Knocknarea-Killaspugbrone Traverse

When Erwin and I first visited Ireland in 2009, we spent most of our time along the west coast, but didn't make it any further north than Connemara.  County Sligo remained mysterious and alluring, and I have always wanted to come back to explore it.  Not knowing the area well, we mentally allocated time to Sligo on this trip, but not specifically for Sligo town (although we did go there) -- just for the entire region.  When it came time to secure lodging, we ended up booking at Strandhill, a little beach community nestled in the shadow of Knocknarea.  Along with Benbulben, Knocknarea is one of the most dominant and distinctive landforms in the area.  It is capped by an enormous mound of rocks, a Neolithic passage tomb thought to contain the remains of Meabh, the legendary Queen Maeve.  We already had Knocknarea on our radar as a possible hiking destination, and staying so close clinched those desires: there is a particular charm in walking out the door for the days adventure on foot.

It turns out we didn't do that exactly, but only because we got greedy.  See, there are two trails up Knocknarea, one from the south and one from the north, and we couldn't decide which approach to take.  They both looked pretty fantastic.  We asked an employee at our lodge, and she spoke enthusiastically about both routes.  Then Erwin had a flash of inspiration: we could take a taxi to the southern trailhead, hike up to Meabh's Cairn, and then hike down to the northern trailhead.  From there, we could pick up the purple-blazed route out to Killaspugbrone, the site of an old church thought to have been visited by St. Patrick in the 6th century.  From Killaspugbrone, the marked route follows trails along the beach back to Strandhill, where we could stop for dinner before walking back to the lodge.  What a perfect solution to our dilemma!  We avoided having to make a choice between two great trails, and got to make a short hike longer by tying in an additional historic site.   

the approach from the southern trailhead starts off gently enough

hart's-tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium)

I love that Frankie always wants to read the signs

The cairn is huge!  We spent quite a bit of time up on the summit, exploring the side paths to smaller satellite monuments and enjoying the impressive views.  My carefully framed pictures may suggest that it was deserted, but this is actually misleading.  If done as an out-and-back, this is a short, fairly easy hike, and there were quite a lot of people out enjoying themselves.  Unfortunately, some of the visitors ignored the abundant signage, and climbed up to the top of Meabh's Cairn.  Please don't do this!  This tomb was constructed circa 3400 B.C., and is of historic and cultural significance.  Climbing it is both destructive and incredibly disrespectful.  It's not OK. 

Finally, when we had viewed the cairn form every possible angle, we headed down the path to the north, toward the sea.  There was a fun section where the trail passed through a conifer plantation, and Coillte has recently installed a long boardwalk winding through the forest with more than 500 steps.  It was thoughtfully constructed with metal staples or nails of some sort that would prevent slips when the boards are wet, which must occur frequently.  Navigating narrow bridges of any kind is great fun, so we were pleased to have come this way, although Erwin did say he was glad we were descending the long stairs rather than ascending. 

At the bottom of the stairs, the trail emerges from the forest to a gorgeous viewpoint, and then follows gentle grades downhill along the edge of a field. 

Then the trail turns north and descends to the main road.  We stopped at the Spar for some lunch, which we ate around the side of the building before continuing down to the bay.  The tide had gone out while we were eating, leaving mostly firm sand that we of course had to investigate. 

This part of the trail is well marked with purple arrows, which lead along the bay past the little airport, and then through a narrow section of conifers out onto the sand dunes. 

This section was very interesting for me, with an abundance of moths and caterpillars.  The above shot was the last I saw of the boys for quite some time. 

yellow bedstraw (Galium vernum)

six-spot burnet (Zygaena filipendulae) nectaring on creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense)

cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) caterpillar feeding on common ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)

When I finally moved on to catch up with them, they weren't far ahead after all.  They'd waited down by the shore, enjoying the view across the Killaspugbrone. 

While we were exploring this dramatic scene, a couple came along with their dog, a big happy-go-lucky golden retriever.  Then something odd happened: they started down the little path in the grass (see photo below) amongst the gravestones, when all of a sudden the dog's demeanor changed completely.  It started whimpering, cowering against its humans legs, and then, moving low to the ground, tried to retreat, pulling strongly on its leash backwards the way they had come -- away from the burial grounds.  At first they tried coaxing the dog forward, but it just wasn't working.  The dog was terrified and wouldn't budge.  The owners were mystified; they'd never seen the dog behave this way before.  They got so freaked out that they turned around and left, convinced the dog had sensed something real.  We didn't get any weird feelings ourselves, but it was very interesting to observe. 

ominous clouds over Benbulben

From here it was a short walk back to the Strandhill village.  We started out along a sidewalk atop a concrete breakwater, but soon went down to the beach proper.  There is a popular surf school here and there were a lot of people in wet suits in the water.  We stopped for dinner and then ice cream before walking back to our lodge. 

MapMyRide tracked this outing as 7.2 miles with about 840 feet elevation gain.  This is a great hike, and a terrific way to explore more of the Strandhill area.  We were very pleased with our day.