“Not 1 but 2 WT Eagles above me in Killarney NP ! I will die happy.”

I was out walking around the lakes in Kerry, under the cover of mostly oak trees. When I emerged from beneath early summer’s developing canopy, I looked up to see a pair of magnificent White Tailed Eagles soaring up in the thermals above my head. It was a beautiful, sunny, dry and warmish day. I lay down on my back on the forest track and had a wonderful view of these magnificent birds through my binoculars for quite a few minutes. They were huge – we’ve all heard they’re called “flying barndoors”. I had seen eagles before in France, Spain and Poland, but nothing as big as these guys, and to think they’re possibly still immature. Had they even grown to their maximum size ?

After a while, they disappeared over the nearest mountain and were gone. A little later, one of them reappeared on my side of the hill again, but a little further away.

Now I decided that I would visit Clare on the way home Saturday to see the nesting pair on Lough Derg. Unfortunately, I ddin’t manage that, as I ran out of time to swing by and witness what would have made for a perfect White Tailed Eagle Weekend down south. Anyway, I was going to “die happy”, so it was no big deal and I thought I would surely get down there at some point over the coming weeks **.

Die happy ? I’m afraid I didn’t even end the weekend happy. Back in Mayo on Sunday, I was told that “our” WT Eagle, Lochlann, had been found dead near Castlebar.

Lochlann (“Place of the Lakes”, a name of Viking origin) liked Mayo and its lakes, big time. He first came here at the end of April 2011, spent almost all summer 2011 here, with the odd foray into Galway and had returned from over-wintering in Kerry at the end of March for this coming Mayo season.

Last summer, I spent three full 8-hour days out in the mountains looking for Lochlann. In addition, I spent god-knows-how-many sets of 1, 2, or 3 hours trying to spot him, when on the way to or from somewhere up in the wilds of west Mayo. I’d check out his satellite fixes on http://www.goldeneagle.ie/, which are time-delay released (three days later) and discover he was maybe just 500m from me on such-and-such a date. Alas, I never got to see him.

It is beyond my comprehension how a person could poison or raise a weapon and point it deliberately at such a magnificent creature of our shared planet and shoot. But the fact that I can’t fathom such actions is not what is important. What is vital is that it become incomprehensible to the type of person who actually did this.

What is required here is education. People like the person who did this need to be educated. The Irish Farmers’ Association and other rural bodies should play an active role in educating people about these magnificent birds and the level of threat (or lack thereof) they pose to livestock.

I am well aware of the attitude of many country people to “environmental” bodies, like An Taisce and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Frankly, many country people do not trust them. Some think these bodies would prefer if all farming and rural activity was stopped and the whole country turned into one big National Park.

The people who work on these projects are undoubtedly wonderful. I am terribly sorry for them and the obstacles they seem to so regularly be confornted with.

Here is what I think must be done.  NPWS, together with the IFA and other rural organisations, should get Norwegian, Welsh and Scottish farmers and other rural dwellers, who live with these magnificent birds in their countries, in to talk to Irish rural communities and farmers. Get them to tell the Irish what, if any, threat is posed by eagles and other birds of prey. Brand the events “IFA”, not “NPWS”, for greater buy-in.

Do it now, before any more are needlessly slaughtered.

Two years ago, Conall, a Golden Eagle, was poisoned up in Leitrim. I blogged angrily about it here.

** Today, May 18th, I read that the nesting effort at Mountshannon has unfortunately failed. However, those are young birds and hopefully they will find success in 2013 or beyond.

Standing at a maximum of almost 4m from bottom of ditch to top of enclosure bank (see picture, below) and forming a circle of roughly 26m diameter, this structure has a circumference of around 82m. It would originally have had wooden stakes placed vertically around its perimeter, probably for keeping animals within and predators without. Note that present-day opinion is that ringforts were unlikely to have been in fact ’forts’, in the sense that they probably did not serve any real ‘defensive’ purpose. They were not constructed particularly high above the surrounding ground level and a ring of stakes might not have kept any would-be attackers at bay for very long. They were more likely to be status symbols of local chiefs or powerful clans, perhaps representing their control over surrounding lands.

