Ireland day 1251. Sunday 02 March 2025- Out and About

Today’s summary	Felt somewhat better today so got up. Had a quick video call with Val, and then took a DART down to Clontarf Rd for a short DWC walk to Dollymount. An enjoyable short stroll just suited to my recovery, and good to see everyone again. I walked on to Raheny via Bull Island beach after lunch. Video call to family in Canada in the evening and a couple more films from the Vancouver festival afterwards.
Today’s weather	Overcast and cool but dry. Moderate south westerly wind. Appx 10c

Today’s overview location (The blue 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): Clontarf to Raheny DWC recovery walk

Commentary

Phew! I woke up feeling considerably less grotty this morning than I have for the last few days. Not perfect, but definitely good enough to get out and about and do something a bit more active.

First off, though, I had a video call with Val while we enjoyed our respective breakfast cups of tea in two different countries. Then, once breakfasted and dressed, I started planning the day. There was a short Club walk from Clontarf to Dollymount scheduled for today and, despite the fact that I’ve done it many times before, I decided to head out and give it a go. Especially as Clontarf is only just down the road from here, if you get your DART timings right.

I chose a train that would get me in about half an hour before the scheduled walk start time of 12 noon. That would give me time to go down to Lott’s super-posh grocers beforehand. I wanted to see if I could get a papaya (a throwback to Canary days) and some liquorice allsorts. Unfortunately, they had neither – but there were plenty of other exotica on display to be admired, if not purchased.

Eventually, the rest of the walkers turned up and a decent group of about ten of us headed off down the road to Dollymount. Along the way, a number of the party were seduced off the beaten track by the temptations of a pub lunch, but the majority of us made up to the café at the end of the Wooden Bridge which leads onto Bull Island. There are some picnic tables outside the café (recently rearranged) where we tucked into our sandwiches – sometimes a little too keenly observed by a flock of hungry starlings who appeared seemingly from nowhere as soon as we sat down.

After lunch, we walked down to the Stella Maris statue (in the featured image at the top of this page) then I separated from the rest, who were going to retrace their steps to Clontarf Road. I went on in the other direction and returned to Raheny via the beach on Bull Island.

I had intended to catch the DART back from Raheny to Malahide, but when I got to the station the indicator board showed quite a long wait, so I hopped on a conveniently passing H1 bus to Baldoyle and from there, after only a short wait, got the H3 for the rest of the journey back.

I was back in the flat relatively early – by about 4:30 – so it was still fully light outside. I finished off the rest of my lunch, with a cup of tea, and made that do for dinner. I’m still not super-hungry, so the second chicken salad sandwich filled the gap nicely. Duly refreshed, I had an enjoyable 2 hour video call with family in Canada then rounded off the evening with a couple more films from the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival, and the remainder of a travel vlog about Morocco which I hadn’t finished yesterday.

It’s good to be getting active again!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


One of the many art-deco shelters and adornments of Clontarf promenade, now all sadly collapsing. Why a prosperous country like Ireland can’t afford to renovate them is beyond me	Inside Lotts & Co – the posh deli-grocer on Clontarf Road. They always have interesting things for sale (sometimes at eye-watering prices) like these blood lemons and bergamots – neither of which I had ever seen before. What on earth do you do with them, except make Earl Grey Tea?

On Dollymount Strand heading for the picnic tables for lunch. There’s a café there too, but I’ve never been in as it always looks busy	Another bit of Art Deco on the breakwater leading to the Stella Maris monument

The chimneys need no description!	“Downtown” Raheny – the train station and bus stop are a few hundred meters up the road from the town centre

A whole flock of crumb-hungry starlings descended on our lunchtime picnic arrangements. They’re not my favourite bird as I think they look a bit grubby and dishevelled. But their feathery iridescence is quite striking, when you see them close up