Company on Today's Trudge

Ballinlough to Creggs  

It has rained heavily all night which has kept us on edge as we have a big day ahead of us as well as meeting Seán and Cáit from Cavan who will be walking with us for a few days. Another Facebook contact. We have a quick breakfast of tea and toast as the kitchen now resembles the rest of the house, we just want to be gone even though our meeting time is 8am, surely, we can get a coffee in the village. I should know better by now about coffee shops.

We have a 30-minute walk to Kennedy’s at the White House Hotel on the edge of the village and the rain has started to come down heavy so further up the street we have seen Fitzpatrick’s Petrol Station where we know we can get some shelter. Of course it is not open for another hour.  It is cold and a chilly wind blowing so also need the beanie and gloves, I do not care what I look like as long as I am warm. Extra clothes are not working.

Sean and Cáit are on time, they are walkers we have not met before but lovely friendly people with the gift of the Irish talk, so feel we are about to have a memorable few days.  He is a lawyer and she is a teacher in a Gaelic speaking School. The rain has eased off a little, check the maps and off we go. Our first short stop is to test the yellow roadside drinking fountain. Sean shows us how it works and it will be the first of many of these colourful pumps we will see – some working and others used for floral arrangements.  The strange peat heaps have started to appear, these piles are quite high and several rows of them sitting waiting to dry out. Sean gives us an explanation and we also handle some. It is a lot lighter than I had expected.  We are now starting to walk on a busy road so single file and we must keep our wits about us as we head into Ballymoe. Not a large village, a pub and some shops so stop for our first rest, sandwiches and a glass of Guinness. We are now in Galway and the long haired donkeys are in the fields. They resemble lamas.

The remainder of the afternoon is on the Suck River Way, long but on grassy and bushy walks covered in ferns close to the walk, through the boglands, very wet and mushy but it appears that Seán and Cáit are used to this sort of walking, all very new to Sue and I. The white flower of the Bog Cotton or Common Grass is everywhere. We climb the wooden stiles with the Beware of the Bull visible signs and across the farmers’ fields. I wonder how fast I could run if a bull decided to look my way. The rich deep purple Northern Marsh Orchid is now starting to appear - a beautiful orchid.   We are now in the County of Roscommon and we see the first O’Sullivan Beara signs, about 120klms from the start of the walk. We stop for a cold tea and fruit sitting in the muddy bog fields. The black clouds are rolling in. It is so peaceful.

Onto Glinsk, a small village in County Galway between Creggs and Ballymoe and we take a 1.5klm detour up the hill to the Ballinakill Graveyard which houses the ruins of the church in the centre of the graves. Little remains of this Church except for the east wall and it is reputed to have been the first gothic Church in Connacht. On the inside of the South wall there is also a fine limestone effigy to a Norman Knight, he is dressed in armour with a helmet and sword.

We locate the elegant Glinsk Castle, a skeleton of its former glory, situated on a minor road South East of Ballymoe and about 4 klms from the village, reputedly the last castle built in the country. O’Sullivan was barred entrance to this Castle and so he continued north to Leitrim.

We wander around the Castle which sits on the edge of the road but entry inside is not permissible and the ruin is full of weeds and thistles. A change of socks as my feet are playing up and deciding they have had enough walking for the day – they are in for a big shock as we still have another 10klms to Creggs and our bed for the night. The last section of the days walk was hard. Sore feet, tired backs and quite hilly terrain all added to our exhaustion and discomfort.

When we finally reach Creggs we head to the pub which is the central place in most villages, shoes are taken off and a feed of fish and chips from the paper, it is now cold and raining. The best fish and chips I have had for a long while. We do not intend to rattle the Cancer tin while we are in Ireland but have been given some small donations from the drinkers in the pub. They are so friendly and interested in what we are doing and the reason why.

We settle for a short time until the owner of the Ploughman Lodge collects us; he has been baling hay and takes us to our bed for the night, a double story house and so inviting. We are exhausted as it has been a long day. Our legs are covered in a rash. The owner, Grandmother Sarah, drops in to make sure we are OK and settled for the night and to collect our breakfast orders. All she wants to do is chat and all we want to do is go to bed. This is country hospitality at its best.

The Ploughman’s Lodge is a two-storied farmhouse close to the main house, well set up for visitors and tourists, and only €66 per twin room. The heaters are on so a chance to dry out the shoes ready for tomorrow.

We have walked 35klms through some beautiful countryside and a great explanation of the Irish way of life.