Lios na Gaoithe was excavated in the 1950s and among the findings discovered was a cist, a burial construction made of stone slabs arranged in a box-like shape. Coloured glass beads were within, along with the bones of the deceased. How blue glass beads came to be in a West of Ireland ringfort is a matter of conjecture – some have suggested they may have come from as far away as north Africa, maybe via numerous trading posts along the way.

The ringfort is the most common remaining ancient type of ‘homestead’ in Ireland – there are estimated to be around 40,000 of them dotted all over the country. They consisted of a raised mound within a sunken ditch and an elevated outer bank. Indeed, sometimes there are more than one ditch and associated bank, the latter built of the material removed in order to dig out the former.

An entire earthen ringfort is called a ‘ráth’ and the dwelling enclosure within the ‘lios’, although in the case of Lios na Gaoithe, the former term has come to refer to the whole. Were it made of stone, the structure would be known as a ‘caiseal’ or ‘dún’, such as the famous Dún Aenghus of Inis Mór in the Aran Islands.

Interestingly, ringforts are often built in prominent positions and / or on good quality ground. Today, however, neither of these attributes applies to Lios na Gaoithe, located as it is in classic Mayo boggy terrain. Having said that, it does command a strong (though not elevated) position in a valley running from northeast to southwest through hilly terrain and is close by a small river.

Some pictures below are given twice – once ‘as is’ and once with superimposed red lines showing the structure of the ringfort and ditch.

My map below shows the location of the fort in relation to the landscape around it. Areas coloured brown are at 200m altitude or above, while the green areas are at 50m elevation and lower.  You can see two entrances into this terrain from the north, marked A and B. Entrance A comes from what is today a vast open, low-lying bog. This is very wet, inhospitable country and, even 1,000 years ago, unlikely to have been crossed by men on horseback or foot. Entrance B carries a track today and keeps relatively high above the surrounding bog. Assuming there was already some traffic through this area over a millennium ago, we can see how Lios na Gaoithe would have commanded the pass to the rivers, lake and sea (out of picture) beyond, to the south.

The ringfort in its landscape

The white of Wild Garlic carpets the forest floor, which it shares with the beautiful drooping Bluebell. Get down on your hands and knees and breathe in the powerful aroma of the Wild Garlic – one of the great signs of Ireland’s springtime.

The bright cream of Primrose appears in tight bunches along the hedgerow, while the especially excellent Marsh Marigold stands bright yellow along the damp lakeshores, often with its feet in the water.

The small white flowers of Wild Strawberry is a hedge neighbour with the discreet blue-purple Dog-Violet. We hope we’ll see the fruit of the Wild Strawberry later in the summer, while the Voilet will soon fade away.

Some green is supplied by the carpet-forming Opposite-Leaved Golden Saxifrage on stream banks, along with Lords and Ladies in the hedges and the fabulous tall and erect shoots of Yellow Iris on damp ground, neither of which is yet in bloom.

So get out and enjoy the outdoors, ever more interesting with the arrival of spring wildflowers. For all you need to know about Ireland’s wildflowers, visit Zoe Devlin’s superb website, at www.wildflowersofireland.net and don’t leave home without the Collins “Complete Irish Wildlife” book, with its introduction by Derek Mooney. The latter also contains Ireland’s mammals, trees, birds, insects, etc.

Carrowtigue cliff top walk

I’ve added the loop walk at Carrowtigue to the walking schedule for this coming Saturday. Located in the northwest tip of Mayo, Carrowtigue offers a lovely 3 to 4 hour loop walk on cliff-tops along towards Benwee Head.

This weekend walk starts at 11.00 from the shop and community centre in Carrowtigue village (An Ceathrú Thaidhg) and will end around 15.00. Please give me a call if you would like to come along and bring a packed lunch plus water. Don’t forget the binoculars and camera !

The remote Bangor Trail, Mayo

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of accompanying freelance journalist Lenny on The Bangor Trail. We had beautiful weather for our walking trip, especially considering it was the middle of winter.

Reproduced below is Lenny’s lovely article from the Irish Times. I’ve had to remove both the map and accompanying photograph, as the paper unfortunately printed the wrong one on both counts.

