Walking through history in Ireland
and Donegal. Between the carpark at the base of the mountain, and the Quartzite summit was a huge bog, covered in grass and heather.
Although a few dry trails traversed it, no one had thought to mark them, and we watched many people turning back after squelching through thick black ooze. We managed to find a way through to a rocky trail in about 15 minutes. It was an interesting climb over white scree and boulders, with expansive views of the surrounding countryside. It was awesome stark country.
As we climbed higher, the quartzite on the upper slopes sparkled in the sunlight. About two thirds of the way up there is a huge cairn , marking a spot where you can follow another ridge to Mt Mac koght (Earagail Bheag) - wee Erigal.
We reached the first peak on Erigal in about an hour and a half, and sat enjoying the solitude, before venturing along One Man’s pass (a narrow ridge) to the second peak. There we had stunning views over scree, to lakes Alton, Dunlewey, and Nacung with a magnificent backdrop of mountains and coast.
We retraced our steps quickly because an icy wind was blowing. Looking down on the bog, the trails were more clearly defined, so we reached the car with dry feet.
The rest of the day was spent exploring Glenveagh Castle and its lovely gardens on the edge of lough Beagh.( lake of the Birch)
From here we headed East to the Causeway Coast in the extreme north. A coast of high cliffs, ruined castles, and spectacular coastal scenery.
We visited Downhill Demesne an 18th century mansion, and Mussenden temple, (modelled on the temple of Vesta in Italy) . Within the grounds were beautiful cliff top walks, with amazing views right along the coast. We explored Dunluce Castle, built in the 13th century, looked through Bushmills Distillery, found the tiniest church in Ireland, and finally reached the ‘Giants Causeway’
Here legend has it, that 40,000 hexagonal columns were built by the Irish giant, Finn McCool, during his attempt to build a bridge to Scotland. In actual fact they were a result of volcanic activity. We spent an interesting hour climbing over the rocks, and marvelling at ‘The Organ’ (a stack of vertical columns) and ’The Giants Eyes,’ two sockets, where huge boulders have fallen out of the rock face.
We stopped at Ballintoy, a picturesque little harbour, where the tea-room is famous for its muffins, before venturing onto Carrick a Rede Rope bridge. Here a 45 minute walk
takes you to a narrow swing bridge spanning a chasm between the mainland cliffs and Carrick a Rede Island. It was a truly beautiful piece of coast .
A short drive took us to ‘The Glens of Antrim” where nine glens radiate from the Antrim Plateau down to the east coast. We spent a morning wandering along a pretty mossy path bordered with ferns, in Glenariff - the Queen of the Glens - The Glenariff River cascades down in a series of spectacular waterfalls ,and pools, 22 within 1km.
Continuing down the Antrim coast, we took a ferry from Portaferry