Ireland day 0856. Thursday 01 February 2024- Cell Clear Thin *

Ireland day 0856. Thursday 01 February 2024- Cell Clear Thin

Today’s summary	Both of us were at home today. I spent an hour or so trying to sort out a tax problem and Val went on a run. Then after a light lunch we walked down the coast together to Howth. Stopped in Sutton (Cill Fhionntain – which literally means “Cell Fair Thin” in Irish) for coffee midway and again in Insomnia at the end. Dart and bus back, then some Sopranos and a video call to friends in the evening
Today’s weather	Dry and bright with some sun. Light westerly wind. Appx 9c

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): Malahide to Howth via Sutton with Val

Commentary

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

OK I’ll cut to the chase. The Irish for “Cell Clear Thin” is “Cill Fhionn Tain”. Which is the Irish name for the town of Sutton. I think, slightly less literally, it means “Fintan’s Church”. Anyway, it’s interesting to see the construction of these place names – though how it got transformed into “Sutton”, I don’t know. I mention it here because today we walked through Sutton on our way to Howth this afternoon.

But first things first. We were both at home today and before we could get on with the day, I had to try and sort out a problem with my tax. That took up an hour (the minimum time any tax problem ever takes) and needless to say I couldn’t resolve it, but it did give Val a convenient opportunity to head over to the demesne and do a decent workout.

Once she was back and I had finished tearing my hair out, we had a light, early lunch, and then decided to walk along the coast down to Howth. It’s one of my favourite walks, and I hadn’t done it since I started work. I promised myself that as soon as I got more time, I’d do it again. So today was that day, and with good weather – a drastic upgrade on yesterday I must say – we were all set.

We definitely didn’t rush the walk, and with the evenings definitely getting lighter now, we didn’t have quite the same pressure of imminent darkness urging us on. So once we got to Sutton, we stopped for a decent cup of tea and cake from the station café, which we enjoyed in the (breezy and cold) terrace outside. We pressed on a bit further but our plans to walk along the Burrow beach round to Howth were frustrated (again) by an inconveniently high tide. Fortunately there is a road alternative (and there is a good pavement) so we were able to finish our walk without further ado.

After more refreshments in the Insomnia café in Howth, we caught a well-timed Dart back to Sutton then jumped on an equally well-timed 102 back to Malahide.

We are back now, so are about to tackle some more of the weekend’s leftovers for dinner, then we have a video call to more friends later on. Must get on now – there’s just so much to do!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Up in the Jameson Orchard estate. Nice to see the blue sky	On the Baldoyle greenway

Essential refreshments (part 1) – Almond croissant at Sutton station café	High waters at Burrow beach so no way along the sands to Howth. So once again we were thwarted by the tide and had to walk on the road. At least this time (unlike at Termonfeckin on Sunday) there was a pavement

This vast block of apartments has been under construction in Howth since about the time we arrived. It must contain several hundred dwellings, which once completed and occupied, will lead to the already crowded services in Howth becoming even more stretched	Essential refreshments (part 2) – carrot cake in Howth Insomnia café

Brief pause by the signal box crossing in Sutton while an eastbound Dart trundled by