Author Archives: admin

Clonmacnoise Monastery, County Offaly.

Clonmacnoise is a medieval monastery in a remote spot by the River Shannon. It was founded by St. Ciaran in 544 AD, and lays at a crossroads of medieval routes linking all parts of Ireland. Known for its scholarship and piety, it thrived from the 7th...

Holy Island, Lough Derg, County Clare.

We decided to take a few days driving back to Dublin. One of our stops was Holy Island on Lough Derg. On a previous Ireland trip we had been to see Station Island on the other Lough Derg in Donegal, known as St. Patrick’s Purgatory. So we thoug...

A walk up Carran from the cottage.

We have not climbed up Carran (2000ft) for a couple of years, so we decide to climb it via a different route and take in the summit of Knockantooreen too. It is a walk we can do from the cottage, as Carran is the mountain that looms over us. ...

Mizen Head

A drive via Bantry to Mizen Head, County Cork, to visit the Signal Station on a beautiful day. ...

Gleninchaquin Walk

Fellow bell ringers Anne and Keith had recommended a walk up to the waterfall at Gleninchaquin Park, County Kerry, which they did last September. I thought I had not been here before, but I recognised the waterfall from when we took Brendan’s M...

Ireland Cottage, Family And Other Animals

Our cottage in County Kerry is at Knockanhua, five miles down a single track lane from Kilgarvan and at an altitude of 850ft. It is at the end of the valley and very isolated. Brendan’s father grew up here. ...

Place Fell with Father John

Thursday was due to be a warm and sunny day, so John and I decided to do a walk up to Place Fell from Patterdale returning via the Ullswater Lakeside Path. The walk would be about eight and a half miles long, but on good paths and it would be gentler...

Pillar, Scoat Fell, Steeple and Red Pike with Father John

On Tuesday John and I returned to Wasdale to do the Mosedale Horseshoe, which comprises Pillar (2927ft), Scoat Fell (2760ft), Steeple (2687ft) and Red Pike (2707ft). Some people add Kirk Fell and Yewbarrow to either end of the walk, but not us. Ten m...

A Circuit of Ennerdale Water with Father John

The day after our walk up Great Gable, John and I decided to do an easy walk around Ennerdale Water from the Bowness Knott car park. The walk is about 7 miles long and should take about four hours. We intended to detour off the main track up to Angle...

Great Gable with Father John

Father John had never walked in Wasdale before, so we decided on a walk up to Great Gable. We had looked over to Great Gable from Green Gable last year, but never had the time to detour over to it. So this year we would devote a whole day to climbing...

Walking the Cumbrian Mountains

Jo Sweeney’s photo diary of Lake District Fell Walks