Total distance around Ireland so far 

4,722km (2,934miles)

And here's the provisional plan for the next stages - and strictly by the coast of course!

Stage 127: Good Friday, 3rd April: Glengarriff to Castletownbere: 

Stage 128: Easter Saturday: Glengarriff to Gortnakilla Pier (after running Glengarriff parkrun)

Easter Sunday: Rest day (or possible revisit of Crow Head peninsula - if someone drives me there!)

Stage 129: Easter Monday: Ahakista to Gortnakilla Pier

Stage 130: Tuesday 7th April: Ahakista to Dunmanus

Stage 131: Wednesday 8th April: Short loop of Goleen/Crookhaven/Barley Cove 

Stage 132: Thursday 9th April: Goleen to Dunmanus (via Mizen Head)

Stage 133: Friday 10th April: Goleen to Ballydehob

Saturday 11th April: Back to Bangor, Co. Down 

If you are thinking of joining me or want more information please email me on gerry@oboyleaccounting.com or ring/text/WhatsApp me on 00 44 (0) 7725613308.

Read story so far (below) and/or donate to Special Schools www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/maureen-oboyle

Stages 123-126: Co. Cork:The Beara Peninsula: St Patrick’s Weekend 2026

After my usual winter break, there is always a mix of excitement and nervousness about restarting my coastal run. The writer Laurie Lee had similar feelings when he set off, as a young man, from his home in Gloucester in the 1930’s. He walked all the way to London and made his journey even longer when he decided to take the coastal route, as he had never seen the sea. Maybe I’m not quite as young as Laurie Lee. He was only nineteen years old when he started his adventure. However, I still have that teenage excitement that Laurie describes in his book, ‘As I walked Out One Midsummers Morning’.

 ‘’Go where you will. It’s all yours. You’re on your own and nobody’s going to stop you. I was excited knowing I had far to go; but not, as yet how far’’

Castletownbere - getting ferry to Bere Island: Niamh, Loretto, Me, Helen, James & Holly

Even if I’ve done most of this Irish coastal journey on my own, I’m not alone this weekend in the Beara Peninsula. Maureen and Brian (my support team) and I have booked into an Airbnb for five nights in Castletownbere, Co. Cork. Delighted too that Helen Byers (my original coastal co-runner who ran with me when I started in Feb 2017) is joining me this weekend with her children, Holly and James. Also, the two Kerry girls, Loretto and Niamh have returned and finally, there’s a quartet of Munster Trail Runners led by Conor Murphy who run with me around Dursey Island on the Sunday morning.

My support team, Maureen & Brian on Bere Island

The plan is to complete four runs over this long weekend. The Beara Peninsula in itself is quite a small area and I’ve already done the Kenmare to Ardgroom section last September. Almost attached to the peninsula are two islands, Bere and Dursey, which I hope to circle. I had made a rule that if I need to get on a boat to reach an island then I’m not going to visit, but if there is a causeway to a island, I’ll make sure to get there. I suppose I’m not really breaking the rule by visiting Dursey Island as I can get there without getting on a boat! I just need to hop on the Cable Car that will get me across. For Bere Island, I’m going to invent a new rule about islands. If there happens to be a parkrun on an island, I will break my rule about not getting on a boat. (Oh no, this means I’m going to have to go back and run around Inis Meain as there is a parkrun on that island)

For this adventure, the Beara Peninsula is the furthest I’ve been from my home in Bangor Co. Down. My ambition for this year is to try to reach Cork City. Maybe I’ll get the whole coast of Co. Cork done in 2026. 

Unfortunately, I had a bad cold over Christmas that strangely seemed to develop into a leg injury. It was like I had some kind of nerve trap in my left leg. It meant that it was even painful to stand up. I recovered quite well with the help of physio treatment and completing my daily stretching exercises. However, in mid-February I picked up another niggle. This time it was a calf strain on my left leg again. I’m hoping that this second injury doesn’t hold me back. 

