Ireland day 1539. Monday 15 December 2025- Carton

Today’s summary	First thing Val had to deal with some work business at the Castle and I had a video call with family in Sheffield, UK. Then we took trains to Maynooth via Connolly and completed the loop walk through Carton Demesne that we hadn’t been able to do last week because of the rain. An excellent route especially the posh refreshments. Trains back afterwards then light dinner and a glass of Malbec in the evening.
Today’s weather	Cool dry and sunny. Almost no wind. Appx 7c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Carton House and Demesne

Commentary

This morning, when we drew back the blinds, the sun was shining and the sky was dawning blue. A welcome change from the poor weather of recent weeks, and an urgent call to get out there and enjoy it.

So we had our statutory cups of tea, got up, and set about making the most of the day. First though, Val had to go up to the castle to deal with some Museum related business, and I had an enjoyable hour on a video call with family in Sheffield, UK.

Once we were both finished with our morning activities, we had a final cup of tea and headed down to the station. We had decided that, seeing as the weather was good, we would re-try the Carton House walk from Maynooth, that we had had to call off last week because of the rain.

Our Connolly DART arrived after only a short wait, then a swift transfer in Dublin saw us heading out for Maynooth, where we arrived at about 2pm.

We set out directly from the station, over the canal and into Maynooth town centre – which was absolutely buzzing with students enjoying their end of term celebrations in the bars and kebab shops. We quickly escaped the hubbub and sloped off down Carton Avenue into the Carton House Demesne itself. Most of which now is a huge and exclusive golf course, run from the Carton House stately home – formerly seat of the Earl of Kildare and now an upmarket hotel managed by Fairmont.

There’s a short loop walk – the Red Route – in the middle of the Demesne, which leads up to the tower on a hillock in the middle of the estate. It was a perfect day for the stroll. Clear cool and bright, with hardly anyone around. The grounds looked immaculate – just as I suppose you’d expect from such an exclusive golfing venue.

We completed the loop walk quickly – it’s only about 5km round – and then – surprise surprise – found ourselves at the coffee shop which was part of the stately home. Of course we had to stop, and treated ourselves to posh bacon sandwiches, sausage rolls, lemon meringue pies, teas and coffees. All very expensive and very delicious.

By the time we’d eaten, it was getting dark so we beat a hasty path out of the Demesne and back to Maynooth. The parkland was an oasis of calm and serenity – a stillness and chill in the air, as the mist formed in eerie swirls on the lakes and streams. The contrast with thronging noisy Maynooth couldn’t have been more stark.

We went directly back to the station and caught a Dublin diesel after only a few minutes’ wait. Then switched onto another Drogheda-bound diesel at Connolly and were back in Malahide for 6 o’clock. Thank goodness for free Senior travel!!

We had another quiet evening. We had intended to make fajitas for dinner but we both felt so full from our heavily pork-based mid afternoon refreshments at Carton, that neither of us felt much like it. So we made do with yogurt and some fruit, and that fitted the bill perfectly.

Now all that remains is to seek out some lightweight entertainment on the TV. I certainly feel a lot happier – and sleep a lot better – when I go to bed in a good humour.

What a perfect day. Carton was a gem – I’m just sorry it has taken us over four years to find it. I’m sure we will be back.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Maynooth – thronging with students out for an end-of-term good time	At the entrance to Carton Avenue – the straight lime-tree lined link between Carton House and the town of Maynooth

Val in the distance striding off down the Avenue. It’s 1062 yards long	Quaint boathouse on the stream – now dammed and flooding after all the rain – that runs through the demesne

The Tyrconnell Tower. It predates the main house, and was probably built in the mid 17th century by the Tyrconnells – an offshoot of the Talbot family of Malahide	The label (edible of course) tells you all you need to know about this place

Beautifully silhouetted trees, striking in the evening twilight