Let me know if you’d like to undertake this hike – at nine hours walking from beginning to end, it’s easily Ireland’s longest linear off-road hiking trail. Traversing vast blanket bog landscape and travelling beneath the Nephin Beg mountains, with not a house or home in sight, it’s also the very loneliest place – but in a wonderful, positive and serene sense.

Irish Time article, part 1

Irish Times article, part 2

This is lakes, mixed woodland and river wetlands country.

Discovering Ireland's Lakes

Walking holidays in the west of Ireland are about discovering our huge Atlantic blanket bogs, our exciting cliff-top trails and our offshore islands. They are about our mountains, although low at only up to 1,000 m, majestic and with spectacular views over the coastline all around. They are about our inland lakes and our tiny little villages, full of charm. They are about our pubs and the melodic sound of Irish traditional music that fills the best of them. They are about our lovely hosts in their special B&Bs and the effort they make to make all my guests feel special.

But walking holidays in Ireland are also about learning of our rural culture, our history and our tremendous Irish legends. They are about stories of battles, chieftains, churches and castles, about the land, The Great Famine and the struggle for independence. For many from the UK and USA, they are about learning of how their forefathers lived. For our continental visitors, they are about hearing and learning more of this fabled land that is Ireland. But most of all, it’s about the expereience of getting to spend time in our lovely land and meeting our people.

You’d be welcome.

“The sea spends its day ebbing and flowing”

I know this is going to be a great year. The entire month of August is already booked out, as is the first half of June. Days are being blocked in July and all looks good from here.

What a pity it was when I heard a lady from Kerry tell some potential tourists to Ireland last week that going north of Galway was “not interesting”. How misinformed. Yes, we have fewer tourists in this part of the country than down in the southwest, but perhaps our offer is all the better for that.

Here’s my proposal. Come here to the wilds of the true West – Connemara nd Mayo – and then go home telling your friends and relatives you were disappointed. I doubt it.

Walking is graded easy on two of the days, with the third graded moderate and includes a hike to the top of the 411 m Benlevy mountains outside Clonbur.

Cong, at the very southern tip of County Mayo, is one of Ireland’s prettiest villages. The village is criss-crossed by numerous channels of the same river, with deep pools dotted all around. Cong even enjoys the added attraction of beautiful native and exotic woodlands all around.

Cong is a wonderful place for walking, with good quality off-road trails that skirt along the edges of the great western lakes of Loughs Corrib and Mask. The trails meander through lovely woodland, a mix of native broadleaves and the typical conifers of the West of Ireland.

Two pubs in Cong are excellent - Danagher’s at the bottom of the village and Lydon’s at the top. Both are home to really good trad music sessions. 

This is a three-night guided walking event, involving three days of walking. Cong and neighbouring Clonbur inhabit the narrow isthmus between the great Loughs Mask and Corrib, on the Galway Mayo border.

We stay in a choice of a Cong B&B or Cong Hostel, both directly across the street from eachother, with full board, including three breakfasts, three dinners and three packed lunches for the walks.

Day One (Fri.) : Arrival, dinner and orientation.

Day Two (Sat.) : Hiking the linear walk between Clonbur and Cong, through the native woodland regeneration site and on the limestone pavement (a ‘mini Burren’) landscape at Lough Mask.

Day Three (Sun.) : Hill climb of Benlevy, wedged between the two lakes and offering fabulous views of Mask, Corrib and the higher Connemara and South Mayo mountains in all directions. Visit the haunting deserted village at its base.

Day Four (Mon.) : Low lying walk through woodland and along the shore of Lough Corrib. Departure.

You can book your place on this relaxing, lovely walking weekend here.

A short post to share some pictures I’ve recently taken out hillwalking here in Mayo. The weather has been incredible these past few weeks, with very little rain and nice bright, crisp blue-sky days in the hills. Great weather for hiking Mayo’s hills and higher mountains, so “Get Out There !” and go walking.

Mayo’s mountains tend to be wet and boggy places, with only a few boasting truly rocky summits. Our highest peaks reach modest levels between 700m and 814m for Mweelrea, Connacht’s highest point. Mountainous areas are to be found mostly in the south and west of the county, while the north and east are more flat landscapes.