The Munster Trail Runners who joined me on Dursey Island

Remember the crazy idea is to run around the whole coast of Ireland - and strictly by the COAST. Up to now I've achieved this by running once/twice/three-times a month since it all started back in Feb 2017. After completing the whole coast of  ULSTER (2017-2019), I've since run around the coast of CONNACHT (2020-2023). I'm now in the province of MUNSTER (2024-2027). I've already completed Co. Clare, Co. Limerick and Co. Kerry. From March 2026 I'm tackling the coast of Co. Cork (as per planned stages above) See also earlier blogs for full story since the beginning of this adventure. In the past, my run has been dedicated to Clifton Special School in Bangor, Co. Down where my son Brian attended for fourteen years. I raised £Stg3,688 for Clifton School and €2,500 for Rosedale in Galway. I'm going to continue this trend of supporting Special Schools in all four provinces in Ireland. (see Justgiving link below) and now I'm supporting Saint Gabriels School in Cork. Also, there are still signed copies of my books available in Charlie Byrnes in Galway City or you can get a book, directly from me (where I live) in the Bangor/North Down/Ards area (free delivery). WhatsApp me on 00-44-(0) 7725613308 for more details or buy book through Amazon. All profits to Special Schools in Ireland.

Raising funds for Special Schools - see link below

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/maureen-oboyle

 

Stage 123 Co. Cork: Ardgroom to Allihies: Friday 13 March 2026: 40.3km or 25.1miles

 ‘I am Ireland: I am lonelier than the hag of Beara’, Padraic Pearse

Ardgroom to Eyeries (Part One of todays run)

I’m looking forward to finally meeting this famous ‘Hag of Beara’ – or what is left of her. More about that lady later. Remember it had been almost six months since I was in Ardgroom. That was my final stop after I completed running around the whole coast of Kerry last September.

This weekend I’m staying in Castletownbere, so I’m awake early and get the 7.10am bus to Ardgroom. There’s only one other person on the bus as it winds its way around the crooked roads of Beara. 

On the 7.10am bus from Castletownbere to Ardgroom

I’m lucky to be inside the bus as I watch hailstones teaming down outside. It’s only a 20-minute journey to my starting point. Not much going on in Ardgroom at this hour of the morning.

Downtown Ardgroom at 7.30am

I set off running north to the end of the peninsula. Maybe it’s called the ‘Dogs Point Peninsula’ as that is the name of the headland at the very top. I cross over Cappul Bridge and run along what’s called ‘The Inward Road’.  Reaching Pallas Pier, I clamber over some big stones along the coast and spot a thin stretch of land that’s called ‘The Cus’. I thought I could just run along this narrow piece of coastline, but it was just full of rocks and boulders. The rain is coming down now so it’s slippy too. Therefore, instead of going to the end of the Cus, I backtrack and continue west along the rocky shore. 

Dogs Point, north of Ardgroom

This is just as rough, but at least I’m now moving in the right direction. I leave the coast, climb over a farm gate and later over a very shaky wooden style. I reach the very top of the peninsula, Dog’s Point and follow a marked trail (well, it’s marked on the OS map) along the cliff called the ‘Pulleen Loop’. 

The Pulleen Loop 'marked' trail

I don’t think many others have taken this route, as there is no protection from the wild Atlantic Ocean. I try not to run too close to the coast. It’s cold too and another hailstone shower attacks me. Eventually (and gladly) the path brings me away from the cliffs. I arrive at a kind of hollow and get a nice surprise when I realise, I’m at ‘Cuas Pier Caves’ with water gushing through the big holes from all sides. It’s such a lovely moment here, alone and listening to the much quieter sounds of water dripping and gurgling through the massive hole in the rock. Every wave pushes through to all corners of the cave and then slowly withdraws again. It was like watching mother nature in a playful mood.

Cuas Pier Caves

Hopping over another style brings me onto the country lane, which is called ‘the Beara Way Cycle Route’ on the OS map. I follow this coast road for about 7k or 8k looking across at the Kerry Mountains, which are today covered in snow. 

Looking across to the snow-capped Kerry Mountains

A sign points to Inishfarnard Island where at least twenty people lived at one time. I was reading Pete McCarthy’s second book, ‘The Road to McCarthy’ where Pete travels to Bute, Montana and meets an Irish priest called Father Sarsfield O’Sullivan whose great grandfather build the first house on Inishfarnard Island.

Butte, Montana has a strong relationship with Beara and West Cork. Both areas are forever connected to each other because of their mining traditions.

