Ireland day 1523. Saturday 29 November 2025- Baldoyle Howth

Today’s summary	Planned to do a circular walk round Howth but couldn’t start until the afternoon because it was so wet. There were no 102 buses for almost an hour so caught an H2 to Baldoyle instead. Completed the 15k anti-clockwise circuit in 3hr with no stops. Refreshments at the end in Sutton the caught a 102 back. Had pop pop curry for dinner and read some more of my book later in the evening.
Today’s weather	Heavy rain in the morning then drier with some sun in the afternoon. Strong north westerly wind. Appx 6c

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): Baldoyle Howth Sutton loop

Commentary

Ireland’s weather seems to be enjoying an even rainier period than normal. So I might have predicted that my planned walk today – an anticlockwise circuit of Howth from Sutton – would be disrupted by the rain. And after my experience with the leaking overtrousers on Thursday, for the time being I’m definitely going to try and avoid excursions when there is more than the slightest hint of rain.

So, true to form, it started raining just about as soon as I got up, and the radar showed it wouldn’t stop until around noon. So I had a bit of an extra lie in and read another chapter of my book instead of going out.

Then I got up, had some porridge for breakfast, and continued transferring data off my old computer. After, that is, I had figured out how to get back the documents that Windows, unasked, had helpfully removed from my hard disk and squirrelled away somewhere on the Cloud. I blame Artificial Intelligence (which in this case would probably be more accurately called Genuine Stupidity).

Pretty much in schedule, it did stop raining at 12:00, so I gathered my things and set about getting to Sutton. When I arrived at the bus stop, the indicator board showed that all the 102s were delayed – apparently by a demonstration in Dublin – and the next one wasn’t due for 55 minutes. I thought about getting a Dart and changing at Howth Junction but Google suggested I’d have a long wait for a connection, so I discounted that idea.

In the end the best solution I could come up with was to get the H2 (which was leaving in 5 minutes) to Baldoyle instead of Sutton. Not ideal, but good enough.

It was a quick bus ride, once it got going, and the alternative approach walk to the Sutton tombolo along the beach from Baldoyle made an enjoyable change from my normal access route from the station via Greenfield Road.

I particularly enjoyed the cliff walk round the southern side of Howth headland. It was quiet – the rain had probably put people off – and sheltered from the strong cold north westerly wind by the bulk of the headland.

There were good views all the way round and I very much enjoyed the leg-stretch. I met a couple who excitedly told me they had just seen a small pod of dolphins off the coast near the Baily lighthouse (sadly I missed it). Once past the lighthouse, the path got a lot busier and it was at times a bit frustrating getting stuck behind dawdling walkers blocking the way forward.

Anyway I got round easily enough, and was soon in Howth. I hadn’t stopped so far and for a moment I wondered about going into Insomnia for a coffee. But I wanted to complete the loop walk as far as Sutton, and I was aware that the tide was coming in and would soon make the Burrow beach route inaccessible. So I kept going and made it round the headland just in time to keep my feet dry.

It was just over 15km round the headland from the Baldoyle H2 bus stop to the Sutton 102 stop. I did it in 3 hours more or less exactly, which wasn’t my fastest ever, but not too bad either.

Luckily Sam’s café was still open so I got a cup of tea and a piece of Rocky Road which nicely filled the 20 minute wait for the bus.

Eventually the 102 turned up and whisked me back to Malahide by 5pm. On the way back to the flat I called in at Tesco to get a pop pop chicken tikka masala for dinner tonight, and a packed lunch for tomorrow.

So now I’ve just had my curry (it was very tasty, actually) and have got some of my favourite music playing through my speakers. I’ve had enough of James Bond and German travel videos for now, so I’m going to settle back and enjoy a couple more chapters of my book. Bring it on!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The highland cattle which normally reside in the fields by the Baldoyle Greenway seem to be having a holiday in Howth at the moment. They look like they are enjoying the change of scene Though I have to admit its a bit hard to tell.	One of the many small secluded coves on the less-busy south side of Howth, near Red Rock

Abundant Hebe putting on a floriferous display along one of the clifftop pathsides. It feels quite summery and smells nice too	Almost at the end – coming up to Burrow Beach

Sam’s café at Sutton station – complete with new weatherproof shelter at the front. A very welcome sight at the end of any walk	Rocky Road. Yum

Approaching the Baily lighthouse. (And on the horizon in the far distance, to the right of the Baily, if you zoom in you can make out the Kish Bank lighthouse. It’s about 12 km away)