The great attractions of Mayo’s mountains are twofold. First, this is a truly rural, little populated part of Ireland. You’re unlikely to meet anybody on any Mayo mountain, with the obvious exception of the ‘holy mountain’ of Croagh Patrick. Second, it is from the summits of our mountains that you can best appreciate the extraordinary landscapes of this west of Ireland place.

Look down from a mountain on our beautiful and varied coastline, our vast blanket bogs, our tiny villages – indeed our deserted villages – and across the surrounding mountains with their superb examples of corrie lakes.

You’re welcome to Mayo.

We took 9 h 45 min to complete the 26 km trail, which included a diversion up to the Scardaun Loughs for lunch. We had no rain at all.

Quite the opposite on Saturday, however. Having only one car, our small team had to cycle back from Bangor to Letterkeen to pick up mine, a distance of around 32 km. It didn’t stop raining for one minute. Leaving Bangor, we had the wind and rain to our backs. That was okay, but I realised what lay ahead. Having turned at Bellacorick, we had it hitting us from our  right hand side, sweeping in and down over Slieve Carr and Nephin Beg, nearly knocking us into the ditch. The real problems, however, arose when we turned at Keenagh. Now it was straight in our faces. Now we started to feel the 2 h 20 min already in our legs, piled on top of the long hike the day before. Not to mention the fact that J didn’t really have waterproof boots …

With the very hilly section ahead and our willpower waning, J asked for assistance, with 7.5 km of serious ups and downs still to go. Mr. Walsh agreed to give me a spin up to the bothy, where I could collect the car, drive back, pick up the others and head for Castlebar. We were very grateful.

At the bothy, I met some acquaintances who had failed to get beyond the third stream to be crossed on the Trail, such was the amount of water that had fallen since the previous day.

On my return to the Walsh household, I found the lads in the kitchen, pulled up to the table and eating soup and bread served up by the lady of the house, to these unannounced total strangers. I was invited in and shared of their generous hospitality. Later, in the car on the way back to Castlebar, I noticed J was wearing jeans. Mrs. Walsh had invited them to use the bathroom to change their clothes. Genuine West of Ireland people. Thank you very much.

Devilsmother from the northern Maumturks

On Saturday, I met up with a mate and we decided to take on the northern end of the Maumturks. Standing watch over Leenane, the Maumturks are nice mountains with great views over Killary Harbour (Ireland’s only true fjord), Mweelrea, Ben Gorm, Devilsmother and other summits all around. They’re not very high by any means, but it just wasn’t going to happen on this occasion. The wind was too strong and I could hardly stand up against it. The fierce wind was rushing up the fjord, coming around the corner of the hills and hitting me on my right hand side. Maybe if I had brought some extra ballast in my pockets or lead in my boots. Having been knocked over one time too many, it was time to admit defeat and descend.

So descend we did. We drove on over to Glencullin Lough, beyond Doo Lough on the truly stunning road over towards Louisburgh (and back in Mayo), where we could admire the magnificent cliffs of the steep-walled corrie between Ben Bury and Lugmore. We spent the late afternoon and into the dark refreshing our night navigation skills, heading home after 6.30 pm. There’s definitely something extra lovely about hiking around after dark. As long as you have batteries for your head torch, a map and compass, that is.

Glencullin Lough

On Sunday morning, I travelled back down south to take on Devilsmother. A serious slog gets you up onto what is possibly Ireland’s best true plateau. In strong wind again, I nevertheless completed a loop hike that also took in the highest point of the plateau, Maumtrasna, at 702 m.

A good weekend of hillwalking in south Mayo and north Galway.

World Wetlands Day poster

World Wetlands Day is about appreciating the vital role wetlands play in our ecosystems and protecting them. Here in Mayo, we are blessed with many wetland areas, from our blanket bogs, dotted with small lakes and bogpools, to our ‘great western lakes’, like Conn, Cullin, Carra and Mask, to our coastal sites, like Mulranny saltmarshes and the brackish lake of Furnace. Indeed, we have 3 Ramsar wetlands sites of international importance, in the Sheskin Knockmoyle Bog Complex, the Owenduff Bog Complex and the Blacksod & Broadhaven Bays area.

