Ireland day 1041. Sunday 04 August 2024- Fermanagh Day 2

Today’s summary	Drove north into Co Tyrone to climb Mullaghcarn and pay our respects to the giant at the top. Just got back before the heavens opened and the rain continued the whole of the rest of the day. Spent the afternoon on a fascinating tour of Castle Coole – a magnificent National Trust mansion near Enniskillen. A lot of driving but very well worthwhile as now we only have one county left to visit
Today’s weather	Overcast and dull in the morning, heavy rain all afternoon and evening. Strong to gale force southerly wind. Appx 15c

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): Mullaghcarn Sperrins

Commentary

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

So now there’s only one left! After a day in Co Tyrone today, only Leitrim remains to be seen.

But rewinding a little, first thing this morning Val did a quick check of the weather forecast and we quickly realised that if we wanted to do anything vaguely outdoorsy, we better get going. Heavy rain was forecast to arrive at around 1:30 and indeed it did – almost exactly on time. And then it lasted all day -it’s still teeming down now, at 8:30pm.

We had decided that while we were in this part of the world, we ought to try and visit as many of our missing counties as we could – so today Tyrone was in our sights. We grabbed a quick breakfast, made packed lunches, and were away by 10am.

To make the most of our visit to Tyrone, we were aiming to climb Mullaghcarn, a 542m summit in the remote and mostly unvisited Sperrin mountains. It’s an easy walk because there is a radio mast on the top and a tarmac road all the way up. It took us nearly an hour and a half to drive to the start – it was further than I expected – and we were walking by 11:30.

It was a straightforward climb to the top and once again there were quite a few people about. We made it to the top in about an hour and fortunately before the rain started. It was cold and reasonably clear so we had decent but not distant views (you are supposed to be able to see Errigal to the north in Donegal and Slieve Donard to the south in Down, but both were obscured by cloud today).

There’s a wonderful statue of a the giant Daragh on the top, so we had a good look round then headed back down. We made it to the car just as the heavens opened and the rain started. Perfect timing!

With an afternoon of rain in prospect, we decided to head back south to visit Castle Coole, a magnificent National Trust property near the town of Enniskillen. At least this way we would be able to stay indoors.

Castle Coole is a neoclassical mansion (not a castle at all) built between 1789 and 1798 by the first Earl of Belmore. It cost him so much money that he could only just afford to build it but not furnish it, then he died. It was left to one of his successors who, through a series of strategic marriages and fortuitous inheritances, had become one of the richest men in Ireland.

The National Trust runs an excellent guided tour so we spent an engaging two hours learning about the history of the house and of the Belmore family. The contrast between the upper floors, occupied by the five family members, and the understorey occupied by their fifty-plus servants, was striking.

By the time we finished, it was still raining so we returned to Crom and enjoyed a delicious Shepherd’s pie whilst watching the Olympics again. A lot of driving today, but totally worth it and very rewarding.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Setting out up Mullaghcarn. There’s a radio mast on the top of the hill (542m) and a tarmac access road all the way from the Gortin Glen forest park. So it’s an easy and quick walk very much like Mt Keen and Kippure, but still very enjoyable	Heading to the top with the giant just visible on the left

Obviously we had to visit the trig point	Castle Coole – a magnificent late-18th century mansion

Magnificent frontage, finished in Portland stone	The servants’ access tunnel – so the (50) servants could enter and leave the house without disturbing the (five) upstairs residents they were serving

With Daragh, the Guardian “Darach, daughter of a wicked hill, Slashed a hole in the day, bent time by her will, The cane of kings and all above, she swiftly swung the staff, and from the past, she passed apple, oak and ash.“