Rock balancing at Murlough Bay

 

 

After going our trip to Fair Head, Dan and I drove down the VERY steep hill to Murlough Bay, a really magical piece of secluded coastline. We wandered around in the sunshine, got eaten alive by bugs and Dan worked on his rock-balancing skills.

 

 

 

 

I got down to the serious business of trying to find the prettiest stones on the beach to take home for my collection.

 

 

Small adventures - Ards Peninsula

 

Can you believe it's September already? It has been a fun filled and unusually warm summer here but I felt the blues come over me last night as I realised that the evenings are beginning to get shorter now.

 

Danny and I jumped in the car when he got home from work yesterday so as to make the most of the few long evenings left to us. We drove ten miles out of Belfast to the Ards Peninsula, where I've spent a lot of time this summer as a tour guide.

 

 

Speaking of which, working as a Northern Ireland tour guide has been so much fun but has kept me busy which is why I took a bit of a break from blogging, but I'm back now with lots of photos to show you from all the weddings and adventures I've been on.

 

 

We caught the last rays of the setting sun before heading back to the big smoke of Belfast.

 

Summer Solstice at Kinnagoe

 

This weekend past saw a much-anticipated camping trip to Kinnagoe Bay in Donegal with a group of about 12 friends. We treked across the beach in the picture above and then climbed over to the second bay hidden behind the headland.

 

It was a bit of a mission by itself and then we had a 20 kilo tent and everything bar the kitchen sink to drag over there too. If I'd known how epic the walk would be I might have packed a little lighter but at least we were cosy in the bell tent. Poor Danny carried it.

 

 

We stayed up all night to see the solstice sunrise and larked about in the surf.

 

 

And the solstice eve gave way to a most beautiful longest day of the year.

 

Small adventures: the Antrim Coast Road

Above, the view from Carlough on the Antrim Coast Road.

 

My mum and I have started a course to become language tour guides in Northern Ireland and so far it has been an absolute pleasure. We spent Saturday afternoon on a coach travelling along the beautiful Antrim Coast Road, passing through villages like Glenarm, Carnlough, Ballycastle, travelling over the still snowy Antrim Plateau and visiting the famous Giant's Causeway, Bushmills Whiskey Distillery and Dunluce Castle.

 

I was lucky enough to get my obligatory 10 minutes tour-guiding on the microphone out of the way early on and without any major disasters. And then I was free to enjoy the scenery, the commentary and the free whiskey in the distillery at lunchtime which sweetened the journey no end!

 



Above, views down to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge with Sheep Island behind and below, Rathlin Island, Fair Head and the traditional raven watching over Dunluce Castle.

 

I can almost feel summer in the air.

Weird weather

 

 

This time last year this corner of Ireland was enjoying a freak heat wave. This year we have a freak snow fall, in March! Climate change deniers please take note.

 

Now I love the snow, but the sun gods really need to make an appearance soon; I'm still itching to get my new tent up!

Adventures in sacred Ireland: Nendrum

 

During a brief spell of sunshine last week Danny and I escaped the big bad city and found a little oasis of calm which I never even knew existed before, just 16 miles out of the city. I'm mapping out sacred Ireland for myself inch by inch.

 

On the edge of Strangford Lough lie a series of tiny islands connected by causeways and on the very last one, Mahee Island, sits Nendrum monastic site dating from the mid fifth century, when Christianity was beginning to flourish in Ireland under St. Patrick. This monastery was founded by an associate of his called Saint Mo Choí.

 

The monastery had its greatest days between the 7th and 10th Centuries and the ruins include a church, a round tower and a sundial all within enclosures of three concentric circles.

 

 

We brought the sunday papers with us and sat on the grass overlooking a bay full of yachts.

Ireland is real pretty when the sun's out.

 

shopping for twigs

 

Christmas is upon us once again. So Danny and I went out to the Cave Hill Forest near our house at the weekend to collect some branches, added a vase, some decorations and a random assortment of christmassy bits and bobs around it, including the obligatory animal skull. Merry Christmas y'all!

 

 

 

more small adventures in Ireland

 

My obsession with ancient Ireland continues unabated. Our latest jaunt brought us to Mountsandel Fort (above) in Coleraine, near my hometown. Mountsandel is the oldest known inhabited site in Ireland with finds dating from 7900BC and it perches high on a rather picturesque bend in the River Bann. 

 

Excavations have shown that the site was continually occupied throughout every period of settlement in Ireland,  in the Mesolithic and Late Neolithic; as a promontory fort in the Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age, as a motte in the 13th Century and as a fort, possibly an artillery emplacement, during the 1641 Rebellion.

 

Today it is largely forgotten about, bar the odd local out walking their dogs.

 

 

 

 

This is another really fascinating ancient earthwork which I'd never heard of until recently, despite being only about ten miles from my hometown - it blows my mind just how many remnants of our celtic ancestors there are scattered about this country, if you only know to look for them.

 

The earthworks are known as the Lissanduff Circles and take the form of two pairs of concentric rings (raths) dating from the early Bronze Age. The main rath would have been a large standard enclosure used as a fortified home for people and animals, these were built in defensive locations to offer maximum protection from raiders.

 

The farthest set of concentric banks are more intriguing, they are oval in shape and have a water spring at their centre. Archaeologists have discovered that non-porous clay was used to line the banks of the oval in order to create a deep pool of water, which would have been used for water rituals.

 

The raths (or the 'Dark Fort' as it is known locally) sit just behind the beautiful beach and sand dunes of Portballintrae. We visited on a particularly 'refreshing' day! 

 

 

 

And lastly, a small wander through Downhill Forest where we discovered that Autumn has well and truly set in round these parts and indeed winter doesn't feel too far off. Alas I fear my beautiful new bell tent that I recently bought may have to lie in storage until next year. 

 

 

Where have you been adventuring?