A yawn is a silent scream for coffee.

Creggs to Ballygar   

After a restless and rather cold night we are awake by 6am as
Sarah is bringing us our breakfast. She fusses as she enters the house. She insists we sit down so she can serve up porridge, tea and toast and heaps of fruit. I never eat this much for breakfast but I cannot be rude so sit and eat.  Our shoes have dried overnight as we left the kitchen heaters on and the house is nice and toasty warm. We hand over our accommodation fee only to have it handed back as Seán and Cáit have paid for our beds so we can donate our share of €66 to Cancer. A lovely gesture and a big surprise. Sarah has offered us a lift back to the walk in the village in her little truck with no back seat so Cáit, Sue and I squeeze in among all the farming gear, hay, no seatbelts and the windows darkened - something to do with commercial vehicles in Ireland. It is an interesting ride. She chatters all the way, no seatbelts so a little concerned with the driving but we manage to make it into the village safely – must admit I am relieved to be out of the car. She also hands us a small donation for the Cancer fund.

It is still early and rather cool as we set off through the park area, past the wooden well, over a small bridge and onto a laneway where we will start to trudge some serious boglands along the Suck Valley Way. I am glad we have some directions as we would never have attempted this section of today’s walk on our own, I can see no walkway, nothing except tall grassy weeds, flowering irises which appear to be growing in water and some bog trees. It is starting to rain as a large black cloud hovers over head so we look for shelter among the straggly trees. Sean informs us that it is just a passing cloud - never too sure if he is serious or pulling my leg but I know we are about to get wet and so early in the day. The yellow man has come into view so I feel  a little more confident - though not much more.

We will walk Mount Mary today. Stunning country, green fields and white bog cotton peat flower blowing in the breeze, past some ancient forests with a variety of ancient old trees crushed up close to each other, ferns, mushrooms and berries intertwined. The stone fences are covered in moss and a layer of barb wire on top, the canopy of trees above as we continue through the farmers’ fields making sure we shut all gates as we meander through grass high to our hips and mud to our ankles. Some of the walk has now been equipped with wooden planks which is great as the bog has us sinking up past where we want to get our feet wet. Sean takes the lead as we climb the stiles and drag ourselves across the electric fences and into the farmers’ fields. We know there are bulls and angry cows lurking, I am not sure how fast I could run or at times climb. As we trudge along we are constantly standing on a green flowering sponge, the small white and purple orchids flapping around our feet, we head up the side of the Mount and the views across the countryside are worth the pain and exhaustion of the climb. The thorny clumps of gorse not yet started to flower in this area. Black and white Dairy cattle have now replaced the black faced sheep on the green patch-worked hills.

“When O’Sullivan Beare reached Mount Mary, it was covered in a thick blanket of snow.  Up to this point, they had experienced no worse than cold, frosty clear days, but now the bitter cold became their greatest enemy. As he marched onwards from Mount Mary, many of his followers, weakened by hunger, were to die from exposure to the elements, while his soldiers and clansmen had been halved in number since the outset.”

As we get close to the top of the mount the terrain changes to pine forests and flatter country, time for a break and off with the boots. We are now walking in Aghrane Wood, a forest of pine trees ready to be cut and cultivated, pine logs stacked high and lying on the side of the lane and fields of ferns everywhere. We pass the communications towers on the top of the hill and now we start the walk back down the Mount but on the opposite side, the road is used by the Forestry Department so easy walking and the rain is back with us. We pass through more pine forests and more piles of cut pine logs. As we wander along we enter the grounds of an old English Estate with its tall established English trees, stone bridges, walled gardens and Castlekelly ruins dating back many centuries, the bog on one side of the walk and several picnic spots and forest walks along the way. Onto Ballygar, close to the Suck River, we continue about 2klms, up the long street to the market square and adjacent to the church and to our bed for the night. Sue has lost a screw from her sunglasses so she and Seán locate the chemist. It is the weekend and all the shops are closing early so reach the place just in time as they are locking up. Sue finds the screw set but also decides to purchase a cheap pair of sunglasses in case the screws do not fit but has trouble deciding on the style of the glasses. “Hurry and choose, the cows are not going to notice what they look like” says Seán which just sends us all into fits of laughter and the shop girls not sure what to make of these customers but they want us out of the shop so they can go home. We are now walking the Suck Valley way.

The accommodation “The coffee Drop” is situated above a coffee shop which suits Sue and I just fine - a latte at last. A sign that welcomed us – A yawn is a silent scream for coffee.

The rooms are very basic but all we need - a bed and a small shower and only €35. The church is across the road and as tomorrow is Sunday it should be an interesting morning. Sue and I decide on a coffee before we go anywhere and get ourselves organised for tomorrow’s long walk and some updates to the blog and diary. Across the road is St Mary’s church, built during the famine years and we stay to light some candles for the boys. The inside of the church is very light and bright with a most stunning white marble high altar and a couple of smaller side altars, the white confessional boxes with their deep purple curtains and stained glass windows. We decide on  Lounge and Bar for a meal and our first Bailey’s Coffee, then an early night. It has started to rain, not heavy but great for sleeping.

Today has been a short but exhausting walk of 15.7klms.