Ireland day 0625. Thursday 15 June 2023- Val Lambay Birthday *

Ireland day 0625. Thursday 15 June 2023- Val Lambay Birthday

Today’s summary	Val’s birthday. We went to Lambay Island for a walking tour then retired to Gibneys afterwards for a beer and a sing-song
Today’s weather	Dry warm and sunny again today. Very light easterly wind. Appx 21C

Today’s overview location (The grey mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The orange 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): Lambay Island

Commentary

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

An amazing day, what a way to celebrate Val’s birthday.

We have gazed longingly across the sea to Lambay Island almost every day since we arrived here in Malahide. And today, courtesy of Eamon the boatman and joined by eleven friends from the walking club, we actually paid it a visit.

We met up at Malahide marina at 8:50 this morning and jumped on Eamon’s boat for a prompt start at 9. A swift zoom across the sea saw us join the seals and gulls on Lambay Island at about 9:30. Eamon took us on a quick tour of the amazing Lutyens buildings near the harbour, we met some of the fascinating people who live there, and then up to the summit of the island at Knockbane (126m).

A birthday celebration near the harbour at the end – complete with a cake that one of the walkers brought specially, a couple of beers and some scones that I made last week, finished off the expedition perfectly.

Back on the mainland afterwards, we headed off to Gibneys for a glass or two of Guinness – and even a bit of a sing-song – and a perfect end to a perfect day.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


About to set off. the sea on the marina was flat calm, but there was quite a significant swell once you got outside the confines of the estuary	The old boathouses – redesigned by Sir Edwin Lutyens for an the original Lord Revelstoke who owned the island in the early 1900s. There is also a “real” tennis court – one of only about 50 in the British Isles.

This is as close as you can get to Lambay “castle”. But the bit you can see looks impressive	By the trig point on the top of Knockbane

There is a wallaby in this picture. Honestly. (There is an official population of 500 animals on the island, so they shouldn’t be too hard to spot!)	Enjoying the sea air on the way back. The weather was superb

Birthday girl enjoying her cake! (And beer..)