Ireland day 1494. Friday 31 October 2025- Rain Again

Today’s summary	Spent the morning on admin while it was raining. Then in the afternoon did our favourite hill and coast walk and got coffees in Portmarnock. Chatted to some friends in Malahide in the way back and Val went for coffee. Finished off the meatballs and colcannon for dinner, and watched some tv.
Today’s weather	Poured with rain in the morning then some sun in the afternoon and more rain later in the evening. Moderate southerly wind. Appx 14c

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): Paddys Hill between the downpours

Commentary

The weather is having a very autumnal phase at the moment. It was wet and wild yesterday, and after a few hours’ respite last night, a repeat performance was laid on this morning. So while it poured outside, we sorted out the laundry and did some admin tasks, and I even ventured out as far as SuperValu to get some milk.

Fortunately, after we’d had our (light) lunch, blue sky appeared in the southern horizon and started creeping our way. Eventually, by early afternoon the rain had stopped and the sun was making a valiant effort to shine, so we decided to venture out and stretch our legs.

As the days are quite short now, we didn’t have that long before it would start getting dark. So we decided just to venture as far as Portmarnock, following our usual hill-and-coast route.

It was a pleasant walk with good views, though everywhere was soaking wet. So we avoided the grassy sections and stuck to the pavements in order try and retain dry feet. But when the sun came out and the wind dropped, it actually felt quite warm. There were abundant signs of tonight’s Halloween celebrations – bushes decorated with spiders webs and houses adorned with skeletons. It’s a big thing here (and amazingly it’s our fifth Halloween here in Ireland).

On arrival in Portmarnock we had of course to get a cup of coffee and some crisps from the shop, which we enjoyed down in the bathing shelter by the beach. Despite the vigorous swell and relatively low temperatures, there were still a few hardy swimmers braving the surf. Mad. Overhead, starlings were massing and collecting on the telephone wires. I wondered if they were preparing to head south – but I learned that apparently most starlings in Ireland aren’t migratory. So they must have had some other objective in mind.

We made our way back along the coast quite quickly, as Val was meeting one of her friends for coffee in Malahide. As it happened, while we were waiting for her outside the café, another friend turned up so we had a good chat with him about Kerry and the west coast of Ireland, about which he is something of an expert. Eventually Val’s friend arrived so we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I headed straight to the flat than Val followed the same path an hour or so later, after having had a good catch up in the café.

We quickly settled down to another quiet and relaxing evening in the flat. For dinner we finished off most of the rest of meatballs (they have lasted amazingly well) and then I read a bit more of my cycling book and watched some TV. I’m really enjoying this slightly slower pace of life right now!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Sunshine after the rain, as seen from our balcony	The demesne looking bright and beautiful (and rain-washed)

A few months ago I noticed a planning application notice fixed to the railings outside the new estate on Seamount Road. Apparently the wall had been built in the wrong place and needed to be moved a meter or so further from the road. Anyway, now it seems the remedial work to have started. I couldn’t help thinking what a lot of time, hassle and expense could have been avoided if it had been put in the right place the first time!	By the steps to the shore at Portmarnock, with Howth on the horizon

Coffee and crisps – a perfectly balanced diet	There’s a huge tax rise being applied to vapes in Ireland tomorrow. Some will apparently go up in price by more than 100%, so everyone seemed to be rushing to stock up today. Probably good for the nation’s health, though I imagine that creative vapers will soon find ways of importing cheaper supplies from elsewhere

Forest fairy!