Ireland day 0151. Saturday 26 February 2022- Rental

Today’s summary	Took the bus to the airport to pick up a hire car ready for tomorrow then drove to Howth for very windy short walk on the south side of the headland as far as the cliffs
Today’s weather	Dry and bright but mostly overcast. Very strong southeasterly wind. About 9C

Today’s overview location (the red cross in a circle shows where Val and I are at the moment)		Close-up location (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Windy Howth

Commentary

I think the 102 bus is in danger of becoming my second home. We had another opportunity to avail ourselves of its comforts this morning as, yet again, we made our way to Dublin Airport. This time, however, we weren’t jetting off anywhere exotic – rather we were picking up a hire car in preparation for a journey tomorrow – you’ll have to come back in 24 hours to find out what all that is about. It’s a shame that we have had to spend money on a hire car when we have just bought a “real” car – but as it won’t be ready till next Friday and we really want to do the trip tomorrow, in practice we didn’t have an alternative.

By the time the car hire paperwork had been completed, it was mid afternoon so we decided to make use of our temporary wheels to head to the south side of the Howth peninsula – an interesting spot but one that’s hard to get to on public transport. We hadn’t been to that specific point before and I wanted to see how easy it would be to get to the headland’s Martello tower from the Sutton side. Late last year we had visited the tower, but had approached it by walking over the peninsula from Howth on the north side.

It only took about ten minutes to get to Howth from the airport, and we managed to find a parking spot on the coast road . As soon as we pulled up and got parked, however, I noticed that the car was rocking violently from side to side. That certainly wasn’t normal behaviour for a stationary car but as soon as I opened the door, I realised what was going on. I was almost lifted off my feet and hurled down the promenade as I got out – the unusual southeasterly wind had picked up to gale force and was buffeting the car and throwing foam off the sea right over the road and onto the car (and me).

So I hastily got back in and we decided discretion was the better part of valour and we had our packed lunches in the relative comfort of our swaying car. I did have to swallow my pride at this point though as eating sandwiches from the car while watching the view through the windscreen is something that I regard as dangerously geriatric. Anyway we eventually decided to head off and do the Martello exploration I had planned, so struggled off down the path right into the teeth of the gale.

It wasn’t far to the tower from the car park, in fact, though it did involve a bit of a road walk at the start before we got to the coast path proper. It turned out that the approach was straightforward and quite interesting – and today despite being a weekend was virtually deserted because of the weather. I’m fascinated by the tower as it’s been extensively – and presumably expensively – restored to be a deluxe modern house. It has looked unoccupied both times we have visited, which is a bit of a pity as it’s in a magnificent location and would be brilliant refuge on a stormy day like today. I think it is actually available to rent, if you have the inclination and money.

We didn’t go far beyond the tower – it was uncomfortably stormy and I knew there was an exposed cliff section a bit further on that I didn’t particularly fancy in today’s conditions. Plus the fact that it was beginning to get dark. So we called it a day a couple of km beyond the tower, and sped back to the car, this time with the wind at our backs propelling us along the way.

Now we’re back in the flat, it’s time for a refreshing G&T (oh dear I am beginning to sound really geriatric now) then preparing sandwiches for tomorrow. Hopefully, by the time we actually eat them, we will find ourselves somewhere a bit more interesting the local car park.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Looking over Dublin Bay to Poolbeg, just catching the rays of the setting sun. Made for an impressive skyline and also especially good to see that we are already getting nearly 90 minutes daylight in the evening, compared to the depths of December	Hardy windsurfers and kite-surfers were out making the most of the stormy conditions. Even while we watched as we had lunch, a group of four kite-surfers made it pretty much the whole way across Dublin Bay from Poolbeg to the north end of Bull Island

Val battling the wind towards the Martello Tower. Now a converted deluxe rental property. Expensive no doubt but would be a brilliant place to hunker down on a day like today, with waves crashing against its walls	Steps up one of the early cliffy bits. The wind was really picking up by this point so we didn’t actually go much further. Plus the fact that it was beginning to get dark

Looking back on the cliff path	Another view of the Martello – from the other side of the headland

Darby and Joan! Enjoying our sandwiches in the style of old people from the comfort of our hire car before heading out to brave the elements. If I had angled the camera differently you would probably have been able to see the trusty Thermos too