Ireland day 1297. Thursday 17 April 2025- Scaraveen Days

Today’s summary	A bit of a re-run of yesterday. We spent most of the day on calls to friends and contacts in the UK and dealing with some urgent paperwork. After a noodle lunch and more chores, I went on a walk over the hill and Val went running. Saw snow on the hills, which is called Scaraveen in Ireland, if it arrives after the cuckoos, and lots of primroses. Thai takeaway dinner followed by “Mad Men” as usual in the evening.
Today’s weather	Sunny early morning and late evening, cloudy but dry inbetween. South easterly wind. Appx 11c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Scaraveen Days and Cowslips

Commentary

I learnt a new Irish phrase today. “Garbhshíon na gcuach” which approximately translates as “rough weather of the cuckoos”. It’s been anglicised to “Scaraveen”. It turned out to be a prescient learning. For no sooner had a friend of mine from the Walking Club told me she’d just heard a cuckoo alongside the King’s River this morning, than I spotted fresh snow on the Dublin mountains when I was out on my walk. So it looks like we really are experiencing Scaraveen Days.

But putting Scaraveen to one side, today was actually a bit of a re-run run of yesterday. The morning dawned bright and cool and as soon as we’d had our cups of tea, we both had calls with friends and contacts back in the UK to make. Those took us through to 11 o’clock and, after a cup of Nespresso, we both set about tackling a couple of urgent admin jobs that had blown up over the last few days.

We ploughed on until mid afternoon, just interrupting ourselves briefly to finish off the noodles for lunch. Eventually everything was done and we were free to pursue other activities. Val chose to go for a run around in the Demesne, whereas I more sedately walked up the hill and down to the coast at Portmarnock. As well as spotting the lying snow in the distance on Seefingan and Kippure (with the mast – pictured in the banner image), I was pleased to see that the cowslips had reappeared in abundance on Paddy’s Hill. I had been a bit worried that last year’s display might have been a one-off.

Resisting the temptations of the Spar shop at Portmarnock, I made my way back ambling along the coast to the flat, where Val returned soon after me.

In the evening, we decided to treat ourselves to a “Siam” Thai takeaway, which we are about to enjoy now as we dive into series five of “Mad Men”. Let’s see if the Scaraveen Days are still with us tomorrow.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Flags over the cricket field. I know what the left hand one is (obviously!) but I don’t know recognise the other. Google thinks it might be a mythical Welsh-Scottish hybrid flag. But that seems a bit far fetched	One of the “ha-ha”s in the demesne. With my favourite sequoia in the distance.

Castle from near the concert-field	*Growing in a garden on Bawn Grove. I think it might be a variety of Crowea, but it’s a bit difficult to identify*

Delicately fragrant apple blossom on Limetree Avenue	Looking along the coast towards Malahide, with buttercups of some description in the foreground

An abundance of cowslips on Paddy’s Hill. Very cheerful