The Copper Mines

The Beara Copper Mines were discovered by Colonel Hall in 1810. He informed John Puxley who lived in the big house just south of Castletown. (As part of my coastal run, I’ll run past the Purley Manor on Sunday). For most of the 19^th century copper was mined in Beara. However, after a fall in the price of copper the mine closed in 1884. Conveniently, at the same time, mining was just starting to take off in America, especially in the state of Montana. Therefore, it made economic sense for the miners and families to go where the work was. Almost all of the Beara emigrants settled in a place called Butte, Montana where gold, silver and copper were mined. Butte was once the largest city in the Rocky Mountains, nicknamed the ‘richest hill on earth’. It’s also officially named the most Irish city in America and as recent as 2017, Butte has the distinction of having the largest ethnic Irish population of any city in Americas, even more than Boston.

It’s getting colder, and I feel a light flutter of snow to match the hailstones we had earlier. I pass Kilcatherine Church and graveyard and straight after that I see a sign ‘Hag of Beara’

Entrance to the Hag of Beara

The Hag of Beara (An Chaileach Beara)

Her reputation follows her all over Ireland and even to the Isle of Man and Scotland, although in Scotland, she’s sometimes called Beira, Queen of Winter. By all accounts, ‘The Cailleach’ loves Winter and has been known to destroy any sign of summer vegetation with a cudgel known as a ‘forca’. I think she has definitely destroyed any sign of summer (or spring) today. It’s freezing cold and there’s a strong gale force wind blowing in my face. Still the Beara Peninsula is her home and to prove this there is a large rock at Coulagh Bay which is supposed to represent the hag. The legend is that she was turned to stone as she stared out to sea, waiting for her husband, Manannam Mac Lir to arrive. Maybe she was waiting at the wrong spot because there is a sculpture of that very same man near Magilligan Point in Co. Derry, over 600 kilometres further north. 

The famous/infamous Hag of Beara (yes it's just a rock!)

I think the Hag of Beara has put a curse on me with this wintry weather. Eventually I see a sign that says Eyeries 3km and another sign, ‘The Beara Way’ pointing through the woods to the shoreline. I wish I hadn’t followed this path. Yes, I know it brought me down to the coast, but it was wet and flooded in parts, and hard to get through without sinking or falling over. Eventually, I reach the village of Eyeries and decide I need a break and somewhere to warm up. 

Arriving in Eyeries

It’s now 11.35am so I’ve been on the go for four hours and only covered 24.7km (or 15 miles) so far. I run through the village and just as I cross the river, I spot a Café, aptly called ‘The Beara Necessities’. I enjoy a coffee, a fruit scone and some water. Just what the doctor ordered. 

Eyeries to Allihies (Part 2 of today's run)

I was reading about a French film ‘Un Taxi Mauve’ that was set in Eyeries. It features a doctor played by Fred Astaire who drove around the village in a purple taxi. Eyeries has lots of colourful houses that brighten up the landscape. I can see why it was picked for a movie. The sky is brightening up too and once I get going again, it doesn’t feel as cold – and the sun is shining now.  

Colourful Eyeries

I run along the R575 called the ‘Beara Way Cycle Route’ on the OS map but taking a detour along the L8917 down towards Travaud Strand. This lane loops around and I rejoin the R575. From then on, it’s a crooked hilly road through the hills all the way to Allihies. I read that this road was not built until the 1930’s. I’m not surprised as it is difficult terrane through the valleys. I’m very tempted to follow an even quieter coastal route on the L95753-5 along Reentrusk. Movie makers were also impressed and a TV series ‘Falling for a Dancer’ was filmed around this area. 

There’s a steep climb up through the valley that seems to go on forever. Out in bay I can see the low-lying blue islands almost submerged in the spit and waves. Further south there’s a beach called ‘Tra an Phearla’ – not sure if there are actual pearls on the beach! 

The long climb between Eyeries and Allihies

Delighted to finally reach Allihies. And my faithful team of Maureen and Brian are there to meet me. It’s been a long day.  

