Ireland day 0254. Thursday 09 June 2022- PaddysHill
Today’s summary | Went to see a tax adviser in Malahide in the morning, then out for coffee then a good leisurely walk up Paddy’s Hill in the afternoon, once it had stopped raining | ||||
Today’s weather | A day of two halves. Cold windy and wet in the morning, sunny and bright from mid afternoon. Moderate southerly wind. About 11C in the morning, 18C in the afternoon | ||||
Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route) |
Close-up location (The green 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): Robswall and Paddys Hill then Coast |
Commentary
It’s unusual to be able to say that you’d had a good day when the first part it you spent talking to your tax adviser and when it was freezing cold and pouring with rain. But now it’s Thursday evening, looking back it does actually feel like it’s been a good day.
I think to a large degree, it’s because on the tax, I felt we made some positive progress and started the process of getting ourselves enrolled in the Irish tax system. But, inevitably, we have hit a snag and can’t get much further until it’s sorted out. But we have started months in advance of when our Irish tax return needs to be submitted, so I am reasonably confident that we will eventually be able to get it sorted out. Next, of course, we need to start on our UK returns, but that can be a job for next week.
Even though the tax meeting went well, we both inevitably felt a bit drained by the whole thing (why is tax always so stressful?) so we decided to treat ourselves and battle our way through the wind and rain to the Grand Hotel. The hotel sits at the eastern end of the promenade, and they serve a very nice cup of coffee in their deluxe lounge there (please just don’t ask how much it cost).
The Hotel, by the way, was built in 1835 by the then-local MP, James Fegan. He was anticipating the arrival of the Dublin-Drogheda railway, which duly made it to Malahide in 1844. With it came an influx of visitors and the tiny village started on its trajectory of growth eventually to become the prosperous visitor destination and commuter suburb that it is today. The hotel thrived and was granted a Royal Warrant, so was renamed the “Royal” Hotel Malahide. Unsurprisingly after Independence the Royal prefix was dropped and it became the Grand Hotel. It has grown steadily since Independence, save for a brief period during the First World War when the British army was headquartered there, to be deployed in the event of a German invasion of Ireland. The hotel now employs some 200 staff.
Anyway, we lingered over a relaxing cup of coffee then returned to the flat for lunch. And by then – lo and behold the sun had come out. Not wanting to have spent the whole day indoors, seductive as the coffee lounge at the Grand was, we decided to gird our loins and head outside. We didn’t attempt anything too dramatic – and with it costing about a hundred euros just to get the car out of the garage nowadays, we decided against driving anywhere and instead just took a leisurely walk through the demesne, then up over Paddy’s Hill in Robswall park, and then down to the coast.
As the temperature rose and the sun came out, after the heavy rain in the morning the warm humid air felt so fecund you could virtually hear the grass growing under your feet. Needless to say we didn’t linger long enough for that to happen, though we did pause to admire the seascape for more than a few moments down by the rockpools at the northern end of the Velvet Strand. It’s quite hypnotic watching the waves tirelessly crashing in – so much so that we we almost failed to notice the rising tide and narrowly avoided having to paddle to shore when a particularly invasive wave headed alarmingly quickly in our direction.
We were quickly back in the flat and now it’s a beautiful sunny evening – despite it being nine o’clock at night. But I was slightly shocked when I realised it’s less than two weeks to midsummer’s day now. How can that have happened so quickly? Still, the best of the summer is still ahead of us, and I for one am thoroughly looking forward to it!
Today’s photos (click to enlarge)
Interactive map
(Elevations corrected at GPS Visualizer: Assign DEM elevation data to coordinates )