Ireland day 0929. Sunday 14 April 2024- Tymon Park 2 *

Ireland day 0929. Sunday 14 April 2024- Tymon Park 2

Today’s summary	Joined a short Walking Club stroll round Tymon Park in Templeogue this afternoon. Nice to relax a bit after yesterday’s battering. Val decided to have a recovery day at the flat.
Today’s weather	Mostly dry and bright with plenty of sun. A couple of brief showers later in the afternoon. Light south westerly wind. Appx 10c

Today’s overview location (The green 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): Tymon Park 2

Commentary

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

After yesterday’s epic on Mullaghcleevaun, I was sorely tempted to have a day off today. But I’d promised to give a friend a lift to the Walking Club outing in Tymon Park so I felt compelled to get up and get going. Val, wisely, elected to stay behind and enjoy some downtime. (Though it has to be said, she was pretty busy – making a delicious shallot tart that we had for tea tonight and quite remarkably retrieving a brand-new ironing board from outside the recycling. I shall have no excuse for not ironing my shirts now!)

After picking up my friend and driving round the M50, we met up with the rest of the walkers at the Spawell hotel for the obligatory pre-walk coffee and scones. Eventually, like herding cats, we managed to assemble everybody and set off for our short stroll around the nearby Tymon Park. It was a decent day, weatherwise, and it was nice for once not be frozen, soaked, or blown off our feet.

Tymon Park is one of Dublin’s larger parks and is quite attractive (though not on the scale of Phoenix Park). The river Poddle, and the M50 motorway, run through it, which adds interest and noise. Spring is in full swing now and the trees and shrubs were rapidly becoming verdant. It’s a beautiful time of year.

We finished off the walk back in the Spawell hotel, where we sought out D’Arcy McGee’s bar for post-walk refreshments.

It wasn’t an exacting day out, by any stretch of the imagination, but it was nice to see everyone again and to catch up on the news. Once back in the flat, after a cup of tea, Val showcased her latest violin recital (excellent and getting better all the time) and then went on a run. Now it’s time for some TV and to start planning the next week’s activities.

(PS we watched “The Wind that Shakes the Barley” starring Cillian Murphy on RTE player. It’s about the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War. It’s not cheerful, but we enjoyed it).

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Monument to childbirth near the entrance to the park	One of a number of lakes in the park, fed by the River Poddle

I think this is a mobile phone mast, though it looks a bit like a piece of modern art. Perhaps that’s deliberate	This part of the park was officially opened by the husband of one of the Walking Club stalwarts

Refreshments at the end!	Rather Cold War-ish entrance to Tymon Park on Wellington Lane

Val’s trophy! It’s practically brand new. I will be looking forward to trying it out (!)