At last I've reached Allihies

Allihies - another bright coloured village

Stage 124: Co. Cork: Bere Island: Saturday 15 March 2026: 20.6km or 12.8miles

‘The sea remembers what the sky forgets – a hush of stars drowned in salt and sorrow, each wave a whisper from a time before language learned to lie’ by Khudeeja Begum, prize winner at Bere Arts Festival

Circling Bere Island, SW Co. Cork 

Bere Island is also known as ‘An tOilean Mor’ (big island) and there were six of us in our team taking the 9.00am ferry across from Castletownbere. Yesterday evening Helen (original coastal runner) drove all the way from Bangor, Co. Down (560km or 350 miles) with her two children, Holly (17) and James (15). They’re staying in their camper van in Castletownbere. Unfortunately, last week Helen picked up a foot injury and won’t be able to run with me, so she’s going to walk the parkrun. Also, Loretto and Niamh are joining me. These are the two Kerry girls who ran with me last year, so I'm delighted they've returned - for more punishment. 

View of Castletownbere from the Bere Island Ferry

It turns out to be a beautiful morning, cold but no wind at all - and the sky is blue. It’s busy on the ferry, about 40 people, one car and one tractor. I suspect that most people on the boat are going to run (or walk) the parkrun, except the man in the tractor who’s probably going to do a day’s work.

Calm sea on the way to Bere Island

It’s a perfect crossing. When we arrive in Bere a few mini busses take us along the 7k journey to the east side of the island to the village of Rerrin where the parkrun takes place. It’s a friendly atmosphere and lovely weather for running. I like the description of the Bere Island parkrun

‘Arrive at Rerrin village, take the right turn between O’ Sullivan’s bar and Kitty’s café and follow the signs to the GAA pitch. On the hill you pass by a wedge tomb. The course levels off and you can take in some breath-taking views of the Atlantic Ocean and Lonehort Viking harbour’ 

Getting ready for Bere Island parkrun

Bere Island's GAA pitch, known as ‘The Rec', is actually the site of a former British Army recreation grounds. There was always a strong military presence on the island. The official handover from the British didn’t take place until 1938. Remember even after the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922, Ireland remained part of the Commonwealth. The Irish government say that Ireland left the Commonwealth in 1936, but the UK government say it didn’t happen until 1949. In 1841, before the famine, Bere Island had a population of 2,122 and even up to 1936 there was still over 1,000 people living on the island. About 200 people live on the island today, which is still a significant number.

Before the parkrun starts, I get talking to Dominic Hallahan and he invites me to tell my story on Bere Island Community Radio (which I do on the Tuesday morning, St. Patrick’s Day). The 5k route itself is so beautiful along the rugged coast with perfect views across Beara, Sheep’s Head and Hungry Hill.

Post parkrun coffee & scones at Murphy's, Rerrin Village, Bere Island

After parkrun we walk around to Murphy's shop for delicious coffee and scones, chatting to locals and visitors. Then at about 11.00am the minibuses start taking people back to the ferry on the west side of the island. Helen, Holly and James hop on a bus while Niamh, Loretto and I stay on the island. The plan for the three of us is to attempt to circle the whole of Bere Island, or to run around as much of the island as possible. 

The parkrun had covered the eastern corner of the island, so we take that side as being already completed. Also, we decided that there was no point in running down to Martello Tower at Cloughland as it was a cul-de-sac and we didn’t know how wet the terrane would be. I had read that there were actually four Martello Towers built on the island in the early 1800’s after a fairly successful French invasion in Killala in 1798 and a failed attack on Bantry Bay in 1796. Yes, nobody was even going to try to invade Bere Island! 

With Loretto - heading west on Bere Island

Loretto, Niamh and I start running west on the main road. We shortly take a left turn heading south along a lane. 

Somewhere in Bere Island - Gerry is lost again!

So far, so good until we leave the road and join the ‘Doonbeg Loop Walk’. The path is slippery and flooded in parts. Impossible to run on at times, so we just plod along. We don’t want to loop back to the same spot, so we leave the trail and head into open countryside. We spot Doonbeg Head and so we head further west. 

