Ireland day 0481. Sunday 22 January 2023- Tolka Park *

Ireland day 0481. Sunday 22 January 2023- Tolka Park

Today’s summary	An enjoyable and relaxing Walking Club outing today, from Ashtown to Glasnevin cemetery via Tolka Park. Returned to Malahide via the Botanics, the no 83 bus and the Drogheda train
Today’s weather	Rain at first, then mostly dry but overcast for the rest of the day. Almost no wind. Feeling much milder than recently at about 11C

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): Ashtown Tolka Glasnevin and Botanics

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

I was out with the Walking Club again today – a short plod, starting at 11:30, through the Tolka Park from Ashtown to Glasnevin, looking out for the first signs of spring along the way. Even though it’s still only January, the catkins were fully out, the daffodils were in bud and didn’t look far off flowering, and there were squirrels and herons in abundance along the way.

We had a quick break at the café in Glasnevin cemetery than sneaked out through the gate at the back and straight into the Botanic gardens, which were delightful as ever.

A quick dash back across Dublin via the number 83 bus and then swiftly on to Malahide courtesy of the Drogheda diesel from Connolly. Another nice day out, quite relaxing this time.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


There were loads of grey squirrels out and about today. This one was outside our flats and was making a peculiar chirruping noise. There were plenty more – very tame – ones in the Botanic gardens	Hazel catkins at the entrance to the Tolka Park, just down from Ashtown station

Statuesque – and largely immobile – heron perched on a branch keeping an eye on the Tolka river	Monument to Daniel O’Connell, champion of Catholic emancipation and campaigner for the new cemetery at Glasnevin in the early 1800s

A male Mandarin duck. Looked very splendid – but possibly a bit lonely as there were no females in sight	Strelitzia in flower in the Curvilinear house. A small slice of the Mediterranean – and it’s lovely

The Director’s House at the Botanic Gardens. Impressive from the front, but the garden at the back could do with a bit of tidying up!