STAGES 41 and 42: Bundoran to Drumcliffe
Stage 41
Bundoran, Co. Donegal to Grange, Co. Sligo
Saturday 1 February 2020
27 km or 16.8 miles
‘’I’ve a fine felt hat and a strong pair of brogues – and I’m well prepared to ramble, I must go’’ from the song, the ‘Rambles of Spring’ by Tommy Makem
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| At the Donegal (Ulster)/Leitrim(Connacht) border |
Today
is the 1st February, the first day of spring (well, in the Irish calendar
anyway). It
was great to have my friend Johnny McGrath join me as we crossed into the
province of Connacht. An early start, leaving Bangor at 6.15am and
driving across the counties of Antrim and Tyrone. At Kesh, Co. Fermanagh we took a left turn that went through Boa Island on Lough Erne and reached the border just outside Belleek. Yesterday the UK officially left the EU, so you could say we’re even crossing a
European border today!
We drove directly to Grange, Co. Sligo and parked our car
outside Morans Pub. It's today's finish point and our accommodation for tonight. We then catch the 9.15am bus to Bundoran to begin our coastal run.
From Bundoran, Johnny and I take an inner coastal route and avoid the busier N15 main road. It was a wet and
windy morning as we began our run. At Tullaghan we were still able to stay on
this Carbery coast road. By the time we came back on the N15 again we had
covered the whole coast of Leitrim (all 3k!).
After crossing into Co. Sligo, we
took the next right turn into Grellagh and then at the T junction we took another
right. 
Just before (or at) the caravan park, we took a right turn down a trail which took us back down to the coast. We had to rough it over rocks for about a half a mile but soon we were on Bunduff Strand which brought us right into the beautiful secluded village of Mullaghmore.
Monday
27 August 1979
Ironically,
I also referred to this dreadful day when I started my very first Coastal Run
three years ago in Omeath, Co. Louth and ran through Warrenpoint. Back in
1979 the IRA planted two huge bombs and killed 18 soldiers in the county Down town. On
that same day, just a few hours earlier, the IRA also killed Lord Mountbatten here
in Mulloughmore together with his grandson Nicholas Knatchbull and Nicholas’s
grandmother. A local boy, Paul Maxwell was also murdered by the IRA in that
explosion.
Johnny
and I promised ourselves a coffee break in Mullaghmore and so we called into
the Quay Bar and enjoyed freshly baked (still warm) scones too. It had been a
long morning!
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| Enjoying fresh scones in Mullaghmore |
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| Mullaghmore pier |
We continued running on the lovely coast road that looped around
Mullaghmore as the sun finally broke through. We could see the majestic Classiebawn
Castle high up on the hill, almost like a scene from a Disney film …or even a
horror movie.
This was of course home to the Mountbatten’s until that tragic
day in 1979. From here we could also see across to the cliffs of Slieve League
(Donegal) where I’d run along last July.
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| On Mullaghmore Loop with Classiebawn Castle |
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| On Mullaghmore Loop |
Eventually
we came to a junction and we took a right turn, even if sign did say, Bundoran
(left would have brought us back into Mullaghmore again). We then took another
right turn towards Cliffony.
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| Hard to find! Entrance to Cliffony beach |
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| Nudists on Nudist Beach |
Johnny and I had to leave the beach (rocky section) for a short
while but there were nice sand-dune paths to run on and we had lovely views
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| On Cliffony beach with Dernish Island behind |
Inishmurray Island
As
it was Saint Brigid’s Day today I had read about a tradition on 1
February in Inishmurray. People carried a figure to represent Brigid and paraded
it around bonfires on the island. No sign of any bonfires on the Inishmurray today but that's not a surprise, as the last inhabitants left there in 1948. Most settled in nearby
Moneygold, probably sounded like a prosperous place!
As a punishment for stealing
(and copying) a book Saint Columba was banished from Ireland and ended up in Scotland and set up a very famous monastery on
the island of Iona. That island became the 'Cradle of Christianity' in Scotland.
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| Johnny heading towards Ben Bulben |
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| Deserved pints in Morans Bar, Grange. |
As
we reached the southern part of Cliffony beach (or Tra Tuaidh), Johnny and I
were quite close to Dernish Island. It was a beautiful day now – definitely
spring-like and I’m sure we heard a curlew celebrating too! As the strand
disappeared we had to rough it across a field before we reached a farmer’s trail which
eventually led us back to the main N15 road.
Ben Bulben was getting clearer and
bigger now and after a few more miles we reached today’s destination of Grange.
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| View of Ben Bulben from Grange village |
Stage 42
Co. Sligo: Grange to Drumcliff
Sunday 2 February 2020
34.4 km or 21.4 miles
''Under bare Ben Bulben's head in Drumcliff churchyard, Yeats is laid. Cast a cold eye on life, on death. Horsemen pass by'' WB Yeats own epitaph
Johnny and I stayed the night in Moran’s Bar B&B in Grange (definitely recommend it) and woke early to a wet morning. After breakfast, we decided to drive to Drumcliff and approach the run with the sea on our left for a change (so starting in Drumcliff and finishing in Grange again). As the rain came down, we arrived at today's starting point and parked the car near the church and graveyard where Yeats is buried.
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| Drumcliff Church |
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| WB Yeats grave |
We began running along the coast road towards Carney, veering left at that village and continuing along the country road. I thought we could get down onto Ballygilgan Strand but as it was now near high tide, it didn’t seem practical. There is a nature reserve here to protect the few Barnacle geese who winter here from Greenland but we didn't see any today.
We carried on running until we reached the sign for Lissadell House and took a left turn down to the estate.
Lissadell House
This was the childhood home of Irish revolutionary, Constance Gore-Booth (Countess Markievicz) who was the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons. Lissadell House was eventually sold in the year 2000 to prominent Dublin barristers, who began to restrict access through the estate. In recent years a group called the 'Lissadell Action Group' campaigned to have public rights of way through the estate, claiming there had been free access through the estate for the previous hundred years!
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| Outside Lissadell Estate |
When Johnny and I arrived, the gates were closed and in support of the ‘Lissadell Action Group’ we climbed over the wall and ran through the estate! I knew there was a nice beach behind it and soon we were running on the beautiful Lissadell Strand, looking across to Rosses Point and Strandhill. It started to brighten up too - not a bad day for early February!
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| On Lissadell Beach - behind Lissadell House |
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| Johnny - after we left Lissadell beach |
At the end of Lissadell beach, on the west side, we were still able to follow a grassy path (pass the handball alley) but, as often happens on my coastal adventure, the path came to an abrupt end!
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| Grassy path near Lissadell beach |
Johnny and I tried to rough it over the headland and eventually we had to back track and join the country road again. We headed towards Raghly Point.
At this stage, Johnny’s knee was giving him trouble and he suggested that I do the loop around Raghly on my own and we would meet later at Yellow Strand.
View of Ben Bulben from Raghly Pier
And so I ran down to Raghly harbour (another pier designed by Nimmo, the engineer). Meanwhile Johnny was trying to cross over the headland to Yellow Strand. He returned (as I came back from Raghly) saying it was a big drop down on the other side and anyway it was high tide. So we decided to stick to the country roads again, sometimes walking and sometimes running.
This wasn’t a straightforward run today as there were too many country roads to tackle and we never knew which one to take. I was so glad Johnny was with me to navigate!
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Knocklane Hill- far west Sligo! |
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