Stages 55-56: Belmullet to Bangor Erris

                Stage 55

            Co. Mayo: Belmullet to Gaoth Saile

                    Saturday 14 Aug. 2021

                    41km or 25.5miles

‘’Isn't there the light of seven heavens in your heart alone, the way you'll be an angel's lamp to me from this out, and I abroad in the darkness, spearing salmons in the Owen, or the Carrowmore” John Millington Synge from ‘Playboy of the Western World’

It’s so nice to return to this part of Mayo. I think Maureen, Brian and I fell in love with the Mullet Peninsula in July. This time we are staying at Kemar House, just west of Belmullet town. Our host, another Maureen, is looking after us and leaves out some weetabix, milk and fruit for my early start. As I step outside the door at 6.20am I’m just in time to witness the most a beautiful sunrise which gives me a spring in my step as I run towards Belmullet. The town is very quiet at this time of the morning but during the day it can be a busy place. It is without doubt the capital of Erris.

Sunrise over Erris as I start my run

Belmullet Town (Beal an Mhuirthead)

In 1822 William Henry Carter inherited many acres of land in north west Mayo and built this new town on the edge of the Mullet peninsula. The new town impressed, Alexander Nimmo, a famous engineer who built harbours and piers all over Ireland and he wrote as follows:

 "At Belmullet, the advance is quite surprising; the place only commenced four years ago; it now consists of about seventy respectable houses’’ 

In the 1830s, another visitor described Belmullet as "the youngest town in Ireland and like all young things it is comparatively fresh and fair’’.

However, seventy years later Belmullet seemed to have let itself go. The famous written, John Millington Synge, visited Belmullet in 1904, and reported: 

‘’Belmullet in the evening is noisy and squalid, lonely and crowded at the same time and without appeal to the imagination’’

Of course, in those seventy years Ireland suffered its biggest natural disaster with the famine in the 1840’s. At one stage at the height of the Famine, 3,000 people were recorded as being in the local workhouse.

After leaving Belmullet I stick to the Shore Road and run pass the outdoor Tidal Pool. We’ve noticed on previous visits how popular this unique swimming area is with all the young people. Just after the tidal pool I take a left turn onto Cois Fhairraige which brings me up onto Church Road and I leave the Mullet peninsula by this quieter coastal road. I’m heading for Claggan Island across the bay and maybe there is an option for taking a short cut along the sand. However low tide was already at 4.30am so I stick by the country road. In any case it is well signposted to Claggan Island (Oilean Chloigeann). Even at high tide it would be still possible to cross over to the island as there is a tombola (a long bar of sand) from the mainland. 

Sign pointing down to Claggan Island and Srah Beach

View of Claggan Island

 Claggan Island

Claggan was only declared an island in 1991. In January of that year there was a ‘wind-storm’ from the North Atlantic that cut off the island from the mainland for days. More recently the old Coastguard Station has been renovated by the Howard family. They converted it into self-catering accommodation and glamping pods. I was delighted to meet father and son, both called Laurence Howard, who had a very warm welcome for me. Their family have farmed on the island for four generations. An even younger generation is coming along to keep the tradition going!

With Laurence Junior and Senior on Claggan Island

With Laurence Senior

I had heard about a sculpture on the island that commemorated the unbaptised who were buried on the island. Both men took me to see it. These burial sites are called cillíns and in a field on Claggan Island there is a mound of earth where those that were ‘declared unworthy’ were buried. A sculpture by the artist, Marian O'Donnell's consists of two curved stone walls facing each other but separated from each other by a narrow passageway. 

Cillin Sculpture showing passage between two curved walls

I was privileged to be able to walk between the two stone walls which symbolises that you are embracing, protecting, and acknowledging those buried in the cillín. I came across a similar island in Donegal, called Oilean na Marbh (Island of dead) where hundreds of babies were buried. (See stage 28 in the Ulster Coastal Run book). Here in Claggan Island there is a poignant inscription by the poet Derek Mahon

‘’They are begging us to see in their wordless way, to do something, to speak on their behalf. Or at least not to close the door again’’

I could have chatted to the two Laurence’s all day. They were so modest but so proud to show me around. I appreciated a good pint of water too, to quench my thirst, as I knew I still had a long way to go today. Yes Claggan Island is a beautiful place and it was such a lovely encounter with these two gentlemen.

