sunshine and showers!) Shortly I come to another ‘Crois Bhealai’ (crossroads) and I take a right (north) towards the sea, signposted as ‘Sli an Earagail’ and I follow this beautiful quiet coastal route all the way around the bloody foreland.
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| The Wild Atlantic! |
The Bloody Foreland: (Cnoc
Fola): I presumed this coastal section was called bloody foreland
after some gruesome (and bloody!) battle or I thought, perhaps it might be
something to do with The Spanish Armada, with boats crashing against the Atlantic
cliffs but Bloody Foreland actually got its name from the evening (westerly)
sun illuminating the rocks on the coast. I’m completely on my own along this
quiet country road, the sun has come out again and I’ve only the odd lonely cry of the curlew to keep
me company. However, the further west I go the stronger the wild Atlantic wind
becomes!
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| At that bloody foreland! |
I follow the country road until I come to a sign to the right
pointing towards ‘Bloody Foreland Viewing Point’. So I run down here about half
a mile and then take a left turn to get closer to the coast. There’s a rough
path here which disappears after a while and then I find myself running on a rough
grassy headland. I soon join up with the trail/path again and for the next few
miles I stick rigidly to the coast, passing two or three nice beaches that are
hardly marked on the map
Inishsirrer & Inishmeane: Just across the sea I can
see two islands,
about a mile off the coast. There are also a couple of islands off the west
coast of Galway called Inisheer and Inishmean, but unlike the Galway islands
these Donegal islands are uninhabited. Innishsirrer was once a thriving
fishing community but all that remains now is a "Ghost Town" with
abandoned cottages and shops with apparently even furniture left behind after
the last residents left.
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| View of Inishsirrer island |
As I’m standing on the windy beach admiring the two islands,
I see a lady in the distance running on the strand followed by six or seven terriers.
As I restart my run, the group of dogs come rushing towards me, nipping and
barking. Meanwhile the lady keeps running alone in the distance, ignoring her wayward
dogs and oblivious to my shouts for them to get away!
Eventually I get moving again and I keep running on the (now
heavy and soft) sandy shore until I come to a narrow river/stream
(Owencronahulia river) which is a bit too wide (and deep) to cross.
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| Owencronahulia river - too wide to cross |
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| Definitely not 'Sand for the Feet of the Runner' |
I hug the river as it winds inland and eventually I see a narrow spot and decide to take a running jump and cross the river. I’m soon up on the R257 again, just before the village of Derrybeg.
Gweedore/Gaoth Dobhair: I’m now in the area called Gaoth Dobhair which stretches some 26 km north to south and around 14 km east to west and is one of Europe's most densely populated rural areas. It is the largest Irish-speaking parish in Ireland with a population of over 4,000. After the Plantation of Ulster Irish-speaking families were driven from their fertile lands in the Lagan Valley and made their way to the poor boglands of west Donegal. Some of them made it as far as Gweedore and could go no further west.
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| Bad Eddie(Eddie's boat) on Bunbeg Beach |
I run on towards Derrybeg,
climbing the hill at the top of the village and then taking a right down
towards the Golf course. It’s a long run down to the shore but eventually I
arrive at a nice secluded beach. I follow the coast on another grassy headland
all the way to Maherclogher beach (Bunbeg) which opens out in front of me.
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| Errigal peeping over horizon at Bunbeg |
Finally, as I reach my destination at the end of the strand, I come across a
wreck of a boat (baid Eddie, it’s called). Behind it I can see Mount Errigal,
Donegal’s highest peak, peeping over the horizon. It’s the perfect picture to
end today’s adventure.
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Total distance to date: 1,169 (730.5miles)
Next Stage: Bunbeg to
Kincasslagh (or maybe Dungloe): Sat 30 March 2019
If you’d like to Donate
to Clifton Special School, please see below.
Coasting
around Ireland.
It seems
like there are quite a few people running (or walking) around Ireland. Of
course Bangor’s own Terry Eakin aka Herbie Herb started it all in 2013.
Although I remember Terry telling me about a man who ran/walked around Ireland
years ago and when he died, his ashes were spread on the north Antrim coast. In
early 2018 Mary Hickey did her ‘Lap the Map’ of Ireland in aid of the RNLI. I
ran with Mary from Donaghadee to Belfast in January and met her again in
February when she had already reached Galway. Another lady, Karen Penny (‘The
Penny Rolls On’) who has recently started her walk (around Ireland and
Britain!) from Wexford and is in west Kerry as I write. I hope to bump into her
along the coast sometime later this year.
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| With fellow coastal runners, Rachel and Simon. |
Back in
August (2018) Rachel Winter and Simon Clark starting their own adventure in
Dublin and like Karen Penny, they bucked the trend by running clockwise. This
pair (‘Two Hearts Four Feet’) have now covered most of Ireland, are raising
funds for Ecologia Youth Trust and have at present completed over 2,000 miles.
Simon and Rachel arrived in Bangor the day after my coastal run (10 March) and
stayed with me for one night before heading south towards Dublin again. Simon and
Rachel say they also met Marty Holland (Coast For Cancer) near Limerick who
walked the coast (3500km-4000km) in 2016/2017 and also young Alex Ellis-Roswell
who walked Britain and Ireland for the RNLI in 2014-17. Everyone of these coastal
runners (or walkers) has their own unique story to tell.
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