Barry’s Blog
Importance of Connecting with Nature
Are we and our kids spending too much time indoors? I think the answer is clear. While today's electronic devices bring many great advantages of connectivity and learning, they are contributing to a serious diminishing of our connection with the outdoors. There can be...
Ox Mountains Ramble – Doomore to Crockavreen, a Sligo Slog
Ox Mountains Ramble - Doomore to Crockavreen What a slog that was. Having consulted Bing Maps online and my OSI 1:50,000 Sheet 24, I reckoned this eastern Ox Mountains ramble would take me maybe 5 hours. After all, the successive points to be hiked would be only 272...
Mweelrea – Hiking Mayo’s Magical Mountain
Mweelrea Connacht's highest mountain, Mweelrea offers a great day's hiking. Please note that I no longer lead groups up mountains. If you'd like to have a guide bring you up Mweelrea, or any other mountain, please search for another provider. The finest mountain in...
Hiking Inishturk – The Most Beautiful of Mayo Islands
On the boat out from Roonagh to go hiking Inishturk, I just can't stop muttering it to myself. Every time I visit this wonderful little island, I'm visited by the sweet opening verse from Nancy Spain, the popular ballad most famously sung by Christy Moore, "Of all the...
Bellacorick Bog Loop
Bellacorick Bog Loop - 13kms of flat, easy walking While the first and last 1km is uninspiring, passing along a stony track shared by times with heavy machinery involved in the installation of a new wind farm, the recently designated Bellacorick Bog Loop both...
Enjoy 90 Seconds of a Windy Lough Adanacleeveen
Lough Adanacleeveen is a very lovely corrie lake below Slieve Carr, the highest peak in the Nephin Beg mountains of Mayo. Get your hiking boots on some day and wander up to this very remote part of these mountains. Just pick a rock, sit down, switch off and take it...
Review : Wild Nephin Map from EastWest Mapping
2015 saw the publication of its Wild Nephin Map by EastWest Mapping, employing a 1:25,000 scale to give greater detail than the 1:50,000 scale of OSI's Discovery Series. So as a Christmas present to myself, I went out and bought it here in the Castle Book Shop (now...
Wildlife Tour Poland 2015 – Trip Report
What a great week we had on our Wildlife Tour Poland during May. Wow, how time flies and I only writing up my report now! For me, the highlight was unquestionably on the double. First, we had Marsh Harriers passing food while flying above a little rushy marshland....
Exposing the “Wild Nephin” Charade
Wild Nephin, states Coillte, would "involve taking 4,400 hectares out of ... commercial forest operation and rewilding this land, improving habitat and landscape quality over a 15 year period. The eventual intention ... protecting a landscape of scale with functioning...
Round Towers of County Mayo
Of the 60-odd Irish round towers remaining, in various states of repair, 5 are to be found in County Mayo. Round towers are believed to have been built around the 8th to 12th Centuries and were most probably bell towers associated with the church that would have stood...
Farbreiga – A Hill with a Strange Name
Sixteen km north of Castlebar stands the modest but pleasant hill of Farbreiga. Though only reaching 395m high, a hike up this oddly-named hill offers wonderful views in all directions, especially eastwards over Loughs Conn and Cullin - two of our great western lakes....
Maumturks & Bens Weekend
Join our small group hiking the Maumturk and Twelve Bens mountains of Connemara this May bank holiday weekend. The Inagh Valley in Connemara is a wonderful spot for hiking, with the Maumturk mountains to one side and the Twelve Bens to the other. Beautiful Lough Inagh...
North Mayo Cliffs with Ravens and Choughs
Walking the spectacular North Mayo cliffs is an exhilarating but tough 2-day hike. From the tiny village of Belderg, heading west, this is an area you will have all to yourself. Apart, that is, from the entertaining Ravens and Choughs. The cliffs around here are just...
And so to Winter …
I must admit that I've no problem with winter. In fact, I'm a fan. I kind of think it suits a place like the West of Ireland. Rather than grumble about the summer showers (of which, by the way, there were precious few during 2014), the rain of wintertime just feels...
Poland Birdwatching & Wildlife Tour during May
I'm delighted to announce my Poland Birdwatching & Wildlife Tour, for May 2021, to the truly magnificent National Parks of Biebrza and Bialowieza, in eastern Poland. Provisional Dates : May 2023 (dependent on flight schedules, as yet unannounced)Price : Euro 895...