Roughing it on the Doonbeg Loop, Bere Island 

Eventually we realise we are in no man’s land, not exactly lost, but no sign of any civilisation. We know that the last ferry from Rerrin (on the east side of the island) is at 4.30pm, so we start to panic (unnecessarily) about getting back on time. Eventually we do find some kind of path, that turns into some kind of a trail, that winds its way around to the main road on the island. We then head east and after one kilometre we take a left turn and follow a coastal loop that brings us all the way to Rerrin. It’s still only 2.25pm when we arrive back in the village and we’re just in time to catch the 2.30 ferry back to the mainland. 

On the 2.30pm Bere Island ferry back to Pontoon Pier, Castletownbere

As it happens Maureen and Brian were already on the island, so the five of us travel back together from here to Pontoon Pier, just outside Castletownbere.

Back in Castletownbere, we adjourn to McCarthy’s Bar. The pub is run by Adrienne and Niki MacCarthy, daughters of Aidan McCarthy. It houses the ceremonial sword gifted to Aidan by Isao Kusuno, a Japanese officer during WWII. This pub also became famous when it featured in and appeared on the front cover of Pete McCarthy’s book ‘McCarthy’s Bar’. Sadly the talented Pete McCarthy died much too young but leaves us with some excellent advice.

         ‘Never pass a pub with your name on it’

Relaxing in McCarthy's Bar, Castletownbere

In McCarthy’s Bar we catch up with Helen, Holly and James and the eight us are able to enjoy the Ireland v Scotland rugby match. Bangor’s Stuart McCloskey puts in another powerful display and Ireland beat Scotland to win the Triple Crown. That gets us all in a celebratory mood. It’s the perfect ending to a great day.

McCarthy's Bar: Celebrating Irelands great Triple Crown win

 Stage 125: Co. Cork: Allihies to Dursey Island: Sunday 15 March 2026: 27.9km or 17.3miles:

‘When the mainland felt as distant as those ancients who’d raised the stones to stand - or dolphins threading Dursey door in soft summer sun. Then, this island was the world’   Rebecca Dowman 

The south west corner of Ireland, including Dursey Island 

I walk down at 8.15am to Castletownbere Harbour to meet Helen who drives me (and her children, Holly and James) all the way to Dursey Sound.

I’m also privileged today to have six Cork/Kerry runners with me as we wait for the Cable Car to Dursey Island. The Kerry girls, Loretto and Niamh join me again along with four other local runners that I’ve connected through the Facebook Group ‘Munster Trail Runners’. Conor Murphy is the admin of this group, and he brings along Geraldine, Mary and Natalie. That makes ten of us tackling Dursey Island today. However, the problem is that the Cable Car only takes six people, so we have to separate our group. Helen and her children, along with the Kerry girls go in the first cable car. I wait with the four other Munster Trail Runners for the second crossing. 

Taking the first Cable Car to Dursey Island

The Cable Car runs 25 metres above the sea. I read that there are six residents living on the island so at least that’s convenient if everyone has to leave at the same time. Previously on my coastal run in Co. Mayo, there was talk of trying to build a cable car from Achill to the island of Inis Bigil. (Interestingly I was able to run all the way to Inis Bigil Island at a very low tide, but that’s another story you can read about in Stage 57). 

Cable Car to Dursey Island: 25 metres above the sea

Originally opened in 1969, Dursey is Ireland's only Cable Car. It was refurbished in 2022 at a cost of €1.6 million and only reopened in June 2023. The old Cable Car also catered for cows and sheep. Thankfully today we don’t have to share with any animals. This morning the plan is to loop around the whole island by following a rough trail on our outward run and then to return via the main ‘road’. 

Second group on Cable Car to Dursey

Unfortunately, I don’t get to see Helen, Holly and James on the island. With Helen’s injury they don’t delay too long on Dursey and then they head back home all the way to Bangor, Co. Down. 

Arriving on Dursey Island

On Dursey Island, Conor Murphy leads the way. He informs us he has an injury or niggle but he’s dancing his way through the slippery trails while the rest of us are cautiously tiptoeing along. Once we get into the open wilderness Conor takes off at another level, floating through the fields and moorlands. We can only follow him as he takes us higher and further west to the end of the island.