All Ramsar sites can be viewed in the database here.

Reversal of bog drainage through dams

For long periods, Ireland drained its bogs in order to lower the water table and therefore dry out the peat for harvesting. In some places, this peat production has now ceased and efforts are being made to allow the bogs to refill with water and return to something approaching their natural state. The picture, left, of a blocked drain in north Mayo illustrates how this is being achieved.

On February 2nd, I will be out walking on the bogs to celebrate World Wetlands Day and I will share pictures here afterwards. Come and join me, if you like.

I had a specific reason for revisiting The Bangor Trail from the Bangor end on Dec 21st, the shortest day of the year. While on ‘The Walk of Hope’ with the fabulous people of Foxford Ramblers Walking Club the previous Saturday, two companions from Bangor had told me of works being carried out on the Trail that they weren’t at all happy with. I just had to investigate, fearful of another example of environmental vandalism by public bodies.

The Walk of Hope, with Foxford Ramblers Walking Club

But first, back to Foxford. Jim Murray and his colleagues had organised a charity walk for Sat, Dec 17th, in aid of Hope House in Foxford. It was an excellent 16 km walk over the lowish Mayo foothills of the Ox Mountains, from Bonniconlon back to Foxford. Towards the end of the walk was a superb wetlands area, with rushes, streams and three small lakes I need to re-investigate some time this year.

The walk was led by Taoiseach, Enda Kenny and we had lovely weather, save for one rough enough hailstone storm. A good 80 walkers took part and it was most enjoyable. Find out about Hope House here and Foxford Ramblers Walking Club here. A great day !

The Bangor Trail

The following Wednesday, I hiked from Bangor to the Tarsaghaunmore River on The Bangor Trail and back (8 km one-way). On the day that was in it, I knew I wouldn’t get any further by dusk and didn’t really fancy hiking after dark. All was going swimmingly until near the bridge, where I discovered the work to which the Bangor people had referred.

A bit of history : a number of interested parties, including NPWS and the local Leader company, had attended a meeting in late 2010 to discuss what should be done about the waterlogged nature of much of The Trail. I was decidedly on the “leave it alone” side of the discussions. My understanding of the outcome of this meeting was that only streams crossing the Trail would be boardwalked and / or drained and the remainder left as is. Instead, what I saw in December was both boardwalking and drainage work where there is no need whatsoever for either. Or to put it another way, if they deem work necessary on that section, then they’ll deem it necessary almost anywhere. The fear now is that this type of work will be carried out way in excess of what is required, threatening to ruin the uniqueness of this place.

Lugnaquilla, Co. Wicklow

Between Christmas and New Year, I joined my brother-in-law for a hike up Wicklow’s Lugnaquilla, Ireland’s highest mountain outside Kerry. We came from the Glen of Imaal side, heading up by Dwyer’s statue. The walk (6.5 km one-way) was really easy, taking just under 2 hours to the 925 m high summit. It snowed on us for part of the hike and we unfortunately had no view when we reached the top.

It’s a hike I must try to do again this summer, but from the more difficult eastern side, because the Glen of Imaal approach is just a walk up a not-very-demanding slope. Indeed, many Mayo or Connemara mountains, of only 500 m height demand much more physical effort than this did.

She took and kissed the first flower once

and sweetly said to me :

‘This flower comes from the Wicklow hills,

dew wet and pure’, said she,

‘It’s name is Michael Dwyer,

the strongest flower of all.

But I’ll keep it fresh beside my breast,

though all the world should fall.’

[Na Trí Bláthanna / The Three Flowers (trad.)]

All said, an excellent December to finish off 2011. Now for 2012. Get in touch if you’d like to join one of my guided hillwalking weekends in Mayo.

The Hunting Lodge

Anyway, many of these lodges now lie in ruins. One such lodge lies deep in the modern plantation conifer forests of north Mayo. Not a beautiful place, in that the thick impenetrable conifers do not house an awful lot of life, nevertheless, I find myself returning time and time again. Around the lodge itself, we can witness the unstoppable force of the Atlantic blanket bog at work today as it has been for several thousand years.

