Stages 38-40:13-15 Sept: Last (Ulster) Stages!
Running around Ireland - strictly by the coast - and once a
month since Feb 2017.
‘’Oh then fare thee well
sweet Donegal, the Rosses and Gweedore’’
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| In Donegal Town with Red Hugh - the leader of all the O'Donnells |
Yes I’ll miss Donegal after this
weekend as I’ve literally been to every (coastal) nook and cranny in the county.
Also I’ve almost seen every port and beach in the whole province of Ulster! Still a few more beauty spots to see before I finally reach the Donegal/Leitrim border on Sunday. Again
I’m so lucky with the weather this weekend and it’s a very
sunny and pleasant Friday afternoon as Maureen, Brian and I arrive in Donegal Town.
Stage 38: Friday 13 Sept: Donegal Town to Rossnowlagh 26.7km
(or 16.7 miles) |
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I started my run from Donegal Town at 5.20pm, confident enough
that I’d arrive in Rossnowlagh a few hours later, before dark and be reunited
with Maureen and Brian. However, as I’ve realised on this adventure, nothing
goes according to plan!
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| Brian gives me thumbs up as I leave Donegal Town |
Donegal
is called Tirconnell (land of Connell) and Connell was a son of Niall of the
Nine Hostages who originally kidnapped Saint Patrick from Wales. Patrick then
returned to this part of Ireland and blessed the Connells, who became the first
clan to convert to Christianity.
I
head south along the R267 and when the footpath ends (and road veers to the
left) I take a right turn towards Dungally Strand, although there’s no sign of
any strand here! It’s quieter though with just a few new houses along the road.
After a while I see a rough trail to the right. I decide to take it but then I
have to climb over a farm gate (bad idea!). It looks like there’s a track on
the other side of the gate but it soon gets muddy and shortly I’m trying to manoeuvre
along this rough trail through barb wire and more mud! Eventually I arrive in
the back garden of a house just before the causeway to St. Ernan’s Island.
There’s a big gate here but its wide open so I run across the short causeway
and arrive on the wee island.
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| The causeway to St. Ernan's Island |
Yet another island I’ve been to without getting
on a boat! (that's 12 islands... Rough, Gores, Reagh, Mahee, Mid, South, Chapel, Inch, Roy, Cruit, Iniscaoil and now St.Ernan's. I'm not including Doagh Island and Island Magee which are not proper islands).
Apparently the causeway to St. Ernan’s island was built in the 1800s
by local workers as a gesture of gratitude to the compassionate landlord John
Hamilton, whose original house still dominates the small island. Mr. Hamilton built a
mill and school and during the Famine he spent £1,000 on a relief fund to
import grain and potatoes.
I leave the island and shortly rejoin
the R267 again and after about a mile I come to a roundabout. Just at the
roundabout there’s a road to the right which I take and I run parallel to the
N15. I join the N15 just before Laghy and after passing the village I take a
right (L2145) along the NW Cycle Trail. After about a mile I take a right turn
(signposted Bay View B&B) and a left (just before the B&B) along
a wide path. I’m really not sure if I’m going to arrive down by the coast but when
I do reach the shore I get a nice surprise. There’s a pub (The Salmon Inn) here
and people are sitting outside enjoying the sunny evening.
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| A pub on the coast - an unexpected pleasure! |
I’m able to continue
running along the coast, through the trail at Murvagh House (owner doesn’t mind
I was told) and then I keep left along the track until I come to a hump
back bridge. I cross the bridge and then after 500m I take a right turn at a
wee crossroads (signposted Donegal Golf club).
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| Just before crossing hump back bridge at Murvagh House |
At the Club House I keep to the
right and run along the edge of the golf course heading north towards the top
of the peninsula. There’s hardly anyone around so I know I’m not getting in the
way or in danger of being hit by a golf ball. I discover later that this is one
of the longest golf courses in Ireland and it does feel like it! Eventually I
reach the northern shore and turn left (keeping the sea on my right as always!)
Its 8.00pm now, there’s a beautiful sunset and I reckon I’ve still got another
good half hour before it gets dark.