Luckily for us, Conor is also our Dursey tour guide, telling us all about the history of the island as he pauses at various points. We’re glad to stop to get some relief from running. Conor tells us that even up to the 1970’s the island was still thriving. We can even see for ourselves that some houses look relatively modern. Conor explains that the closure of the Primary School in 1975 was a major turning point when very young children had to leave the island every day to attend school on the mainland. That meant more families relocated to the mainland.

Brown Landscape on Dursey Island 

Conor also tells us about a very tragic piece of history. In 1602 during the siege and battle of Dunboy Castle, near Castletownbere, the British forces attacked a fort on the Dursey Island, killing 300 occupants, including women and children.

Reaching 'the castle' on Dursey Island

Conor sheltering from wind on Dursey Island 

Dursey once had three villages or townlands. These are Ballynacallagh, Kilmichael, and Tilickafinna respectively from east to west. Back in the late 1800’s there were 237 people living on the island but strangely only 48 people lived there in 1841, so the population actually increased after the Famine which goes against the national trend. As the poet, Rebecca Dowman said, ‘then, this island was the world’. 

View of Bull Island from western corner of Dursey Island 

We run as far west as we can to Dursey Head (Ceann Baoi). Although it’s extremely windy it’s turned out to be a very clear and sunny morning. So amazing to be out here on this corner of the world. Interestingly, Dursey Island is the last place the sun sets in Europe. I think it is so because of a combination of being extremely west and extremely south.  

I had read about the four wee islands or rocks off the west coast of Dursey, but I didn’t expect to be able to see any of them today. Amazingly we could easily see two of them. One was Bull Island, a pointy shaped island and we could just about make out the lighthouse on it. The other rock we saw was either the Calf, Heifer or the Cow. 

The Kerry Girls, Loretto & Niamh

The Cork Girls: Geraldine, Mary and Natalie

Running on the edge of Dursey Island (really, the edge of the Atlantic)

We slowly make our journey back from the western corner of Dursey. At least we have the strong wind behind us. Once we return to the east side of the island we don’t have to wait too long for the cable car to take us back. When I reach the mainland, Maureen and Brian have just arrived there. They plan to visit Dursey Island while I continue my run further along the coast to Allihies.

The weather is still quite blustery, and my legs are tired, but this Dursey to Allihies section of the coast is such a lovely run (maybe even better in the summer with dryer weather). 

Dursey Sound to Allihies coastal trail

I probably had the benefit of the wind behind me too which helped. After a while I come onto a country lane that hugs the coast. I follow the ‘Beara Way’ coastal path with both Long Island and Garnish Strand on my left. On the OS map Garnish is also called ‘Tra na Duileas’. I’m not sure what the exact translation of duileas is. It either means ‘desire’ or ‘dark stranger’, so either way, an eerie sounding name for a beach. 

Getting closer to Allihies 

Eventually I spot the colourful village of Allihies in the distance and below the village I can see a beautiful looking beach which is Ballydonegan Strand. Conor Murphy had explained that it is actually a man-made beach using crushed quartz from the Beara Copper mines. It's not advisable for swimming as it has a strong undercurrent. 

Ballydonegan Beach

When I get to Ballydonegan it looks like any other beach. And just to make me suffer even more I then have to climb a steep hill up to Allihies. In Irish the village is called ‘Na Hailichi’, meaning the cliff fields. I’m so glad to see Maureen and Brian there at today’s finish point.   

Allihies

With Mermaid/Selkie in Allihies Village

 

Stage 126: Co. Cork: Castletownbere to Dursey Sound: Monday 16 March 2026: 30.7km or 19.1miles

‘Lamh foistenach abu’ (A steady hand forever) Motto of the O’Sullivan Beare Clann 

This was another stage I did clockwise or with the sea on my left. It’s a fairly miserable day on the Beara Peninsula. Maybe not quite as windy as yesterday but it’s that misty moisty weather that is so common in the west of Ireland. Another early start as I start my run from Castletownbere at 7.26am. I stay on the main road until I reach Puxley Mansion and then take a detour towards the coast. 

Puxley Manor, just west of Castletownbere

Puxley Manor & Dunboy Castle

The Puxleys came from England with Cromwell in the 1600’s but later worked closely with the local O’Sullivan Clann. The Puxleys still held onto the mansion until 1921 when the IRA set fire to the building. In 1999 the manor was redeveloped into a posh hotel but then the property crash came. 

