Ireland day 0950. Sunday 05 May 2024- Devils Glen DWC *

Ireland day 0950. Sunday 05 May 2024- Devils Glen DWC

Today’s summary	Val and I were collected by a friend and we drove down together to the Devils Glen in Co. Wicklow to lead the Devils Glen Waterfall and Seamus Heaney walks for the Walking Club. A good turnout of 13 though some had difficulty finding the start. Weather couldn’t have been better and the countryside was looking magnificent.
Today’s weather	In a word – perfect! Clear vivid blue sky with bright sunshine and no rain all day. Hardly any wind. A balmy 15c appx

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): Devils Glen and Seamus Heaney walks DWC

Commentary

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

If you ever wondered by Ireland is called the “Emerald Isle” you would only have needed to be in County Wicklow today. It was dazzlingly green, as the fresh foliage everywhere shimmered against a limpid blue sky.

I had, purely by good fortune, picked today to co-lead a Walking Club outing to the Devil’s Glen and Seamus Heaney walks, and for once the weather co-operated. It simply couldn’t have been better and Ireland was looking at its very best.

Thirteen of us made it to the start – which was something of a miracle as it’s actually quite hard to find. We had set off from Malahide early, so had time to pause in Ashford en route at the lovely “Hen and Hog” café for a coffee and a delicious almond croissant fresh from the oven. The walk itself was billed to start at 10:30 but because of the difficulties some of the group had in finding the start, we weren’t actually away until nearly an hour later.

Anyway, the late start didn’t matter as it was quite a short walk today and the sun was shining and warm, so waiting was no problem. We tackled the Devil’s Glen section first, up to the waterfall and back. We stayed on the upper path today as there are a lot of fallen trees to negotiate on the lower route. Once back at the car park from the Glen, we found a shady picnic table to enjoy lunch before heading off again on the Seamus Heaney walk.

This second leg of the walk isn’t quite as interesting as the first, but the brilliant green trees with bluebells and wild garlic carpeting the forests more than made up for it. And at the point where the woodlands briefly clear, there’s a bench positioned to overlook the magnificent vista over the Wicklow countryside. We paused there to finish off any remaining bits of lunch, then made a bee-line back to the cars.

Farewells were said, and 13 contented walkers finally left the scene at about 3:30pm. We had a straightforward drive back to Malahide, and now we’re considering our viewing options over the last bits of the chicken stir fry Val made last week.

A brilliant day, one of the best.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Devil’s Glen waterfall. Not as full as last time when we did the recce, but still looking good	Heading back down the glen from the waterfall

Carpets of Irish bluebells in the woods. The delicate scent filled the air	Leafy canopy at lunchtime

I really like this viewpoint on the Seamus Heaney walk, looking out to the coast at Wicklow	Wild garlic. Also smelly.

Setting out on our walk