Skip to main content

Ballyhoura Walk

Image
By
                                                                                                                                                                       On Sunday 10 February the club outing was to the Ballyhoura Mountains. The Ballyhouras run for approx six miles east to west on the border of Cork and Limerick. The sky was pregnant with rain to the west, but to the east they looked clear. Arriving at the trailhead on the road to Ardpatrick, we parked up and put on our walking gear. There are good facilities here with a shop and toilets etc.  Mountain bikes can be hired out here from Trailriders.ie.  The largest network of mountain bike trails in Ireland are here. However the longest downhill run is nearer to home on Mount Hillary.
The morning was cold but dry so far. We set off at a lively gait, on a track heading south east,over looking the rich pastures of Ballyorgan. Across the valley the Victorian Castle Oliver could be seen.
With it’s 21 rooms and 12 bathrooms, it boasts the largest wine 🍷 cellar in Ireland, with approx 55,000 bottles...... It is open to the public from May to September....the House only,not the cellar.
It was here that Kim Kardashian (Whoever she is ) and Kanye West spent part of their honeymoon.
           
                                                                                                                                                               Crossing the public road we veered North West and up a steep track. Here we met some flurries of snow. Upwards we went and then came to the sleepers section, we were greeted with driving hail head on.  We rested in the lee of some rocks, before we began our final assault to the summit of Seefin at 528 meters.  Refresh we continued and reached the trig point of the highest point of the Ballyhouras. We had reasonably good views of the verdant plains of Cork and Limerick. A faint glimps of Mount Hillary could be seen in the distance. Seefin is thought to be an angalicised version of Sui Finn, Finns seat. He wouldn’t linger long here today because of the cutting breeze.
Photos taken we continued on to Castle Philip. From here it was all mostly downhill. There was a noticeable increase in temperature as we descended. Down then onto forest paths until we reached the car park.
                                                                                                                                                                      After changing, some had to leave for home, and more stopped for the tea / coffee and chat at the Gallery in Mallow. It was good to see such a large turnout, and great to see some new faces.....

                        “ I go to nature
                           to be soothed
                           and healed,
                           and to have
                            my senses
                          put in order “.................John Burroughs.

Labels:
Location: Jamestown, Co. Limerick, Ireland

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Claragh Loop

By
 The Claragh Loop is a great walk in North West Cork near Millstreet,   for our Club and our members it is not that far away and in some ways for us it is so close most people never bother doing it, thinking the far away fields are greener.  We use it as a Club Walk once a year but our members often use it go for a walk by themselves or in a small group regularly just to get out for a bit of fresh air or excercise.   To get there you go into Millstreet, turn down the road between Centra & the Church and travel out the Clara Rd. going past the turn off for the Mount Leader Industrial Estate for about a mile until you meet a Grotto and just beyond this you park on the right on the bend. If it is busy around here you may have to go back down to the Clara Rd. and walk back up,  You then proceed to walk up the small road on the town side of where you are after parking until you meet the entrance into the forest on your right . This is the start of the Claragh Loop.You then proceed up
Post a Comment
Read more

St. Finbars Pilgrim Route -Kealkill To Gougane Barra

By
On Sunday 8th April the club walk was the Kealkill to Gougane Barra section of the Saint Finbarr’s Way. After leaving town at 09.15 we made our way to Gougane Barra, where we had coffee and left a car with our change of clothes. We then continued to Kealkill to begin our walk. As it was Pilgrim Path week the car park was full so we had to park in the village. We started at Carriganass  ( Rock of the waterfall ) Castle. This castle was an outpost of Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare. After the battle of Kinsale in 1602, having lost control of his strongholds in Dunboy and Dursey. He led his band of 1000 followers past this castle in mid winter, on a tragic journey to Leitrim. Attacked by both Irish and English on the way only 35 arrived in Leitrim 14 days later. We continued up the road past the castle climbing all the way. After after a little Bantry Bay can be seen.  Two and a half kilometers later we leave the road crossing a stile on our left, climbing steeply towards Knockbreteen hi
Post a Comment
Read more

Cumeengeera Horseshoe

By
Now that my biro has dried out the blog can finally be written. On Saturday 15 Sept. the club had originally planned to do the Gougane Barra loop,however it was changed to the Cumeengeera Horseshoe route. This is in the rugged Beara peninsula bordering Cork and Kerry. We set off westwards towards Kenmare on a dry morning. Arriving in Kenmare we stopped for tea / coffee, before heading through Lauragh and to the start of the hike at Shronebirrane stone circle. This is at the head of Rabach’s glen.  Called after Cornelius “Rabach” o Sullivan. Rabach means violent in Irish and Con earned his nickname well. In 1800 he murdered a sailor who called to his door one bad stormy wet night looking for shelter. He later murdered a woman who had witnessed the crime and had threatened to inform the police. Eventually he was caught and hanged in Tralee Gaol in 1831.... We climbed the Horseshoe in an anti clockwise direction. The weather was excellent but the climb was a thigh burning slog to reach t
Post a Comment
Read more