Ireland day 1188. Sunday 29 December 2024- Scotch Village 2

Today’s summary	Collected a couple of friends then drove down to Roundwood for a walk to the ruined Scotch Village. A good day out and very reasonable weather. Val had a day off and did a long run. Curry from leftover turkey in the evening.
Today’s weather	Dry and bright with some drifting cloud but also some sun. Moderate westerly wind. Appx 9c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue 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): Scotch Village 2 DWC

Commentary

Well it was back out on the hills again today, less than 24 hours after returning from Mayo. Although Val did take the more sensible route and stayed in Malahide – but still managed to fit a long run into her day.

So I was away in the Yaris by 9:15, collecting a couple of friends in Portmarnock and Donaghmede on the way to Roundwood for a Club walk. Our destination today was the ruins of the long-abandoned Scotch Village, high up on the slopes above Lough Dan. (To learn more about the poignant history of this settlement, see the blog from when we first visited, on 19 June 2022).

The group convened at the Sugar Mountain café in Roundwood and we arrived in plenty of time for a coffee before setting off en masse at about 11 am. There was a short drive to the start of the walk, and we left the cars close to where the Wicklow Way meets the road at Baltinanima.

We had good weather for the walk itself. A cold wind but plenty of sun, although the higher tops were shrouded in mist for much of the time. It didn’t seem to take long to arrive at the Village, where we decided to pause for lunch. Quite a few of the trees around the site had been felled since our 2022 visit, meaning that you could see the ruins much more clearly today.

After our lunch stop, we found a narrow path which we followed uphill for a short distance before meeting a wider track at the top. While we paused to admire the view, an adult deer – probably a female Sika – bobbed past, clearly slightly perturbed by our presence. We battled on through the forestry until we met the Wicklow Way again, a little further on. (And I say “battled” because so many trees had fallen and were blocking the path – victims of Darragh’s attentions, no doubt).

Once back at the cars, we drove back to Roundwood for a quick drink at the Coach House (sadly only tea for me, as I was driving). Suitably reinvigorated, a quick spin round the M50 got us back across Dublin in time to drop off my companions and still be back at the flat for 5pm.

Val had already returned from her run and was in the process of making a curry from leftover turkey when I got in. After a quick cup of tea, we had the curry (delicious!) and now, at last, it’s time to put our feet up and watch some TV. Next week we don’t have many commitments, so I’m really looking forward having a few moments just to put my feet up and relax – though not for too long, of course!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Looking down on Lough Dan from the path to the Village	The path was, however, obstructed in many places by fallen trees – possibly more of Darragh’s handiwork

The Irish Mountain Runners Association (IMRA) clearly must have had a race here, but forgotten to remove this waymark	Someone had clearly thought it would be a good idea to decorate one of the spruces in the forest. I wonder how long the baubles will last?

A couple of sections of today’s walk followed parts of the Wicklow Way	One of the many (well engineered) stiles on the Way

Lunch in the ruins of the Scotch Village. Much more of it visible today than last time we visited 2 years ago, as a lot of surrounding trees have been cut down in the intervening period