Cloghane to Castlegregory 28 km

Today we went for a stroll on the beach. For seven hours. We have had enough of beach but there is more to come tomorrow.

From Cloghane we walked for about an hour on tarmac before reaching a vast expanse of sea and sky. Fermoyle Beach. Ireland’s longest walkable beach. 11 km to Fahamore. Along the landward side the beach was fringed by sand dunes covered in wiry marram grass. Above these was a backdrop of cloud topped mountains. Behind us was the bulk of Mt Brandon that we had crossed yesterday, also still covered in cloud. The sea had a small surf and very intense colours of green and blue. There were a few small streams to cross. Just large enough to be an entertaining obstacle to cross without getting your feet wet. There was a nice wind behind us so we had a gentle push to help us along.

Walking on the beach was easy. The sand was firm with few shells, stones or seaweed. We sometimes had to move up or down the beach to find the firmest path as even if you only sank 5 mm into the sand, it took a lot more energy. The beach seemed empty but over 2+ hours we saw a lot of activity. An elderly lady getting changed into a wet suit and going for a dip. Two guys windsurfing. A group of children with boogie boards overseen by a lifeguard. Three large horses out for a canter. The occasional dog walking its owner. At first there seemed to be nothing ahead of us but as we progressed a low finger of land seemed to rise out of the sea. This was a ‘tombolo’ stretching out from Castlegregory into the sea. This is a low finger of land made up of islands joined with bars built up from sand blown towards the shore.

This morning we had bought a “packed lunch” from the O’Connor’s Guesthouse. This consisted of a ham sandwich, a Kit Kat chocolate bar, a piece of fruit (Barbara an apple, Paul a pear) and a bottle of water. €6. We found some shelter from the wind and sun behind a block of concrete that was the end of a rainwater outlet and had a picnic.

Eventually we came to the end of the beach and reached the hamlet of Kilshannig. Here there were the ruins of an old church which had a seventh century slab in its graveyard, carved with the Greek letters chi-rho which symbolise Christ. We walked around the slightly higher ground of Kilshannig Point before dropping down onto another beach. This time only 2 km long. Well that was what the guide book said. We guessed it was more like 5 km long. But by now we were getting very tired and were having trouble even interpreting the notes. After yet another seemingly endless expanse of sand we eventually found the unmarked turn off to Castlegregory, and in the centre of the village came to Fitzgerald’s Pub. Our B & B is about a kilometre out of town so we decided to have an early dinner (vegetable soup followed by raspberry and apple crumble) so we wouldn’t have to come back.

Staggered to the B & B, another long but not too arduous day done. Our hostess, Maureen, welcomed us with a cup of tea and some fruit cake. All is good.