Claggan Islanders, Jack, Jill and Riley

Keeping the sea on my right, as always, I left the island and ran along the strand on the other side (Srah beach) of the tombola. Taking young Laurence’s advice, I left the beach after about 2km and run through the sand dunes until I spotted a soccer pitch. I was then able to get back on the country road again.

I stayed on this road towards Gaoth Saile for another couple of miles and then took a right turn, clearly signposted Dumha Locha. I followed this road almost (but not quite) to the end and finally taking a left turn which brought me back down to Doolough (Dumha Locha) strand. This beach is famous for the annual horse racing (and greyhound racing) which takes places every year on the beach. In fact, this is the weekend that the event should have been taking place. Unfortunately, due to Covid, it is cancelled again. When I arrived on the beach it was getting close to high tide but there was still enough sand for me to run on. I was struggling at this stage and slightly envious of the horses and greyhounds with four (rather than two) long legs to gallop on the strand. 

With Mervyn at Doolough strand

On the beach I met a man called Mervyn who had just been in for swim. He advised me, not to run too far along the beach, but to follow a track inland that would lead to a road. To my detriment I ignored his good advice and ran too far along the beach. I realised my mistake when I left the beach and started running through a maze of sand dunes. My Strava record of today’s run literally shows me running around in circles in those dunes!

Eventually (that one word ‘eventually’ that covers a lot of time and frustration!) I was able to spot in the distance one or two houses. I crossed a fence, ran along a farmer’s track and make my way up to a country road. I was now only about 4k from Gaoth Saile. 

Arriving just before the rain at Gaoth Saile

On a positive note, it was such a lovely dry morning and perfect for running. I was lucky that I only felt the first few rain drops as I arrived in the village of Gaoth Saile. Maureen and Brian met me there and I enjoyed a nice vegetarian breakfast in the community centre. We sat drinking our coffee and watched the rain fall outside. It didn’t stop for the rest of the day.               

 

                Stage 56

            Co. Mayo: Gaoth Saile to Bangor Erris

                Sunday 15 August 2021

                     34km or 21miles

 

Today was my earliest start to any of my coastal runs. I’m out of bed at 5.00am, sneaking out of the room and trying not to wake Maureen and Brian. I had a quick breakfast (weetabix and fruit again) at the B&B, drove the 18km to Gaoth Saile and started my run just as dawn was breaking at 5.54am. Yes this was a mad idea that I had thought about a few days ago. I had realised that the first 20km of my run today would take me on a complete loop around the Doohoma peninsula. So I figured I could get up early, drive to Gaoth Saile and park my car there, run around the peninsula, come back to my car, and then drive back to the B&B in Belmullet. My plan worked out so well that I was in plenty of in time for my cooked breakfast (scrambled egg) at 9.00am. Evelyn at the B&B confirmed that I was the only person ever have two breakfasts in Kemar Guesthouse!

Everyone is smiling this morning and talking about Mayo’s great win in the All-Ireland semi-final last night which ended Dublin’s seven-in-a-row attempt to keep the Sam Maguire cup. The Saw Doctors ‘Green and Red of Mayo’ has been playing on Mid-West Radio and there’s a lovely atmosphere all over Erris.

Brian at Mayo car just before great win over Dublin

 Gaoth Saile (Geesale)

It’s very quiet here at 5.50am as I get out of my car in Gaoth Saile. I think that even at 5.50 in the afternoon things would not be much difference in this remote village. The writer John Millington Synge has connections to this area. ‘The Playboy of the Western World’ was inspired by a "shebeen" in Gaoth Saile, which Synge described as "very rough and untidy". To further emphasise the wild-west image in the village there’s a pub here called ‘The High Chaparral’ (after 1960’s TV series) which caught me by surprise. Nobody under sixty could possibly remember this show!

