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.

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.

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.


House with a view on Falcorrib road



At Maghery beach

I followed this quiet road around the coast and eventually was glad to see Maghery beach (not to be confused with another Maghery beach further south near Ardara).

At Maghery with Italian couple

Running along the road I spotted a couple in yellow jackets picking rubbish and asked them in my best Irish/Gaelic to take a picture. It turned out that they were from Italy! So nice that they are miles from their home and volunteering to pick up our rubbish!  I continued on and once I passed the beach and football club I took a left turn out towards Termon Peninsula and soon passing Termon House.

Termon House on Termon Peninsula

Termon House: Built by Ralph Spence Philips and not long after a famine broke out in the area in 1822. Although he had no tenants, Mr. Philips provided a public works program to help his neighbours.

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.

We headed east from Dooey beach and ran along the country road. Even when we reached the N56 we were able to avail of an off-road cycle lane.

Hills before Meenacross

 Soon we came to the Drom Loch Druid sign and so we headed left along the L1743 and faced a few more wee Donegal hills.

Pip enjoyed the run too!

 After a mile or two we decided to be a bit more adventurous so we trampled through grass and bushes and found ourselves eventually down on a nice wide strand.  

Come on Philip!

Although it was perfect sand for running on, leaving the beach wasn’t so easy. Trying to get back on the road was tricky as we realised we had a wide stream to cross. Philip did the chivalry thing, took off his shoes and carried his wife Valerie (piggy-back style) across the stream.

After crossing the stream

I followed the pair barefoot through the water. This stretch on the strand turned out to be a kind of ‘shortcut’ to Meenacross even if it was rougher terrain! Soon we spotted Maureen driving towards us to tell us we only had about 1k to go and so we arrived at the church at Meenacross having completed stage 30 of the coastal adventure.  

In a previous blog I referred to Karen Penny (The Penny Rolls on) and how she was walking around Britain and Ireland. I had been keeping in touch with Karen on Facebook and it so happened that she was also in Dungloe this weekend (she was heading north and walking clockwise). We arranged to meet on the Saturday night for a chat and it’s amazing what she’s achieved since arriving in Wexford in January. Day after day of coastal walks and she has already raised £30,000 for Alzheimer’s.  

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!

It turned out to be a wet start but as the day went on, it brightened up. In any case we had all of Dooey Strand to ourselves and we were able to run for miles on the beach and admire the view across to Portnoo (our finish line for today.) However, gradually the sand got softer as we turned the corner at the end of the main beach – heavy going for ‘the feet of the runner’.

Sand NOT for the feet of the runner!

Glad to back on country road again

With Gweedarra bridge behind

Eventually we were able to get up onto the quiet coast road and follow it all the way until eventually we could see the nice sight of the Gweedarra Bridge on the N56.

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.

Valerie looking back across to Dooey

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.

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 6^th 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

If you’d like to Donate to Clifton Special School, please see below.

https://mydonate.bt.com/events/cliftoncoastalrun/381290

Contact Gerry on gerryoboyle@outlook.com or 00 44 (0) 7725613308