Nearby are the remains of ‘Dunboy Castle’ and this was the original stronghold of the O’Sullivan Bere Clann who controlled fishing rights and fleets in the area. That was until the Plantation of Munster in the 1600’s which was led by George Carew.  Carew with 5,000 soldiers still struggled to fight the O’Sullivan Bere’s, who only had 143 men to defend the castle. After this defeat, O’Sullivan Bere set off to join his allies in the north of Ireland. 1,000 men, women and children joined him on his epic trek in the middle of winter. Only thirty-five reached ‘West Breifine’ (which is now Co. Leitrim) in January 1603 

So far so good along Bullig Bay

I was curious to see what was in this tree!

Just some shells hidden in bark of tree

After I pass Puxley Manor, I continue along the shore, following the ‘Bullig Bay Loop’ (or the Dunboy Wood Loop). So far so good but then the trail turns into a grassy path which is quite muddy and slippery. I complete the loop but rather than running back up to the main road (R572) I take a left that brings me all the way down to ‘Pulleen Harbour’. I knew I was taking a risk coming down here as I wasn’t sure if I could get back onto the main road again.

Pulleen Harbour, worth the run down to see it

In more ways than one it was worth the gamble in going off the main road to see this beautiful harbour. I can see why Neil Jordan choose it for the location of a film called ‘Ondine’ starring Colin Farrell as a West Cork fisherman. In the film Syracuse (Farrell) catches a girl in his fishing nets – or is she a mermaid or a selkie!

Encouraging Sign: And it makes sense

From the pier I was able to follow a wee stream north that led to ‘Pulleen Lake’ . Here I came across the most beautiful green field, which is like the perfect oasis amid the brown Beara landscape. 

The greenest field on the Beara Peninsula

I’m surprised there are no cows devouring this lush green grass but glad too that I don’t meet any of my least favourite animals. Climbing over a couple of farm gates I was soon running along a lane that brought me back to the main road.

On the R572 again I pass ‘Dzogchen Beara’, the Buddist Meditation Centre. After a while I leave the main road and take the L8910-19 coastal road to Brackcloon that loops around and brings me back to the main road again. Later, I’m tempted to take an alternative detour that would take me to Killeenagh Buriel Ground or to Black Ball Head, but I’m worried that there won’t be a proper trail - and possibly more wet and muddy paths. In any case my legs are getting tired and heavy.

 

In the distance I spot the Napoleonic Signal Tower at Black Ball Head. I read that in on 1^st January 2021 to mark the first New Year (after Covid), a couple of men carried a generator up the tower and ran a number of led lights off it. They also illuminated the area with some hand-held flares, giving prior notice to the Irish Coast Guard of their plans. 

Black Ball Signal Tower

This was a shortcut towards Dursey Island

Staying on the R572 I’m struggling now. Four days in a row of running is taking its toll. It’s not just my legs now. I feel pain in my lower back too. At Garnish I had thought I might leave the main road and head south towards ‘Crow Head’, but I’m exhausted at this stage (maybe I’ll come back again to do this loop) 

One of the few people I met today

Yesterday Conor Murphy told me about a different cable car that once went from the bottom of the Crow Head peninsula onto Crow Island (Inis Ealbhach). A local man, Tadhg O’Sullivan had actually built his own cable car so his sheep would have better grazing on the tiny green island. Importantly this idea of a cable car encouraged a similar set-up on the much larger Dursey Island. 

More of my fans: Cheering from the sidelines 

I ring Maureen who is on her way to meet me in Dursey Sound. I pass the original Cable Car in the backyard of a house. Previously travellers to Dursey Island have had to share this cable car with a sheep or cow. 

Ye Old Dursey Island Cable Car

As I walk (yes, today I can’t run anymore!) downhill to my finish line, I get talking to two girls, Simone and Hannah. They seem interested in my crazy adventure and I welcome the break to chat with them. 

Hannah and Simone

When I finally make it down to the carpark it is perfect timing because Maureen and Brian shortly arrive. My whole body is suffering but I’m so relieved to have completed all four stages in the four days. Now it’s time to rest. The adventure will continue over Easter on Good Friday, 3rd April.