A stay In Limerick city that yielded more hill wandering than could have been foreseen
27th November 2024After all the reports of walking in English moorland, it is not before time that some variety was added. In the spring of 2022, there was a hiking project around Marsden, but I will leave that until after a brace of accounts from Irish hill wandering episodes. The year can be summarised as being one with returns to the South Pennines, the Lake District, Scotland and, of course, Ireland.
The first of those Irish incursions took the form of a day trip in March. This was another confidence building measure following the pandemic’s arrival. First, there was a return to air travel. Things had not fully opened up at that stage, so airports were quiet, and face coverings were mandatory. Though low staffing in security meant a run to the outbound plane, things otherwise were pleasant. It was the gentler reintroduction that I needed.
Once in Dublin, airport ground public transportation was not at full strength and very busy. While mask wearing was suboptimal, there were no lasting after effects. Some personal business got done in Dublin’s city centre, freeing me up for a saunter around the city. That took in Phoenix Park, Stoneybatter and Stephen’s Green before I caught a coach back to the airport from the Custom House. That felt a bit tight, yet everything went smoothly. This day trip really moved things along for me and allowed me to contemplate a longer trip to Limerick.
Limerick Bound
After a two-year absence from Ireland during 2020 and 2021, my business affairs there needed attention. While I might have made the trip in 2021, I had remained fixed on the old pattern of staying at my usual place. This was no longer viable: the house’s hot water system had failed, and arranging lifts from pandemic-wary locals as a non-resident non-driver seemed unwise. The solution presented itself: a hotel stay in Limerick city with public transport access. Conveniently, a Local Link bus route passed near the old house anyway.
This was the scene that led to a week-long stay in Limerick city that included a weekend too, with some traipsing here and there around the place. My accommodation was on the banks of the River Shannon, so I got in a few circuits taking in both side of the river. It helped that there were landmarks like King John’s Castle and St. Mary’s Cathedral to make some ventures all the more interesting. Much of what you find by the side of Ireland’s longest river has been gentrified, making it more pleasant than was the case only decades ago. This now is a not unpretty place, though the old milk powder factory remains undeveloped and is due for civic regeneration.
Business affairs took me beyond the city limits to West Limerick. Along with property visits and another meeting, there was an opportunity to explore Adare as well as sample the part of the Limerick Greenway between Newcastle West and Ardagh. Otherwise, there was an impromptu sortie from the city centre along the Lough Derg Way that shadowed the banks of the River Shannon until I left that trail to traipse alongside the canal conveying water to Ardnacrusha power station. Seeing that staggered me on realising that this was a project completed in the first decade of the then newly independent Irish Free State. From there, I wound my way back to the city again during an enjoyable afternoon while other business was completed on my behalf further west.
Going East for a Day
Local wandering around the city and county of Limerick more likely whetted my appetite for long explorations instead of sating it. The initial prompt had been what I could see glistening in the sunshine from my hotel room once Tuesday’s drenching downpours had abated. Those sights had me checking out what was there on any maps. By Saturday, a design including a visit to the Clare Glens and an associated incursion into the Slieve Felim Hills had come together in my mind.
Handily, there was a bus service for getting me to Newport in Co. Tipperary and back again, though its infrequency timeboxed the outing. Traipsing along roads in the direction of Murroe, a place in Co. Limerick, got me to the Clare Glens, somewhere that I had not been for decades. Though compact, this is a pleasant spot and, if my recollection is sound, I had the place to myself too. The draw of the Slieve Felim Way and the Glenstal Looped Walk was too strong on a fine sunny day, so I did not dally.
Though much of the walking was on roads and good tracks, the footwear that I was using would not have been my first choice for this kind of thing. These Merrell trail shoes were meant for better wear than longer distance traipsing, yet they were well-made too and more than coped with what I was putting their way. However, the sight of a forestry firebreak may have made me wonder about getting to a summit while going around the Glenstal Loop, only for the choice of footwear to allow me to shelve the idea, even if forestry had been curtailing the views until then.
They later opened out for me on leaving the Slieve Felim Way, in any event. Though suffering from some haze, the sights of the surrounding rolling hills was what brought me, and I was not short-changed. While hiking along forestry tracks may be limiting in some ways, this was a good extension to what, before then, was limited exposure to Irish hill country. The heat of the day was on my mind as I followed track and roadway to return to Newport for the bus back to Limerick, the last of the day and one that I certainly did not want to miss. As often happens, I had time to spare before it came. Even so, it was better to end the outing that way.
A Day Around Killarney
After the preceding day’s perambulations around the Slieve Felim Hills, I embarked on a day outing to Killarney, one of Ireland’s iconic spots and a place that is well known to me from many family outings. However, there is something to be said to encountering a place in your own time without the constraints of group timing or others’ preferences. For example, I went for a stroll while there with my parents before a change of job, conscious of increasing impatience the longer I was away from them.
