Fiona O'Sullivan
Photography: Ita Lawton
19th August 2016
Friday afternoon. At 16.30 we meet at the usual spot Glenageary Dart Station. Led by Brendan, we will be 10 walkers in total. I am excited as it's my first away trip in Ireland with the Trekkers. Taking the N11 Billy drives us to Ferns, then we head inland to Kiltealy and on to the tiny village of Rathanna, Co. Carlow. We are in the middle of nowhere. The weather had closed in somewhat and Brendan, unbeknown to us, is busy thinking of an alternative to the planned climb along the ridge leading to Mount Leinster.
We are met on arrival by our host for the weekend Eric Osbourne. We are staying in a hostel but it is a rather luxurious hostel sleeping up to 12 people. We divide into groups - the women on one side and the men on the other while our leader is allocated the Queens room with a large double bed and ensuite facilities but no fear he very generously shares the ensuite with the group - to such an extent he at one stage has to queue for his own bathroom.
Brendan has organized that Melanie, a local woman, will prepare dinner for us both evenings. At 7pm she arrives with freshly made bread, a tasty chicken and leek pie with salad and Bakewell tart - dietary requirements beautifully catered for as well.
The pub is quaint Victorian and
belonged to Eric's grand aunt and
uncle, Marie and Harry, brother
and sister who spent their lives
here; they were cobblers,
blacksmiths, and operated the old
petrol pump outside the front
door. After Marie died, Eric, an
architect living in London came
back to open the bar for the annual
Pattern Mass in the village and the
rest is history. Eric now runs his
practice from a kiosk in the bar which used to be a bank that looks out
on to the main street. His bar is full of character- he sells boots, shirts,
caps, sunlight soap and many other
everyday essentials. He has a swanky
coffee machine, imports a fragrant coffee
from London and sells Melanie's
mouthwatering chocolate brownies.
Brendan is aware there is yellow weather warning for Saturday and chats with Eric about our walk. There have been three incidents in recent times on Mount Leinster when people have been airlifted or helped off the mountain. Like the good leader he is he has an alternative and will not take any risks.
It's not a late night!
The house is awake early all eager to get walking. A good breakfast with Eric's strong coffee, Anne and Dympna's homemade brown bread and fruit and yogurt is had by everyone as we prepared our picnic lunch. Flasks may have got mixed up but we are all ready for our taxi at lOam. Brendan has organized local farmer cum taxi driver Ter Kelly and his neighbour to pick us up and drop us at Kildavin a small village on the South Leinster Way. I discover that the taxi driver and I come from the same house in Ballymurphy as he proceeds to regale everyone with some murky family history!
We start at the edge of the village of Kildavin and walk along a country road as we look for the South Leinster Way. We are well wrapped up but the weather is not too bad. We have to be very vigilant looking for the directional signs as they are hidden behind overgrowth. We climb up through a forest path. There are many wind farms in the area but I am struck by the beautiful early autumnal colours and in particular the purple heather expanses that stretch out in front of us. We keep a brisk pace and Brendan has decided we will have an early lunch. At this stage we are sharing the forest track with cyclists who are on an endurance circuit - plenty of room for us all! We have lunch at two picnic tables where Dympna introduces us to the delight of Lidl milk chocolate and hazelnuts. Mt Leinster is very close but covered in cloud. Brendan points out the ridge leading to the top of the mountain from Ballycrystal where he has hoped we would walk from.
The wind picks up and the rain comes for a while. We reach the Nine Stones where there is a paved road to the summit of Mount Leinster. Brendan has mentioned the possibility of walking up the road to the summit. The visibility is not good so instead we head up Slieve Bawn 528m and as we do the clouds race across the sky, clearing the rain and revealing the top of Mt Leinster and the Black Stairs mountains - beautiful. There is a long 32 km summer walk of Mt Leinster and on to the Backstairs mountains, lots of talk about doing it at some stage.
As we head towards Tom Duff Hill there is a wonderful expanse of purple heather that stretches like a carpet below us. Our leaders encouraged by Ita lead us off piste and through the heather down to meet the road. We then walk for about an hour through the country roads back to the hostel. Signposting is not always good so we practice our map reading to find the shortest way home - guided by the Church of Rathanna. So we walked a total of 17.56Km.
Tonight we have Moussaka with a salad fresh from Melanie's garden and Gooseberry Pie with whipped cream. Back to the pub which is busy with locals. Eric has lots of old fashioned jars of sweets so we have drinks and sweets.
Some research on the Barrow
"The Barrow rises in the Slieve Bloom Mountains in the southern midlands, and flows to join its two 'sisters', the Nore and the Suir, before flowing into the Irish Sea at Checkpoint south of Waterford City.
The Barrow was made navigable in the eighteenth century by the insertion of short sections of canal along its course, and the 114km long Barrow Way follows surviving towpaths and riverside roads from the canal hamlet of Lowtown in County Kildare to the beautiful monastic site and village of St Mullins in south County Carlow. It is a peaceful route through a quiet sylvan landscape, with the constantly expanding river, growing more majestic every mile, for company.
Terrain consists mainly of grassy towpaths, tracks and quiet roads. The route is frequently punctuated with villages and towns, many of which were founded at fording places by the Normans soon after the invasion"
Sunday morning, we are all up bright and early again. No lunches to prepare today we are dining out after our walk. We pack up and leave all our belongings in the pub where Billy will pick them up later. Ter the taxi driver and my cousin (!) picks us up and brings us to River Barrow.
We start our walk at Ballytiglea lock north of Borris. Borris is the home place of the old Irish clan of the McMurrough Kavanagh. Our walk takes us through Graiguenamanagh, the "Grange of the Monks" . There is the beautiful restored Duiske Abbey which we don't have time to visit. The stretch from Graiguenamanagh to St Mullins is the most picturesque with beautiful woodland and a wide gracious stretch of water. The path is dotted with locks and lock houses. St Mullins is a religious settlement dating back to the 8th century and associated with St Moling. There is a fine example of a Norman motte and bailey (raised earthwork) fortification. We walk at a fair pace as lunch in the Muillichain Cafe beside the river beckons with delicious seafood and quiches followed by mouthwatering desserts. Hence to Dublin happy after a lovely weekend.
A big thank you to Brendan Bracken for all his research and excellent planning and to all my travelling companions; Anne Hayes, co leader, Gerry Fogarty, Ita Lawton, Gilbert Little, Shay Murran, Dermot Murray, Breda O'Hara and not least Dympna Thunder for a most enjoyable few days.