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| Donegal's very long Golf Course |
For a while I’m able to run along a grassy
path along the sand dunes and even when the path disappears I climb down onto
the beach which is now quite good for running on. The ordnance map seems to
show a nice long yellow stretch along the strand to Rossnowlagh but I soon
realise that, as I get further south, the beach is getting narrower. Soon I
have no sand to run on and I’m stumbling over a rocky shoreline. I knew high
tide was at 6.30pm which doesn’t help my situation.
It’s getting dark too! I’d never been
to Rossnowlagh before so I’m even wondering have I passed the village already.
It gets to a point (that I know now is Loughtone Hill) where I have to make a
decision to leave the rocky shore and try to get onto a road.
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| Not all yellow bits were sand!! |
Eventually I do
find a quiet country road, which turns inland and I run along it for a couple
of miles. There’s nobody about! A dog comes barking out of a house but there’s
no people around. I see a house with a light on and I ring the bell a few times,
to ask directions, but no one appears. It’s getting very dark now and I’m beginning to think this
whole coastal run is a really mad idea! I ring Maureen at 8.23 (exactly three
hours since I left Donegal town) to let her know that I’m safe, but honestly I
have no idea where I am! I see a car and stop to ask directions and a group of
young men tell me I’m miles from Rossnowlagh. I walk on a bit further, not
really knowing where I’m going (and too dark to read the map on my phone). I
stop another car and an older couple offer me a lift to a main road. I get chatting
to them in the car, tell them my story and I think they feel a bit sorry for
me. They end up driving me all the way back to Rossnowlagh. Thank you Betty and
Denis Kelly!
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| Rossnowlagh beach - picture taken on the following morning from our bedroom! |
Stage 39: Saturday 14 Sept
2019: Rossnowlagh to Ballyshannon 22.2km
(or 13.9 miles)
After
yesterday evening’s disaster of a run it was so nice to wake up to a beautiful morning
and to be overlooking Rossnowlagh beach. Maureen, Brian and I were so lucky to
have such lovely accommodation at the Gaslight Inn and a room with an amazing
view!
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| Brian in our 'room with a view' |
However, even with the sun shining I still wasn’t in a mood for much
running after yesterday’s problems. I re-learned a lesson though about tides
and how it’s much easier running at low tide and in day light! Of course I knew
had to go back and do the bit of the run I missed last night! With high tide at
7.00am this morning I didn’t mind waiting a few hours to start today’s run.
Also, as I missed dinner last night (just crisps and buns) I decided I needed a
good breakfast before picking up where I left off last night. So after some
tasty poached eggs and toast, Maureen and Brian joined me as I left the
Gaslight Inn at 10.43am.
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| A nice way to keep memories alive |
We
walked along the beach at Rossnowlagh (called Belall Strand) and then took the
main road up from the beach. After about half a mile we took a left turn along
a road that winds to the left through Manor House Holiday Park. At the Holiday
Park we were able to join the beach just about 3km north of Rossnowlagh and so
I was able to complete the piece I missed last night!
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| Rejoined beach at Manor House Holiday park |
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| With Ben Bulben in background |
It’s
now such a beautiful morning and I see Rossnowlagh in all its glory - home to
surfers, swimmers and walkers. There are magnificent views across on one side
to St Johns Point, Slieve League and the Donegal Hills and on the other side Ben
Bulben is clearly visible.
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| Mr. and Mrs. Fleming who we met on beach |
I leave Maureen and Brian and begin running on
ahead. At the end of the beach I rejoin the coastal road where our hotel
(Gaslight Inn) is. I continue along here until the T junction where I take a
right turn towards Ballyshannon. After about 3k at a small crossroads I take a
right turn towards Creevy Pier (or Bunatrahan Pier).
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| I've seen too many of these on my coastal runs |
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| I know I call this an adventure - but FUN adventure is a bit much! |
I decide to continue
running on the headland to see can I get to Ballyshannon this way and I’m very pleasantly
surprised to find a nice grassy path with lots of styles along the way. This is
called the Creevy Coastal Walk and it’s probably the best coastal path I’ve
been on in all my time in Donegal. The views across to Sligo are spectacular too
and even when the path comes to an end I can get down onto Wardtown Strand.