I’m tackling this Doohoma peninsula today which has a similar shape to the Iberian Peninsula. I knew low tide was at 5.42am so I headed down to the nearby shore and plan to run along the sand. This is not such a good plan as the sand near Gaoth Saile is very marshy and impossible to run (or walk) on. However, I have the alternative of a quiet country road heading west. After about 5k I come to a small crossroads and take a left signposted Radharc na Mara. About halfway down the peninsula I’m able to take a right turn that brings me down to Doohoma (Dumha Thuama) beach. Over 5,000 years ago this whole area was covered by a great forest of oak, yew and pine and there is still evidence on the shore of tree trucks and stumps.

View of Slievemore, Achill from Doohoma Beach

It’s just 7.00am now as I reach this secluded beach. I’m probably lucky that it is low tide as I run along the sand. There’s something special about this area and now I’ve so close to Achill Island. Towering Slievemore is facing me across the bay, almost winking at me and saying ‘see you next month’. Yes its going to tough running around the hills and cliffs in Achill. I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to it.

Translated it says ''He who travels has stories to tell''

I pass a small monument dedicated to Seamus Mag Uidhir (Jim Paddy) who was from Doohoma and travelled all over Mayo on his bicycle in the1930s. I like the inscription on the stone that overlooks the beach. Yes the more you travel the more stories you'll here.

Doohoma Cemetery

Like most of Connacht, this area suffered so much because of the Famine. For years there was no proper cemetery here, so burials took place on the sand dunes. Calls for a proper graveyard were rejected by civil authorities so in 1926 a cemetery was built by voluntary work. Three hundred local men built a sod-wall around the two-acre site. Eventually Mayo Co. Council erected a stone wall around the cemetery and then in 1967 over 100 volunteers built a road from Doohoma village to the graveyard. I'd have to say though, that it is a little disappointing, that there is nothing (that I could see) at the cemetery, explaining this sad but inspiring history.    

At Doohoma Head, SW corner of Doohoma Peninsula

I carry on running south to the very bottom corner of the peninsula and pause again at Doohoma Head (An Ceann Ramhar). There were so many potato pickers from this area who went to Scotland each summer that ships picked them up here at Doohoma Head. As I run along the south-eastern tip of the peninsula I can see across to Ballycroy. At one time a ferry went from Tallaghan Bawn here across the bay. 

There’s a warm breeze following me all day as I loop around the peninsula, and I can’t help thinking of the direct translation of Gaoth Saile which is ‘salty wind’. It’s still only 8.10am when I arrive back in Gaoth Saile after my 22km circle of the peninsula. I still have plenty of time to get back to Belmullet for my second breakfast.

Looking back towards Gaoth Saile and Achill

Back in Belmullet, we take our time. We check out of the B&B and Maureen drives me back to Gaoth Saile to complete today's run. Now it should be a simple 12km run along the west bank of the Owenmore River or the big river (An Abhainn Mor) to Bangor Erris. You could argue that Bangor Erris isn’t really by the coast and perhaps I could have crossed the river earlier. However, I don't think there was any other option. 

Celebrating Mayo's win and my arrival in Bangor Erris

My legs are tired now as I tackle this winding road. What’s keeping me going is knowing that I’m soon to reach another milestone on this adventure. So, at 12.20pm I finally reach Bangor Erris. 

Arrived in Bangor, Co. Mayo.

Now I can say that I’ve run all the way from Bangor, Co. Down to Bangor, Co. Mayo. My journey has been along  the beautiful scenic route and that’s why it’s taken me four years to get here! I calculate that when I left Bangor in Co. Down back in September 2017, I had already run 330k of the coastal run. Therefore, I make the Bangor-to-Bangor coastal section 1,848km.