When the conifer plantations were begun back in the 1950s, the lodge had only recently been abandoned. Indeed, people had been staying there during the Second World War. The lodge, like so many landlord estates of the previous 100 years, had been planted with broadleaves and non-native specimen trees – in this case, there was a clear penchant for Monkey Puzzles. Coillte (as it is now called) did not buy the actual lodge and its immediately surrounding lands. Rather, it set about encircling the plot with its conifers, leading to its present day “hidden” status.

Visiting in 1939, TH White wrote that “this lodge has 2 or 3 miles of river, 10,000 acres of grouse, one living room, 3 double bedrooms, 2 singles, a bathroom, lavatory and kitchens. We might get between 6 and 60 salmon, between 20 and 50 brace of grouse.”  

Trees succumb to the climate

To visit this place now is to get a snapshot of the relentless march of the bog. Walking to the front of the ruin from the forest track, your feet are sinking into the wetness. Only one Monkey Puzzle remains in the land of the living. All others are dead stumps. Most of the Scots Pines too are dead, although their rate of survival is unsurprisingly a little higher than that of the exotics. Bizarrely, the few Cypresses planted are large, robust and seem fine.

Beyond the lodge is the lovely Sycamore garden. Although outside of summer it is incredibly wet and boggy underfoot, these trees are alive and kicking. The mosses, ferns and Tree Lungwort growing on them are magnificent specimens. The ground beneath them is blanketed in primroses in spring. Immediately beyond, however, the conifer wall stands firm.

Tree Lungwort

As a biomonitor, Tree Lungowrt (Lobaria pulmonaria) survives only in areas of clean air, a characteristic it shares with Usnea lichen species. Learn more here.

In the mountain stream next along, I have seen Otter and Grey Wagtail. I’d love to think the Dipper resides there, but I have never seen one. I have flushed three Red Grouse over the years, a true delight. Beyond the trees, out over the bog itself, I have seen Kestrel, Raven, Merlin, Hare and Fox.

Following the stream away from the track, you come across the remains of the settlement that once housed humans. Like the lodge owners, they’re all long gone and it is difficult to imagine that just 60 years ago, there was human life, but no conifers, here.

OK, I prefer the dry, crisp, fresh winter to the sodden, rainy, mucky winter. But since we have far more of the latter than the former, I make do with it.

The Western Way, Mayo, in winter

Today, I went on a 7-hour cycle and hike along The Western Way, through Ireland’s largest tract of land with no through road. It rained good and proper for the entire duration, with not a single minute’s reprieve. But not just any old rain, oh no. Blown by strong winds, this was the “wonderful” almost horizontal Irish variety. On the journey out, this was fine, as it blew into my back. But on the journey back, another story …

In this area, The Western Way is a forest track through Coillte land, with one section of around 2,100 m of boardwalk in the wettest part – a seriously slippy boardwalk in this weather. In all, it’s about 26 km of entirely off-road hiking and cycling, although I couldn’t manage that in these short winter days.

With the rain coming down, I cycled more in water than on terra firma, as the rain run-off likes to utilise the track bed as the path of least resistance in its relentless search for a river course. Between my outward journey and the return, all rivers and streams had well over doubled the volume of water they were carrying. On the drive home afterwards, there was flooding aplenty in the fields and bogs along the road. A lot of water fell in north Mayo today.

The wildlife count was poor today, as is to be expected in heavy rain. No deer and no raptors. Just four hares and one pheasant of note. Mind you, deep into the plantation forest, very large deer tracks are all around. I saw fox, otter and pine marten droppings, as well as those of the deer.

Boardwalk on The Western Way

If you want a place to gather your thoughts and be utterly immersed in and subjected to the West of Ireland outdoors, this is the place. Coillte likes to call it Ireland’s ‘big sky country’. With the conifers all around, I’m not so sure about that description, but you know what they’re trying to say.

Gear review :

Despite 7 hours of continuous rain, my Meindl Vakuum GTX feet were bone dry, as always. My Helly Hansen Helly Tech head and torso ditto. I was particularly impressed that not a drop of water went down my back or even onto my neck. My North Face trousers could not withstand the rain, but, in fairness, that was mainly because I was cycling most of the time, so pumping thighs and a wet saddle didn’t help. My LifeVenture TiV vacuum flask disappointed. Billed as keeping water hot above 60 C for up to 12 hours, it didn’t keep mine hot for even 6.

