Sunday, May 27, 2018

Hiking in Northern Ireland

  In late April 2018 daughter Susan and I traveled to Northern Ireland to do some self-guided long-distance hiking along the Antrim Coast and Devil's Causeway.  This region of coastline is considered to be one of the most dramatic in all of Europe.  Our itinerary was arranged by Macs Adventure, a company I have used in the past.  They booked us into B & B accommodations during our 6-day hike and arranged for a luggage transport service to transport our large backpacks from one place to the next, so that all we needed to carry with us was a small backpack.
  We flew from Madison, WI to Chicago, and from there to Dublin.  At the Dublin airport we got a bus to Belfast.  Once in Belfast we got another bus to Ballymena, where we spent 2 hours before we got another bus to Cushendall, our final destination and where we began our hike.  We spent the next day exploring beautiful Glenariff Forest Park, then finally hiked back to Cushendall.  Glenariff was a lovely place, with forests and many trails, the most dramatic of which was the Waterfalls Trail.  We walked down an elaborate wooden walkway through a valley following the Glenariff River, encountering one waterfall after another.  The following day we hiked to the coastal town of Ballycastle, and the next day we took the ferry from Ballycastle to Rathlin Island, where we hiked to the lighthouse at the West End of the island.  There we saw large offshore rocks and rugged coastal cliffs festooned with many thousands of sea birds -- guillemots, terns, gulls, razorbills, and the bird that draws many tourists to the area -- puffins. The following day we hiked from Ballycastle to Ballintoy.  Before arriving in Ballintoy we walked across the popular Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. On the next day we hiked from Ballintoy along the Causeway Coast Way to the Giant's Causeway.  On this day we saw some dramatic coastal scenery and rock formations. On the final day of  our walk, we hiked from the Devil's Causeway to the lovely coastal town of Portstewart.  Except for one day of fierce winds and cold temperatures, the weather was wonderful and we only got rained on twice during short showers.
  Leaving our B & B in Portstewart we took a bus to Coleraine, and from there got on a train to Dublin, capital of the Republic of Ireland.  Once there we put away our British pounds and started using Euros.  We walked from the bus station to our lodging for 4 nights, the Gresham Hotel on O'Connell Street.  We traveled to Limerick to tour King John's Castle, then continued to Ireland's west coast to see the famous Cliffs of Moher.  We took the hop-on hop-off bus to explore Dublin, we saw a performance at the famous Abbey Theater, and had a tour of Butler's Chocolate Factory, where we got to decorate our own chocolate elephant.  In Dublin I had an opportunity to visit with my second cousin Linda Hawkins and her husband Mike, who accompanied us to the chocolate factory and to Kealy's for a pub lunch afterward, and Susan and I were able to rendezvous with Sister Majella, who joined us for tea at the Gresham.  I taught with Sr. Majella at St. Theresa's College in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1965-66, and it was nice to be able to see her again after so many years.
  Below are some photo's showing some of what we did and saw during our 73 mile hike along the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland, and our time in Dublin and the Irish Republic.

Beautiful Glenariff Forest Park

Waterfalls Trail at Glenariff Forest Park

Ess-na-Larach waterfall at Glenariff

Stream we passed on the way to Ballycastle

We followed the Moyle Way for much of our hike

The spectacular seabird-covered rocks and cliffs on Rathlin Island

West end of Rathlin Island

Approaching Carrick-a-Rede

Hiking over wet rocks cliffside on the way to wee hamlet of Portbradden

Ruins of Dunseverick Castle

Our brief encounter with rain along the Causeway Coast

Dramatic cliffs and rock formations at the Devil's Causeway

The dramatic Antrim Coast

Dunluce Castle

Portstewart, where we finished our 73 mile hike

Ireland's Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Sister Majella joins Susan and I for tea and scones at the Gresham Hotel, Dublin

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