Often, It’s the Simple Pleasures…
While we all love to view the spectacular sights and experience the wonderful places, often it's the simple pleasures that we enjoy the most. Like sitting on a rock, in silence, and watching the seals go about their daily routines. Or sharing a forest track with a...
Autumn in the West
I've always loved autumn. As is my wont when I have a bit of spare time, I recently went to a wood I know near Lough Key Forest Park to look for some deer. The last time I had been really lucky, spotting four female Fallow Deer. That was back in summer. They were...
Aasleagh Falls to Drummin Village
Aasleagh Falls is a tiny but celebrated waterfall at the head of the Killary, Ireland's only true fjord, in south County Mayo. The very beautiful Erriff River tumbles down the couple of metres, before babbling over rocks and into the sea just beyond. Come to Aasleagh...
St Kevins Way in Wicklow
St Kevins Way in Wicklow was the target as I left Mayo in the dead of night recently. A supposed pilgrim's path, St Kevins Way travels some 25 km from Hollywood in the east of the county, over the Wicklow Gap and down into Glendalough, the great monastic city of the...
Corraun Peninsula – Between Island and Mainland
Corraun is kept attached to the Irish mainland by rocky boggy land to its east, barely 800 m wide. Off its western shore, meanwhile, a channel just 150 m wide holds Achill Island at bay. The Corraun peninsula, 99% surrounded by water, may as well be an island in its...
Bangor Erris to Slieve Carr
Rather than simply moving along The Bangor Trail and then veering left, while out for a hike last week, I decided to leave the village of Bangor Erris, cross over the modest summits of Knocklettercuss and Maumykelly and head for the peak of wonderful Slieve Carr...
Hedge Life at our Mayo Home
Our hedge gives us great joy, especially during spring and early summer. As much as I’d love to live out in the wilds of Mayo, maybe under a mountain or by a lake, with a wooded area nearby, unfortunately this isn’t the case. At my semi-urban home, the hedge...
Raftery the Poet | Raifteirí an File
Raftery the Poet, of 19th Century Mayo, was blind from childhood and spent his life playing tunes on the fiddle, creating and singing songs as he wandered the West of Ireland. Born in Killeden, near Kiltimagh in east Co. Mayo, around 1779, Raftery would lead a nomadic...
Fáilte Ireland Video for the Wild Atlantic Way
View the Fáilte Ireland video promoting the newly designated Wild Atlantic Way - a 2,500 km touring route down the west coast of Ireland. You can also read my blogpost about the Wild Atlantic Way. To discover some of this amazing coastline on foot, in Mayo and...
Towerhill – A Ruined Mayo Mansion
Built by Isidore Blake at the end of the 18th Century, Towerhill was a very fine “Big House” near Carnacon in south Mayo. Standing 6 bays wide and 3 bays deep over basement, the house was reputedly built on the site of an old burial ground and church dedicated to St....
Wild Nephin – Wilderness or Wasteland ?
Wild Nephin is the title given to Coillte’s project to 'rewild' a large area of blanket bog and plantation forest to the east of the Nephin Beg Mountains of northwest Mayo. The State-owned forestry company aims to 'create' Ireland’s first wilderness over the next 10 –...
Corrannabinnia
I like Corrannabinnia very much. Let’s make that clear from the start. Please note that I no longer lead groups up mountains. If you'd like to have a guide bring you up Corrannabinnia, or any other mountain, please search for another provider. At 714 m and the second...
Mám Éan
A strange little place in the middle of nowhere, Mám Éan can be reached from three different directions. I chose to ascend from Maam (not to be confused with Maam Cross). To be honest, the word ‘ascend’ is inappropriate here, as the destination stands at a mere 260 m...
Wild Atlantic Way
“What do you think of it yourself?”, says I. Sitting enjoying a pint of the black stuff in McDonnell’s pub in Béal an Mhuirthead (Belmullet, Co. Mayo), we were chatting about the sheer scale of the Wild Atlantic Way. “Tis a fierce drive alright”, says Pat, bending...
Belderg by Séamus Heaney
Belderg (aka Belderrig) is a tiny village on the bogs of the north Mayo coast, some 42 km NW of Ballina and 34 km NE of Béal an Mhuirthead. From the Irish Béal Dearg, the red mouth, Belderg is known for the wonderful archaeological work done in uncovering prehistoric...