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| The style of Annette leads me onto the Creevy Coastal Path |
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| Creevy path - perfect for running on! |
It’s
such a lovely run along here and strange that I don’t even meet one person on a
beautiful Saturday afternoon in mid September. I have a lone curlew to keep me company though and that lovely haunting sound - not sure if its the same curlew that's following me every month!
It’s low tide too, so unlike
yesterday, everything is going my way! As I get closer to Ballyshannon, I see
two cars parked on the shore and I realise there’s a lane that I can take up
towards the town, passing the cemetery on the way. At the top of the lane, at
the roundabout, it’s a nice 1km run into the town centre to my finish line
today at Rory Gallagher’s statue, Ballyshannon’s most famous son.
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| At today's finish line with Rory Gallagher |
Apparently when Jimi Hendrix was asked how it felt to be the world's greatest guitarist, he is reported to have said, ''I don't know, go ask Rory Gallagher''
Stage 40: Sunday 15 Sept 2019: Ballyshannon to
Bundoran, via Tullan Strand 17.1km (or 10.7 miles)
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| From Donegal to Ulster/Connacht border |
I enjoyed
another hearty breakfast in the Gaslight Inn at Rossnowlagh before we checked
out. It turned out to be a miserable wet morning after the fine weather over
the last two days. Also my upper back has been sore all weekend and I’m beginning to
feel my age today!
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| With 'the world's greatest guitarist' again - but not such nice weather today |
Maureen drove me back to Rory Gallagher’s statue in
Ballyshannon to start my final Ulster stage. I knew I had to run along the R267
for about 5k – no chance of trying to look for a coastal path this time because
this part of the coast was closed off. It’s Department of Defence Property occupied
by the Irish Army (Finner Army Camp).
Finner
Camp
Back in the troubled days of 1969
there was talk of the Irish Army preparing to cross the border (presumably from
here at Finner Camp) and ‘liberate’ Catholic dominated towns like Newry and
Derry. Apparently plans were even drawn up by the Irish Army envisaged a series
of guerrilla attacks on vital installations in Belfast.
Today
it wasn’t too unpleasant running on this road and the rain was easing off as I
got closer to Bundoran. Just before I got into the town I took a right turn,
signposted for Tullan Strand. I ran down to the car park at the cliff top
overlooking the beach and it was so nice to see Maureen and Brian there to meet
me. I carried on my own down to Tullan Strand – of course I couldn’t resist a beautiful
beach like that and as I often say ‘sand is for the feet of the runner’!
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| Tullan Strand, just north of Bundoran |
Tullan
strand is another one of those spectacular Donegal beaches that most people
probably haven’t heard of. However, there were signs saying that it was unsafe
for swimming because of rip tides. Also the Irish Army had ‘No Entry’ signs on
the sand dunes as they occupied the land east of the beach.
Still the rain has
stopped and at the northern top of the beach I’m able to run on the grassy
section (hoping I’m off the military land by now!) I follow hoof prints that
circled the top of the strand and I run all the way back around the sandy beach
and back to the car park.
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| Brian sitting on the Wishing Chair, near Tullan Strand |
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| And at the Fairy Bridge where people believed fairies haunted the rocks! |
At
the car park again I was able to follow a coastal path all the way into
Bundoran town. In fact, except for about 200 metres running along the main
street I was able to stay along the cliff top and run 'around' the town. When I finally reached the end
of the cliff path and came inland I was almost at the roundabout on the west
side of Bundoran.
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| Finally.... at the Ulster/Connacht border |
On the other side of that roundabout, Maureen and Brian had
parked our car and were there to greet me as I arrived. As I got closer to them,
I could clearly see a sign saying ‘Welcome to Leitrim’ ...and so I knew I had finally
conquered the whole coast of Ulster!
Total distance to
date: 1,557km (973 miles)
Next Stages: I’ve now
finished running around the coast of Ulster and in any case I’m going to take a
break until at least February 2020 – still unsure if I’m going to continue into
Connacht. If you are interested in joining me in Connacht in 2020 let me know. In the meantime, watch this space!
