Stages 29-31: 3-5 May 2019: Dungloe (An Clochan Liath) to
Portnoo – total mileage over 3 days, 64.6km (or 40miles)
Running around Ireland - strictly by the coast - and once a
month since Feb 2017.
Give me your tired, your poor, your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
(This is a good excuse
for me to quote the famous lines by Emma Lazarus
referring to the Statue of Liberty – see also later in blog!)
I must admit I wasn’t
really in the mood for running this weekend after completing the Connamarathon
and picking up a heavy cold in the weeks afterwards. However, it was great to
have Maureen and Brian with me and also to be joined on Saturday and Sunday by
my Bangor friends, Valerie and Philip McDonough (and their dog Pip!) who were
staying in Portnoo for the bank holiday weekend.
Friday 3rd
May – Meenacross to Dungloe – Stage 29 – 23km (14.5m):
Maureen, Brian and I travelled
down on Friday afternoon and arrived in west Donegal about 5.30pm.
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| At the church at Meenacross |
This evening
I decided I would run clockwise, keeping the sea on my left side for a change!
The reasoning being, that I could finish back in Dungloe where we were staying
and Maureen wouldn’t have to come back to collect me later. So my starting
point was at Meenacross Church, just south of Dungloe.
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| Getting ready to leave Meenacross |
Leaving Meenacross I
headed straight (south) towards the coast. Immediately two barking dogs kept me
on my toes, one seemed quite vicious and was tied (tightly I hoped!) by rope to
his kennel. I was glad to get past and soon I was down on a remote shoreline.
Just before I reached a small pier there was a rough trail to the right,
heading inland which I knew would bring me up to the quiet country road known
as Falcorrib Coast Road. Soon the rain started to come down and that was the
trend for the evening – short showers and a wee bit cold for the beginning of
May.
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| House with a view on Falcorrib road |
I thought I might be
able to circle the Termon peninsula but it didn’t seem possible or practical so
I ran as far as I could along the road to the top of the peninsula and just turned
around again and back towards Maghery.
At this stage I rang my old boss, Keith
Harvey who I knew was staying in Dungloe. He said he would meet me along the
Maghery road so that gave me an incentive to push on. Although today was a
relatively short stage (only 23k) I struggling at times this evening and was so
glad to reach Dungloe (An Clochan Liath) and meet Keith and later Maureen and
Brian.
Mary from Dungloe: It was always one of my favourite songs so it means a lot
to me to be actually staying in Dungloe! Apparently the original ‘Mary’ was
Mary Gallagher. She had a boyfriend but her parents refused to let him marry their daughter (‘it was your cruel father would not let me stay here’) and he emigrated to
America. Mary herself also left later for New Zealand, married another man and
died a few months later after giving birth. Very sad story but then all the
best songs usually have a sad tale behind them.
Saturday 4th
May – Dooey Point to Meenacross – Stage 30 – 15.5k (9.5m)
 |
| Leaving Dooey Point |
This was another
stage that I decided to do clockwise with the sea on my left. I was so glad to
be joined today by Valerie and Philip McDonough and their dog, Pip. It seemed much
easier to arrange to meet the McDonoughs at Dooey Point rather than Meenacross (which
is a difficult place to find!). Dooey Point was such a lovely starting point on
another one of Donegal’s spectacular beaches on a beautiful sunny morning.
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| With Karen Penny (The Penny rolls on!) |
Sunday 5th
May – Dooey Point to Portnoo – Stage 31 – 26k (16m)
Maureen, Brian and I
had stayed in the Riverhouse hostel in Dungloe and we drove back this morning
again to Dooey Point to meet with Valerie and Philip. This time we did our run the
proper way, anti-clockwise with the sea on our right!
Gweedarra Bridge:The first bridge was
built here in 1896 mainly to shorten the journey (by 7 miles) between Glenties
and Dungloe and also to connect the villages in SW Donegal. However, it was not
very suitable for vehicle traffic and in 1953 a more secure new bridge was constructed.
The new bridge was considered a major engineering feat of its time and even
today it looks very impressive. Before 1896 there were various ferry crossings
or people just waited for low tide to attempt to cross the estuary.
At this stage the three of us were a bit
overdressed and decided to leave some of our clothes by the bridge (collecting
them later on drive back)
Although we were on a
busy road we were able to run along a lower level cycle lane for the next few
miles. Suddenly after leaving the cycle lane we came to a strange appearance of
the ‘Statue of Liberty’ in a garden outside a house on the main road.
We noticed
the house was for sale too but not sure if the statue was included in the price!
Shortly afterwards we
took a right turn, leaving the N56, towards Portnoo. Valerie and Philip were
getting excited now knowing we were getting close to Portnoo. Philip’s family
have been coming to Portnoo for years and in fact Philip’s grandfather was the
second family to have a caravan at this site.
We continued towards
Portnoo and Naran, passing the village of Clooney, not to be confused with the
Clooney in Co. Clare (‘a mile from Spancil Hill’). Soon afterwards we took a
right turn at the Lakeside Hotel which got us down towards the shore and golf
course. We stuck to the coast now, trying not to distract the golfers and
shortly arrived at the beautiful strand at Portnoo.
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| Valerie looking back across to Dooey |
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| Synchronised running on Portnoo Strand |
When we reached our
destination Philip suggested we call to the coffee stand at the caravan park
and yes we deserved our caffeine in the sunshine.
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| On Inis Caoil Island |
The coffee perked me
up so much that I decided to tackle nearby Inis Caoil Island. As it was low
tide I couldn’t resist the opportunity! Luckily for me Maureen and Brian had just
arrived on the beach at this point and so we crossed over to the island
together.
I left Maureen and Brian at the ruins of St. Connells Church on the
island and proceeded to run around the whole island, worrying slightly that I
wouldn’t make it back before the tide came in. It’s hard to believe that St. Connell
and others lived here as far back as the 6th Century. Those monks
would have been watching out for tides too! In the end I had plenty of time to
circle the island and made my way back along the beach to the caravan park
where Valerie and Philip had put on a full and wholesome lunch for us all! It
was the perfect ending to the running weekend. The adventure continues!
Total distance to
date: 1,291k (807miles)
Next Stage: Portnoo to
Ardara: Sun/Mon 23/24 June 2019
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