Ireland day 0014. Tuesday 12 October 2021- Gormanston

Today’s summary	Made progress on somewhere to live longer term (in Malahide) then spent the afternoon on Gormanston beach and finished off with beers in the pub
Today’s weather	Dry again all day. Light cloud and moderate breeze. Occasional sun. About 15C

Today’s overview location (the red cross in a circle shows where Val and I are at the moment)		Close-up location

Commentary

We spent this evening in the pub celebrating. The reason being that it looks like we might have found somewhere to live. After a nail-biting wait since last Friday, the property agent finally called back this morning to let us know that we had been “approved” and so were deemed suitable to rent a flat in Malahide. Yes, of course it’s the one by the railway platform and I am ordering my special trainspotting notebook right now.

Our celebration was only slightly marred by the in-pub entertainment, which seemed to have managed to mix the TV sound with the pub’s background music into a single sound stream. This had the effect of blending Elton John with the dog racing commentary, which was a bit disconcerting when it was all played back simultaneously through the pub’s sound system.

But looking back on the day’s earlier events, we spent the morning scrutinising the letting contract and subsequently managing the stress of sending my bank details and hundreds of euros to people I’d never heard of. But hopefully we have finally sorted out the deposit and, assuming that I don’t in the meantime get asked to fly to Nigeria with it all in cash, we should be moving in in 10 days time. Keeping fingers crossed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the rather lovely Gormanston beach. It’s just 15 minutes from here and benefits from its own railway station (we were privileged to see the Dublin to Belfast express speed through on no fewer than two occasions). Despite the easy public access to this huge expanse of flat sand, apart from a couple of horse-riders, there was nobody there. I spent half an hour on a Zoom call with a friend back in the UK, then Val and I headed up the beach, walking as far as Benhead estuary before the incoming tide threatened to cut us off and we beat a hasty retreat to Gormanston. But not before Inspecting the fine semi-consolidated glacial tills evident in the cliffs – there is a whole thesis to be written just describing them, I’m sure (but I won’t).

The beach itself is huge, and well worth a visit just for its expansiveness and the brilliant views it offers of the Mountains of Mourne floating lyrically on the northern horizon. I do realise, by the way, that I keep going on about how alluring these mountains are, so I think one day soon we will just have to take trip north of the border to find out what they are really like.

Anyway, it’s time for something to eat so I must stop. But the good news before I go is that the fire is burning bright now. The Tesco wood we got the other day is actually flammable, but at €7 for a bag which barely lasts 2 nights, it’s not exactly a cheap option.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Hesperantha coccinea (River Lily) in full bloom in a delightful garden created in memory of the late John Collier, just outside Gormanston Station	That’s one heck of a big poo!

Picking pectens on Gormanston Beach	Horseriders dodging the tide on the beach, with the Mountains of Mourne (again) in the background

Fascinating loosely consolidated glacial alluvial boulder deposited from the till formation in the cliff some ten meters above the beach	It’s us again! Beginning to look a bit weatherbeaten now, as we are spending at least six hours a day outdoors

Geology lesson in progress! You can see the grey glacial band (the mother lode of the beach boulders) being pointed out near the top of the cliff