However, that 100 km loop is really only one part of what I believe could be provided in Mayo, to bring this county up to genuine international scale as a walking and cycling destination. The recent unsurprising decision by government to scrap the plan to extend the Western Rail Corridor northwards beyond Athenry reinforces my belief.

On the (from a tourism development viewpoint) much maligned eastern side of Mayo, we have the disused Claremorris to Collooney (Co. Sligo) railway line, part of the famous Western Rail Corridor. This line, at 76 km long, will doubtless never be reinstated for use as a railroad. To the south of Claremorris are the remains of the old branch line down to Ballinrobe, 22 km long. Ditto for its future as a railway. To my knowledge, only 1 km of that line has become a road surface, with the remainder through predominantly farmland. Together, these two track beds could get a cyclist or walker from just south of Sligo town to Ballinrobe, on the shores of Lough Mask in south county Mayo – off road! That’s a distance of around 100 km.

Around Mayo Loop - Northern Section

 RED = OFF ROAD

RED DASH = WHERE THE ROUTE COULD EASILY BE TAKEN OFF-ROAD

PURPLE = ON MINOR ROADS

BLUE = MAIN ROADS

Ballinrobe is just a short 11 km hop from the beautiful forests at Cong and Clonbur, where a further 10 km of off-road tracks already exist (more, if you include the gorgeous local loop trails by the lakes).

From there to Westport (79 km) would admittedly use 45 km of roadways, but minor ones. Using the 10 km long Seanbhóthair between Clonbur and Cornamona, then the 24 km of off-road sections of the Western Way would give a total of 34 km off-road. This part of the trail would take the walker or cyclist along the edge of the magnificent Lough Corrib and by the lovely Sheaffry Hills to Westport. Indeed, this south Mayo stretch of The Western Way could hopefully be taken much more off-road. This work has already begun.

Now we’ve reached Westport from Collooney, a distance of some 200 km, with around 144 km off-road and 56 km on small and minor roads.

As we know, the off-road Greenway already exists from Westport quay north through Newport and Mulranny to Achill. Leaving the Greenway just north of Newport, you could turn inland, on very minor roadways for 7 km and then take The Western Way all the way to the north Mayo coast, at Ballycastle and the Céide Fields. There are just 8 km on-road, which could relatively easily be converted to off-road by the local authorities.

Around Mayo Loop - Southern Section

RED = OFF ROAD

PURPLE = ON MINOR ROADS

BLUE = MAIN ROADS

To Ballycastle, this would give a walking and cycling trail that would be a total 281 km long, with just 71 km on-road – and virtually all very minor roads at that. That’s 210 km of off-road cycling and walking !

The final piece in the jigsaw would be to join Ballycastle, on the breath-taking north Co. Mayo coastline, taking in the superb abbeys at Moyne and Rosserk, back down to the old railway at Swinford, using minor roads via Ballina and the low Ox Mountains, plus The Foxford Way.

Total trail length : approx. 353 km

Total off-road : approx. 226 km

Total minor roads : approx. 111 km

Total other, larger roads : approx. 16 km (8 km of which could be quickly taken off-road)

Fantastic !

Mayo is in a pretty small country. However, ours is a very large county and we have the real opportunity to produce a (mostly) off-road walking and cycling experience that would actually be of international quality length. Beginning with my proposal and with vision from the local authorities (who are already doing great work here), we would then have the motivation to get ever more of this potentially fantastic trail off-road, until, one day, it all would be.

What, there’s more ? Yes there is.

This trail would have four rail access points directly on it, at Collooney, Claremorris, Westport and Ballina. Also, just imagine what this could do for small tourism providers, local food producers, artists and craftspeople, traditional pubs, etc., along the route – particularly in the more remote areas. Now that’s sustainable tourism.

