Ireland day 1505. Tuesday 11 November 2025- Gloaming Walk

Today’s summary	Spent the morning making phone calls and doing paperwork. Val prepared a Kerrigan’s chicken pie for our lunch then we did our favourite hill and coast walk in the evening gloaming. Stormy seas and almost dark by the end. Kerrigan’s again for dinner then a couple more episodes of “The Windsors”
Today’s weather	Very wet and windy overnight and for most of the morning. Dried out a bit with brighter sky mid afternoon. Strong 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): Gloaming Hill and Coast

Commentary

Rain was beating against the bedroom window – again – when we woke up today, setting the scene for a very wet and “let’s stay indoors” sort of a morning. But that was no bad thing as I had a mountain of paperwork to do and some phone calls to make. So I just got on with that, while Val did a self-taught Tai-Chi session. Together, we felt that we had made good use of our enforced wet-weather confinement.

Around noon, it dried up sufficiently for Val to pop out to the shops to get some milk and to pick up a couple of Kerrigan’s ready meals for lunch and dinner on the way back. By the time she got back, I’d just about finished my work so Val heated up a chicken pie that she’d just bought, and we had that for lunch along with some fresh tomatoes. Tasty and nutritious.

Afterwards, as the weather was – to coin a phrase – “brightening up”, we thought we would go out and enjoy some rain-washed fresh air before it got dark. Not being in the mood – or having the time – for a longer excursion, we just decided to do our usual “hill and coast” loop walk.

By the time we finished a couple of hours later, we both agreed it had been a good decision. Everywhere was sodden but looking lushly verdant in the gloaming after weeks of rain. Quite beautiful really. It did mean though that we had to choose our route carefully. Mostly we stuck to pavements so our trainer-shod feet didn’t get soaked.

To add to the scenic interest, the sea was spectacularly stormy and the sky was painted pink yellow and blue by the setting sun. Despite the inclement conditions, there were still a few swimmers about which struck me as being exhilaration bordering on foolhardiness.

We were back at the flat at about 5:30pm, by which time it was almost completely dark. Despite having experienced autumn every year of my life, I never fail to be surprised by just how quickly the dark nights creep up on us. I’ll probably get used to it by the time I’m a hundred.

Once indoors again, and the gloom safely banished behind the front door, we got some quick refreshments. Then Val heated up the Kerrigan’s chicken and ginger stir fry she’d bought back at lunchtime. We enjoyed it in front of the TV with a glass of Malbec to wash it down. My contribution was to do the washing and tidying up afterwards. Of course – as if anyone needed to ask – we were watching “The Windsors”. We will have finished the series soon, so we need to start thinking about what box-set to binge next. Still, that can be a consideration for another day.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Autumn colours just about at their best today, in the woodland inside the Demesne	Sunset on the path approaching Paddy’s Hill

Mad swimmer braving the waves down on Portmarnock beach	Val being altogether more sensible and staying on dry land after reading the sign

Compare and contrast. High rock – almost completely submerged by the crashing surf..	..whereas just round the corner, in the Broadmeadow estuary, the sea was flat calm

Here we are illuminated nicely in gloaming orange