Ireland day 0742. Tuesday 10 October 2023- Drive to Beara *

Ireland day 0742. Tuesday 10 October 2023- Drive to Beara

Today’s summary	After breakfast, we drove in convoy to our cottage at Eyeries, on the Beara peninsula. Stopped off at Tesco in Swords on the way, and a service station just outside Cork for lunch. A straightforward drive, but slow after Cork. Arrived about 6:30pm
Today’s weather	Mild, dry and bright in Malahide; drizzly and heavily overcast in Eyeries. Light south westerly wind. Appx 16c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

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

We had meant to set off on our travels at 10am sharp this morning, but as is the way with things, it was well after 11 before we found ourselves on the road, heading west towards the Beara peninsula, in the far south west of county Cork. And even then, we only got as far as Tesco in Swords, where we stopped to stock up on provisions for the week.

Eventually, though, we were properly on our way, heading down the M8 and onwards towards Eyeries. It’s a small village towards the far end of the remote Beara peninsula, where the holiday cottage which was to be our home for the next week is situated.

We broke the journey at a service station just outside Cork and enjoyed a sandwich lunch soaking up the bistro ambience of a picnic table overlooking the petrol station. According to Google maps, at this point you have covered about three quarters of the distance to Beara, though in time terms, it turned out that we were only halfway there. Once you get past Cork, the road suddenly narrows and it becomes a winding secondary route which you definitely can’t rush.

Eventually we arrived at our cottage, which is just off the road and on a hillside looking out to the sea, islands and mountains beyond. It’s a bit like a combination of Achil Island and Donegal, and very beautiful. It’s also very quiet, so now we are relaxing in the lounge, thinking about the week ahead, and looking forward to an good night’s sleep, undisturbed by Iarnród Éireann’s overnight ministrations.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Lunch stop at Fermoy	On the road to Beara, near Adrigole

Taking a brief break from driving	View from our cottage sitting room – complete with binoculars!

The OPW gets everywhere. This poster relates to the garden on Garinish island – which we hope to visit in the course of the week	Our cottage. Peace and quiet (I hope) at last!

Idyllic scene near Garinish island