As familiar as anywhere is, you nearly always can find a corner that is new to you. Knockreer Park was one of those that I happened upon through serendipity, only in this case because I made a beeline for Killarney’s cathedral before going anywhere else. My route through the place took me to Ross Castle while savouring any sights in the morning sunshine along the way.
Since Ross Castle is one of Ireland’s iconic antiquities, I just had to make some photos of a place that I last encountered nearly two decades before. Luckily, it stayed sunny for this because the weather forecast was for cloudy skies during the afternoon. While I was hoping that the sun would stay, the forecast sadly held true. Thus, dullness took over on the way to and through Muckross. Even so, the prospect of circling Muckross Lake was too good to leave, putting to rights a partial encounter from years before. The sights appealed to me, adding to the sadness of having clouded skies. A return would be in order; there have been a few since then.
The way to Killarney involved a ride on an express coach, yet a sense of disappointment sent me back by train, with changes in Mallow and Limerick Junction. More hill country was there to be glimpsed and checked out using a mobile mapping app. More sun was on offer, too, as I built up ideas for future escapades.
Wandering Near Lough Derg
Some might see it as an act of mockery to experience sunshine after a day that clouded over to dent emotional steadiness. However, it also offered an opportunity to put any sense of disappointment behind me. Thus, I ventured north to Killaloe to make use of what had come my way. This was a chance to earn some recompense.
Thus, I left Killaloe by following the East Clare Way after attending to a matter. The early morning quietude applied balm to the soul as I trod along rural roads; this was much appreciated. Tarmac was left after me near Feenlea only to find some soft ground and wet patches that were not ideal for the footwear that I had. Careful footwork got around this, and I began to gain some height.
Looking left sent my gaze towards Moylussa, Clare’s county top. That information was not in my mind on the day, so I left that top behind me to stand on Feenlea Mountain instead. That act was serendipitous; curiosity sent me following a trail that I saw a runner use. Below me lay the astonishing expanse of Lough Derg. That is what I recall above all else, for I never realised how large Irish lakes could be.
By now on the route of the Crag Wood Walk, I began my descent to the lakeside, all the while taking in the views as I went. On the Tipperary side of the lake lay the Arra Mountains and a tempting hiking prospect that would make more use of the Lough Derg Way. The skies were again filling with clouds as I went to and tarried around Rinnaman Point. However, these were not to bring any dulling of the spirit, for much satisfaction was coming my way.
Road walking was my lot on the way back to Killaloe. On the way, I encountered Béal Ború, another serendipitous discovery. More dallying resulted around this earthwork from times of antiquity; the naming connects to the Celtic king and champion against Scandinavian invaders, Brian Ború. Bus timings lured me across the Shannon from Killaloe and Clare to Ballina and Tipperary under skies that occasionally released sunshine. It struck me that many of the bridges across Ireland’s longest rivers are single track affairs, needing traffic lights in some places; a few had been encountered on my travels that day.
A Bequest of Inspiration
As I went back and forth between these different destinations, I began to note other possibilities for exploration, some of which have been used since then. While the Galtee Mountains remain unlisted, the same cannot be said for the Ballyhoura Mountains, the Knockmealdown Mountains or the Comeragh Mountains. Kerry has seen multiple visits, as has West Cork, a place well outside the range of all this freestyle Eastertide wandering.
That brought me a sense of liberation that I had not experienced in my own home country. There was something special about immersing myself in nature, surrounded by the beauty of the Irish countryside. As I savoured the hills and valleys, I felt grateful for the opportunity to experience this part of the world, and I could look forward to many more adventures exploring its secrets.
Travel Arrangements and Observations
The Dublin trip involved a return flight from Manchester with Aer Lingus and the use of Dublin Express route 782 for getting between the airport and the city centre. Train travel got me between Macclesfield and Manchester Airport.
Airports were still quiet at that stage, especially compared to today. Cork Airport felt like a ghost town, and I did not dally at Shannon Airport. The latter was used on the arrival from Manchester, while the former was used on the return. Both flights were with Ryanair, with train travel getting me to and from Manchester Airport.
Bus Éireann Expressway route 51 got me from Shannon Airport to Limerick city, while Bus Éireann Expressway routes 13 and 14, and Dublin Coach route 300, got between the city and West Limerick when needed. The latter also got me to Killarney; while the services of Iarnród Éireann got me back again. Local Link bus route 391 got me to and from Newport. Bus Éireann route 345 got me from Limerick to Killaloe while Bus Éireann route 323 got me from Ballina to Limerick. Both Iarnród Éireann and Bus Éireann conveyed me from Limerick to Cork Airport.
