I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith (Bible:2 Timothy 4: and also as per Fr. Meehan’s memorial in Moneen Church)
I knew something wasn’t quite right the minute I started running today. Once Roisin and I left Cross I could feel an aching pain in my left foot. I hoped it would disappear once I got into my stride. As usual I stayed the night before in Galway and drove down to Carrigaholt which is in the SW corner of Co. Clare. I arranged to meet Roisin there at 9.00am. The plan was to run from Cross to Loop Head and return on the south shore to finish in the village of Carrigaholt. That would be a distance of about 35k to 40k. However, it didn’t work out like that, as you’ve probably guessed.
It's a decent enough day, cloudy but no rain, as we start our run from Cross. We headed west along the R487. Even though I could feel some throbbing in my foot, I wasn’t too worried as we were running at a fairly slow pace. I was feeling fine all week and even on the Thursday morning I had gone for a 10k run without any issues.
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| Roisin at the Bridges of Ross |
After about 3k Roisin and I left the main road and continued along the quieter L2000 for another 2k. Taking a right turn down to the shore at ‘Doire na Diabhala’ (the devils grove) we reached the ‘Bridges of Ross’. I’m so relieved to have a break here at this unique area by the wild Atlantic. The ocean is quite calm now but there is strong evidence that this part of the coast has suffered a severe battering. Only one bridge of Ross remains as the other two bridges have collapsed over the years. There are still three natural rock arches, carved into the cliffs by natural ocean erosion - but only one bridge now survives.
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| Me at the one remaining Bridge of Ross |
I tell Roisin that something isn’t right with my foot. She’s very patient and so we even linger a wee bit longer here at this beauty spot. We eventually continue running but now we rough it along the coast. It does help a little that we’re running on a soft grassy surface as we circle around Ross Bay. We come back onto the L2000 again (the millennium road). Here we make a slight detour of about 500 metres inland to visit Moneen Church.
Moneen
Church and the Little Ark of Kilbaha
Years before
the church was built in 1857,
Fr Meehan was looking for premises in the area where he could say mass. He
thought he had secured two houses for this, but the local land agent Marcus
Keane was against the idea. Keane was a landowner but better known as a land agent responsible for 100,000
of acres of land. He was widely regarded as indifferent to the misery of the
poor: Even the ‘The Limerick Reporter’ claimed in 1848 'he was unhappy
when not exterminating'.
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| Memorial to Fr. Michael Meehan in Moneen Church |
One day walking
in Kilkee in 1853, Fr Meehan spotted a horse drawn bus and had an idea to build
a similar ‘box on wheels’ where he could say mass. A local
carpenter in Carrigaholt built it to Fr Meehan’s specification and it was brought
to Kilbaha by horse (12km away). The priest was joined by a procession of hundreds
of people from the surrounding parishes. The box or ark, as it was being
called, was then placed on the green patch at the crossroads at Kilbaha. Even
the land agent Marcus Keane couldn’t argue that Fr. Meehan was using anyone’s
land. On Sundays, in all sorts of weather, the
people gathered. So, for five years, Mass was celebrated, marriages took place and
children were baptised around the little ark at Kilbaha.
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| Roisin at the Little Ark of Kilbaha in Moneen Church |
Eventually a site for a church was
granted here at Moneen and the first stone was laid on (ironically, I thought!)
the 12th of July 1857. It was just a mile away from Kilbaha. Today the ark is
still preserved in the church at Moneen. Luckily for Roisin and me, we were
able to visit the church and see the wee Ark.
I think being in the church and seeing
the famous ark made us feel part of the local history. It also took my mind of
my sore foot for a while. I decided to light a candle. Although I’m not
religious there is something special about the ritual of lighting a candle in a
country church. I felt privileged to be able to visit this historical place and
to see the unique Kilbaha Ark.
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| Lighting a candle in Moneen Church |
Despite my agnostic beliefs, I still thought that, maybe the lighted candle would in some way help my foot! It didn’t. Once we left the church and started running again, the pain returned. I felt sorry for Roisin who had come all the way to join me. It was still an hour’s drive from her home in Kilfenora to get to Carrigaholt and she didn’t get much of run done today. We ended up walking all the way to Loop Head, which was another 5k. It always happens, doesn’t it. If you pick up an injury, it’s usually at the furthest point away from home – and here I was in the very SW corner of the Co. Clare. It was the furthest west I’d reached since I was in Connemara and the furthest south I’ve been so far on this coastal journey. And this is where I have to return to continue my coastal adventure.
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| Reaching Loop Head in SW corner of Co. Clare |
It was still only 11.30 am as we
reached the Loop Head Lighthouse and despite my sore foot, I did manage to walk
around the grassy trail at the back of it, passing the big EIRE sign. During
WW2 there were ninety-five such EIRE markers at various locations all around the
edge of the Irish coast. This was to indicate to incoming aircraft that Ireland
was a neutral country.
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| At Loop Head Lighthouse with Roisin |
We returned to the front of the
Lighthouse. It was built in 1854 but even before that there has been a Lighthouse here in Loop Head since 1670.
It was automated in 1991. You can also stay overnight here; it costs 520 euro
for two nights and sleeps six people. While we were there, guided tours of the
Lighthouse were offered, but I wasn’t even able for that. Instead, we went to
the café and Roisin bought me a coffee.
Our original plan
was to return to Carrigaholt by running along the south coast. We decided that
the best thing would be to try to get a lift from someone here at Loop Head back
to my car at Cross, which was about 12k away. We made our way, me limping, to
the car park hoping to meet anyone who was driving away. After a while we got
chatting to a young couple, Gosia and Julius from Poland and they kindly drove
us back to Cross.
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| With Gosia & Julius who gave us a lift back to Cross |
As it happened, I had already made an appointment with my physio, Ryan for the Monday night. From his reaction, I knew my injury was serious and he recommended that I go to the Minor Injuries Unit in Belfast and so I did on the Tuesday. I had a X-ray there at the hospital and it turns out that I have a stress fracture on my fifth metatarsal. The radiologist proudly showed me the fracture on the X-ray. He pointed out the five metatarsals that looked like five parallel motorways and on highway no. 5 there was a small road crossing over. That wee road should not have been there and that was my stress fracture! The doctor gave me a big CAM (controlled ankle motion) Boot that I must wear for 4-6 weeks.
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| Wearing big Boot to heal my stress fracture |
So, when will I
resume my next run? I’m going to try to get back for Saturday 6th July. That will be exactly nine weeks since this run and hopefully enough time for the stress fracture in my foot to heal.
In the meantime,
this interruption is given me the chance to work on my second book ‘Connacht
Coastal Run’. It’s in draft form now and I hope to have it published in
the next few months. I do enjoy writing about my exploits, but it is a lot of
work updating this blog and even more work turning the blog into a book form - but I’m almost there – so watch this space.
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