Stage 99: Co. Clare: Ennis to Shannon Airport: Saturday 14 September 2024:  39.52km or 24.55miles

“The young, the old the brave and the bold with their duty to fulfil, at the parish church near Clooney, a mile from Spancil Hill” Michael Considine

We had to go inland just before Shannon to avoid getting too close to runways

I’m staying with Maureen’s sister, Aideen in Oranmore so I get the 6.22am train from there. Delighted that Roisin Howley is meeting me in Ennis, and I arrive on time at 7.35am. Roisin is such great company and has already joined me on most of the Co. Clare stages. From the station we take a right along Quin Road and follow the river walk south by the Fergus. The River Fergus will be our constant companion for the rest of the morning.

Roisin meets me at Ennis Station

Ennis is the county town of Co. Clare and except for Galway it’s the largest town west of the Shannon. The name translates as ‘island’, but it doesn’t really have an island or waterway feeling to it, like Galway or Enniskillen. Ennis’s origin was monastic so it never had protected boundary walls. It’s a market town. Even Ireland’s famous Spancil Hill, where they still hold the fair, is only 7km away. The writer of that song, Michael Considine died at a very young age of 23, probably of TB. He was born near Spancil Hill Crossroads, just outside Ennis, but emigrated to the west coast of America around 1870. Michael’s song about dreaming of returning home makes the last lines of the song even sadder.

‘The cock it crew in the morning. It crew both loud and shrill. I awoke in California, many miles from Spancil Hill’.

View of Clare Abbey from Fergus River Path

So far all is going well for Roisin and me as we run along the River Fergus. In our wisdom we decide to try to stay by the river once the main path comes to end. The trail gets rougher, but we keep going until we come to an open area surrounded by trees and bushes. We spot some kind of gap in the corner of the field, so we clamber through brambles and nettles to get to the exit, getting cut and stung in the process. To make matters worse the gap doesn’t bring us onto a lane or a road. Instead, we arrive on the railway line. We walk along the line looking for a way to leave before a train comes along, but the fence is too high on both sides. We have no alternative but to go back the way we came - into the field again – and yes through the brambles, bushes and nettles – and getting cut and stung again! 

To compound our misery a pony comes running over to us as we arrive back in the field. He ends up getting quite frisky and even aggressive. The horse continues to follow us, nudging and even nipping at us and we try to get back to the river trail. Lucky, I have Roisin with me to keep things cool. She encourages me to walk slowly and not to run. It’s a scary time trying to escape from this animal but eventually (that word again that never explains the time and suffering involved) we reach a farmgate and climb over. Phew! Later Roisin explains how she could keep calm. She tells me that when she was younger, she had a pony called Buddy. Yes, Buddy Howley! By the way, we’re calling our aggressive horse by the name, Fergus, after the river. 

So glad that Fergus is on the other side of fence 

It’s now 8.17am. It’s been 40 minutes since we left Ennis Station and we’ve only covered 3km. Not a great start to today’s adventure. At Clarecastle we follow the old road south crossing the River Fergus. Then, for a while the R458 runs parallel to the M18 motorway.

Roisin checking that this is the right way

We spot Dromoland Castle on the other side of the Motorway. The history of the castle goes back a long way. The land was originally owned by the O’Briens, and a castle was built here in the 1500’s. The present main building dates from the 1800’s. Unlike a lot of other big houses, it wasn’t burned down in the 1920’s War of Independence. Apparently, the IRA leaders argued that the Inchiquin Lords at Dromoland had been fair and kind in their dealings with tenant farms and had given relief during the famine. In 1962 Lord Inchiquin sold the castle plus 330 acres of land to Bernard McDonough an Irish-America. It’s now a 5star resort hotel. A minimum two nights stay would set you back about €5,000. Lots of famous people stayed here – even the Beatles in 1964 and there’s a strange YouTube piece of George Harrison & John Lennon having a sword fight outside the castle!

I had read that a Fairy Bush almost had to be destroyed when building the M18 Motorway. Protesters argued that interfering with the fairy tree ‘could result in misfortune’. Roisin and I stopped at the roundabout and tried unsuccessfully to find exactly where the Fairy Tree was. 