Check out this website, which proposes the conversion of the Collooney to Claremorris rail line : http://www.sligomayogreenway.com/

In my rucksack is my food, consisting two ham and cheese sandwiches, hot flask (though I rarely drink from it), bottle of water, apple, banana and chocolate bar. The chocolate is always either a Mars or Snickers – today it’s the former. Deep down under some first aid stuff and my headlamp in one of the rucksack’s pockets lies my “Emergency Snickers”. I’m disciplined and never touch it, save to update it once a year. Check.

By 6.50, I’ve arrived at the starting point, where I meet my two co-walkers. We’re actually on time ! As it’s not raining this morning, I choose the woolly hat, though I always carry the other with me in the rucksack. A baseball cap is much more useful in rain.

Our Fox

The first 3 km of the walk is along a Coillte forest track. In the morning sunshine, we spot a fox moving along the track towards us. He doesn’t seem to notice us and continues to advance in our direction. We’re downwind. Eventually he spots us, takes a short gawk and jumps into the undergrowth to the side. Beautiful.

At the end of the track, we need to negotiate about 200 m through plantation forest. It’s never pleasant, trying to avoid the straight, short and sharp lower branches that stick out of the Spruce trees. We make it through and emerge on the other side to that classic West of Ireland view – a gently sloping, bog covered hill, with its drenched grasses and sedges. It’s the strangely named Glenlara (564 m) - a name that really should only apply to the valley below, but which has been adopted to the hill / mountain itself.

Two streams start their lives on this one slope of Glenlara. At their sources is a wall of rushes, thick and energy sapping, that we need to cross. It can be surprisingly difficult to get through this, all the more so when it’s wet underneath and between them – as it always is. We reach the shoulder of the hill and begin our ascent to our target – Birreencorragh.

Possible abandoned Booley House

Birreencorragh is one of the few Mayo mountains boasting what we can justifiably call a peak. Apart from it, I can think only of Corrannabinnia, Croagh Patrick of course and, arguably, Mweelrea. Other Mayo mountains, like the Nephins Mór and Beg, Slieve Carr, Barrclashcame and Achill’s Slievemore only have rounded or plateau tops.

You could argue that Achill’s Croaghan has a ‘peak’, but to do so would be ignoring the fact that it only appears to have one because the far side of the mountain fell in to, or gave way to, the ocean immediately below.

Approaching from the south, we begin to see the cone of Birreencorragh ahead. Where we cross a boggy plateau between the two mountains, we stop for a snack behind one of the many turf tussocks protruding up to 1.5 metres above the ground level – great for a bit of shelter from the wind.

Scree-covered SE face of Birreencorragh

Below us to the West sits Mount Eagle, really just a spur off the main mountain. We have a strange habit in Ireland of giving names to high points on spurs, thereby elevating them to a status they barely deserve. To the North-East we observe the spectacular scree face of Birreencorragh, which falls steeply down 450 m, until it begins to level off somewhat. Ahead is the final ascent to the summit, at 698 m.

On the top of the mountain, with its broken trig pillar, we are joined by a Peregrine flying just above us. In the wind at the top, the bird appears to remain fairly still, almost hovering. You might think it was a Kestrel, but no, a Peregrine he is. He soon disappears below the steep edge of the mountain, gone hunting down in Glendavoolagh perhaps.

As usual, we don’t hang around at the top. The wind is cold and the desire to descend is strong. We push on north-eastwards towards the ridge with Knockaffertagh (517 m), before turning south-eastwards and descending onto the col.

Birreencorragh from valley below Knockaffertagh

Having traversed Knockaffertagh, we descend to the valley below and onto part of the so-called Keenagh Loop. The section of this pleasant loop walk we take brings us along the bank of the stream we saw from the top of Birreencorragh. From above, it seemed to slice through the bog in the sunshine, like a curved silver sword across the brown-purple blanket bog landscape below.

We see Otter spraint (droppings) along the riverbank. Two hares run across the bog to our left. The black-faced sheep seem surprised to see us. As we near the cars, we pass an abandoned farmstead, with Rowan and Hawthorn trees around and the mountain as backdrop. The ground all around is wet. The heather lies thick between us and the trees beyond. We know we’re in Mayo.

Abandoned farmstead

This hillwalk :

The Glendorragha Horseshoe - approx. 17 km - approx. 7 hours.