Through secret gardens, heavy gales and some sandy shores
IN THE FIRST OF A NEW SERIES SIMON BOURKE SAMPLES WEXFORD’S WALKING TRAILS AND LEARNS A FEW NEW THINGS ALONG THE WAY
WE have become very familiar with our immediate surroundings this year, have cycled, walked, ran and jogged across every inch of that 5 km radius, travelled north, south, east and west in search of what, we don’t really know.
Some of us have found solitude and silence, a quiet place, a chance to reflect on the madness of it all. Others haven’t been so fortunate, their jaunts extending only to the outskirts of town, to the business parks and industrial centres.
But no matter where you live, whether you’ve spent most of 2020 cooped up in an apartment or only have to step outside your front door to breath in the fresh country air, there should be a walking trail within striking distance, within your 5 km boundaries.
In the first of a new series we explore those trails, take in their sights and sounds, learn about the history behind them, and speak to the people who maintain and promote them out of love for their community.
Rosslare Harbour - St Helen’s - Carne - Kilmore Quayw
It’s a wet and windy Sunday morning, the kind of day where any sane person is either still tucked up in bed or perusing the papers over a nice, reassuring cup of tea.
But not me, I’m at Rosslare Harbour, at the start point of its 2.87 km walking trail. I’m there to meet my guides for the day, Madeleine Quirke and Michael Delaney of Wexford Walking Trails ( WWT), for a walk which will take me through the village, along the coast and, as it turns out, down memory lane.
We set off, Michael giving me a run-down on the history of the area, relating a story about British newspapers being cast into the sea lest they reach the impressionable eyes of Irish readers, the culprit imprisoned for his sins in the local gaol.
He shows me a new phone app they’ve been working on, a piece of technology which enables walkers to interact with the trail, to listen to commentary (provided by Madeleine) as they walk, upload photos to compare with others.
The trail in Rosslare, the trail I usually walk, takes you along the cliffside; offering views of the ocean, the incoming ships, as you wind your way towards St Helen’s.
But there’s another trail, a hidden one, a secret one. It winds its way in and around the village and takes you into the Secret Gardens.
Suitably named (I, for one, wasn’t aware of their existence) these secret gardens contain many strange and intriguing features: A hobbit house complete with reading material and a door to ward off intruders is hidden deep in the depths of one.
It’s flanked by an old dumping ground which has been transformed into an apiary - the bees off on holidays for the winter, no travel restrictions for them. There’s a place for children and their parents to discard ‘dodies’ they’ve grown out of.
And everywhere you look there’s idyllic seating areas, benches and crooks bearing the names of beloved local characters, men and women whose legacies will live on through this simplest of gestures.
Two of the chairs have been made entirely out of chainies (pottery and china fragments) from a ship which sunk off the coast of Rosslare in the 1850s They overlook houses formerly occupied by railway workers, houses which are numbered in accordance with those in neighbouring villages in Wales.
We’re joined by other walkers and their dogs, regulars known to Madeleine and Michael. One of the dogs was rescued from Vietnam, Madeleine tells me. I wait to hear it bark, wondering whether Vietnamese dogs sound different. It doesn’t oblige.
Gardens explored, it’s time to move on to the next leg of our journey, to St Helen’s.
The light drizzle and gentle breeze have now been replaced by proper rain and an unproper gale. It’s perfect weather for walking, ideal conditions for those seeking action and adventure.
And we find it in St Helen’s. There the waves come crashing in on top of us, with added spray for effect. Michael has more stories, his knowledge knowing no bounds.
This one is about lighthousemen at Tuskar Rock guarding a shipment of smuggled brandy, getting so drunk they forget to turn on the lights for incoming ships.
As luck would have it the King of England was on his travels that particular night and, having complained about the lack of lighting off the Wexford coast, the two drunkards were suitably reprimanded for their misdemeanours.
We step onto the beach to get a better look at the golf course in the background, Michael recounting a story about a nunnery and the naughty boys who snooped around it hoping for a glance of a Sister sans-smock.
What punishment they received I daren’t ask.
I learn a new word, bladderwrack, it’s a type of seaweed, a delicacy known for its medicinal purposes. It occurs to me that there’s more to life in these coastal communities than sandy beaches and high tides, that places like St Helen’s and Rosslare have traditions and customs which would take years to appreciate and understand.
An outsider like me, a thick gombeen from Kilkenny, could never hope to fully immerse myself in this world. The best I can hope for is that some of Michael’s knowledge rubs off on me and I don’t start whinging if the rain gets too heavy.
Our next stop is Our Lady’s Island where we’re greeted by local councillor Ger Carthy. Having spent the past few years working to get the greenway up and running he has now turned his attention to the walking trails.
Although Our Lady’s Island doesn’t yet have its own official trail, Cllr Carthy plans to change that. The aim is to connect it to the trails in Rosslare and St Helen’s, and then onto Carne.
In fact the long-term ambition is to have one continuous trail running along the entire coast, starting at Rosslare Harbour and ending at Kilmore Quay - more on that later.
Having availed of Cllr Carthy’s hospitality and rushed back to the car for an extra layer (we’re now in the eye of a storm, there’s no other way of describing it) we head to the aforementioned Carne.
There an additional guide is added to the team, Teresa Rea. She, along with husband David, has worked on developing and promoting the trails in Carne, trails which take in the most south-easterly point of the country at Carnsore Point.
To get there we must first walk down a few country roads, in
THE AMBITION IS TO HAVE ONE CONTINUOUS TRAIL ALONG THE ENTIRE COAST, STARTING AT ROSSLARE HARBOUR AND ENDING AT KILMORE