Ireland day 1055. Sunday 18 August 2024- Clontarf Raheny DWC

Today’s summary	We joined the Walking Club for an easy stroll from Clontarf Rd to Raheny DART via Bull Island this afternoon. A pleasant day out and lots of chat. Pop-pop curry and “The Wire” (again) in the evening
Today’s weather	Dry and bright but only short periods of sun. Moderate to strong westerly wind. Appx 19c

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): Clontarf Rd to Raheny DART DWC

Commentary

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

The good weather continued today, so the conditions were ideal for us both to join the Walking Club for an easy summery stroll along the coast from Clontarf Rd DART station. The walk didn’t start until 12:00 noon, so we had a relaxing morning and as well as our customary cups of tea in bed, we had time to do yet more washing and get everything together for our packed lunches.

The journey to Clontarf Rd involved making a change from the southbound diesel at Howth Junction, and jumping on to the waiting stopping DART service from Howth. It was a very efficient transfer, but somewhat stressful as the DART was on a completely different platform, requiring crossing over the tracks via several tedious flights of stairs. The train set off almost immediately after we had got on – ten seconds delay in the transfer and I reckon we wouldn’t have made it.

We joined the rest of the group at the station then after a brief pause for any latecomers, we set off for our stroll along the coast. There was no time pressure as there’s still plenty of daylight, and the weather was decent so for once we weren’t either wet or frozen. We have walked this way many times in the past, but it’s always interesting and different depending on the time of year and the state of the tide.

Eventually, we crossed over the wooden bridge onto the North Bull Wall and stopped for lunch at the picnic tables by the café midway down the causeway. After lunch, most of the rest of the group elected to head back to Clontarf along the route we had just come, whereas Val and I walked over to the beach and headed off down the island.

We decided against circumnavigating the whole island so instead crossed back to the mainland on the Causeway Road, ending up on the James Larkin Road near the tree sculpture on the corner of St Anne’s Park. A brisk walk soon took us back to Raheny station and a Malahide-bound DART duly arrived just seven minutes later.

We are back at the flat now and after several cups of rehydrating tea, we are contemplating Tesco ready-meal curries (again!) for dinner and considering which of our beers we’re going to open. Probably the one which allegedly comes from the Carpathian Mountains (though the cynic in me warns that it is more likely to originate in an industrial estate somewhere on the outskirts of Dublin).

Time to sign off now, after another good day, and download the final series of “The Wire”. Along with the Olympics, it’s been the box-set of our summer.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Iconic Poolbeg chimneys, complete with iconic boat in the foreground	Looking over to Howth from the main beach on Bull Island

The now-defunct Bull Island visitor centre – there have been plans to redevelop it, but they don’t seem to be making headway at the moment	Everlasting pea on the Causeway Road back to the mainland from Bull Island. There were lots of them along the roadside, in all shades of pink and white



Fascinating but crumbling Art Deco shelter on the Clontarf Promenade. People swim near here, but the water looks distinctly unappealing to me