We leave the R458 and follow the L3156 signposted to Ballygirreen. After about 3km we take a right along Latoon South. We follow this crooked road all the way to Ing West and Ing East and then cross a couple of fields and arrive down on the shoreline of the Fergus Estuary. There’s a lovely grassy embankment along here by the coast which is perfect for running on. However, there are lots of cows in the area, so we act very cautiously, especially after our earlier experience with Fergus the pony. We continue to follow the coastline, pass Breckinish Island and finally reach Ballymacnevin Castle where we join the country road again. I couldn’t find any information about this castle. There’s no access to it and we can see trees growing inside.

At Ballymacnevin Castle

I’m in an area now called Carrygerry which is very apt for how I’m feeling right now – although I think I’m too big for Roisin to carry me! We pass a Holy Well, which seems to be well maintained but there’s no name on it. No water in it either!

The Holy Well with no name - or water

We continue south and come to St Conaire’s Catholic Church. The story is that Conaire was a nun from west Cork who came to visit her cousin Saint Senan, at his monastery on Scattery Island, near Kilrush. Senan would not allow ‘his sacred isle to be tainted by a female presence’. Not a very nice way to treat a family member who had travelled about a hundred miles (and this happened probably 1,000 years ago). The good news though was that as Sister Conaire came ashore in the Carrigerry area she was welcomed by the natives, and they even made her patron of the parish of Carrigerry. In fairness to Saint Senan, he also built a convent (just for nuns) on nearby Feenish island.

Yes I wish someone would carry me!

St Conaire Church

We come to Carrygerry Country House – built in 1793 but since 1988 restored and renovated into a Country house hotel. I’m impressed that there’s a Galway flag outside. (we’ve seen so many Clare blue and gold flags this morning which is very understandable as Clare are 2024 All Ireland Hurling Champions). 

I was impressed that the Galway flag was flying in Co. Clare

At this stage we’re looking for a right turn that will take us to Inishmacnaghtan Island and towards Feenish Island (not to be confused with Feenish Island in Connemara). In 1858 the owners of the two islands found themselves in court in a case listed as O’Farrell v Frost. The former asserted his right of way through the bigger island as the latter had prevented him accessing the mainland by this route.

When we reach the turn to get to Inishmacnaghtan Island there is a big gate at an entrance. The gate is open but there is a ‘private property’ sign on the wall. Roisin and I debate for a few minutes as to whether we should continue along the lane. Suddenly a jeep pulls up and we get talking to two young family members. They give us permission to run through their land and we cross onto Inishmacnaghtan island itself. It’s a short causeway, probably only 15 metres across. Previously before land was reclaimed in the 1980’s the island was cut off completely and would have been 100 metres from the mainland.

Crossing causeway to Inishmacnaghtan

Flight TWA 6863:  On 28 December 1946 a plane called ‘The Star of Cairo’ was having a stopover on its flight from Paris to New York when it crashed onto Inishmacnaghtan. Perhaps some of the passengers were lucky that the accident happened on this marshy and boggy island. Of the 23 people on board, 14 survived including a four-month-old baby who had been thrown out of the plane and was heard crying before it was rescued. The fact that the island was then separate from the shore made rescue attempts very difficult.  

View of Feenish Island from Inishmacnaghtan

Back in 2024 Roisin and I continue running to the western tip of the island. The tide was coming in now so there was no access to Feenish Island. All we could do was look across. To be honest on a dull day like today it didn’t look very attractive. I read that on Feenish Island there is evidence of a battle or slaughter of sixty men that took place hundreds of years ago. It’s known as ‘Poll na dTri Fiche’ (grave of the sixty).

We return to the mainland and continue running south. We did wonder how far we could get trying to access the Airport from this angle. We reach the Honk Bar. The Quinlivan family have been running the pub for over 200 years and long before the town of Shannon was built. Previously the townland was known as Rineanna. I should be a bit familiar with this area as I lived and worked in Shannon town between 1984 and 1987. We get chatting to a man who tells us that there is no access to the Airport from here. We’re pleased that he’s told us this as Roisin and I had roughed it enough today and didn’t fancy climbing over security fences. 

Roisin running near Drumgeely, Shannon Town

So, we backtrack a little and follow a road east that brings us into Shannon Industrial Estate. From there we eventually make our way to our finish point at Shannon Airport just in time to get the bus back to Ennis and Oranmore.

At last - arriving in Shannon