Connacht
Ireland's western province, Connacht, holds an especially intriguing place in the national self-perception. Far from the seat of power and the more densely populated Leinster, Connacht is a little-understood part of our country. As far back as the first millenium,...
Sheeffry Hills – A South Mayo Hillwalking Treat
The Sheeffry Hills may not come to mind when planning a day’s hillwalking in the West of Ireland. Yet they should certainly be considered. Please note that I do not lead groups up mountains. If you’d like to have a guide bring you up The Sheeffrys, or any other...
Spring Gentian – Wildflower of Limestone Landscapes
As we left the stump of the once impressive round tower behind and began our gentle climb towards Teampall Bheanáin above, we came upon several little groups of the gorgeous Spring Gentian. A flower of the Burren, its Aran Island outposts and a few sites in north...
Wildflowers Delayed due to Cold
Out for a woodland walk at the weekend, I noticed how delayed the arrival of seasonal wildflowers has been. The very cold spring (even last night, temperatures around the country were barely 1 to 4C) has resulted in few wildflowers in bloom to enjoy. Here are some...
Loop Walks – A Vision for the Mullet Peninsula
The very remote Mullet Peninsula in northwest Mayo already boasts a few short loop walks. Measuring around 25 km from north (at the Erris Head loop walk) to south (Blacksod) and a maximum of 14 km from west (Annagh Head) to east (Ballyglass), the Mullet is...
Cong Lakes Walking Weekend 2013
Join our group for this fantastic guided walking weekend in May. Taking place over the May bank holiday weekend, from May 3 through 6, Cong Lakes Walking Weekend is one of the top walking weekends the West of Ireland has to offer. Walking is graded easy on two of the...
Clare Island
The old lighthouse at its northern tip was our target during a day trip over to Clare Island in late summer. A beautiful day welcomed us to the pier at Roonagh, itself a lovely spot. Had we been a little earlier arriving, with some time to spare, we could have walked...
Twelve Bens – Walking the Gleninagh Circuit
What I like about the Twelve Bens is that lots of them boast proper conical or pointed peaks. Moreover, most of them are rocky on top. Coming from Mayo and our almost universally turf-topped mountains, they make for a nice change. This earlier post names which Mayo...
Inishbofin
I had wanted to visit Inishbofin during winter and so, last week, took the ferry out from Cleggan. As it was February, there were only 9 of us on board. As the days are still short, I wasted no time. I threw my bag into The Beach B&B and headed straight for the...
Achill Island Walking Weekend 2014
Join us for our Achill Island Walking Weekend, from October 3rd to 5th, 2014. Our small group will be based at Keel village, from where we can discover the best of the island on foot, with no need for long transfers from our B&B. Our walking weekend will take us...
Hiking Boots – What You Need on Walking Tours in Ireland
Hiking boots – you cannot overestimate the importance of a good pair for West of Ireland conditions. By the end of 2011 it was time to change mine. The old pair had served me well, been through a lot and was beginning to come apart. So off I went during the winter...
Knockma Wood, Galway
Looking for a place to go walking with the kids at the start of this new year, we crossed the border into Galway. Knockma Wood is small, but very nice indeed, comprised mainly of Oak, Ash, Hazel and other broadleaf trees. The wood occupies a low hill in the...
Mayo Mountains – How Many are There ?
While Ireland's mountains are modest on a European scale, Mayo mountains are modest even in the national context. They are, nonetheless, wonderful for one characteristic at least - the fabulous ocean or lake views they afford the hiker. Please note that I no longer...
Glinsk – Walking the North Mayo Coastline
Glinsk on the North Mayo Coastline Walking the little hill of Glinsk in North Mayo is fabulous. This is, after all, one of the least populated parts of Ireland. Sure, there are settlements, like the large town of Ballina and several smaller towns and villages, such as...
Lough Avoher – What’s in a Name ?
To the south of Nephin Beg mountain and just east of The Bangor Trail (though barely visible from it and missed by many walkers, I would guess) lies the small Lough Avoher. You might think I should have added “and irrelevant” to my description. This is not a Lough...
Camaraderie on Walking Tours
My walking tours in Mayo are about enjoying the beautiful coastal, lakeshore or woodland landscapes our county has to offer. And they're about the people we meet and share our time with - we all love great camaraderie on walking tours. Sitting in a quiet rural pub by...
Shared Rooms Only, is it Possible ?
I've been wondering about this for quite a while now. Could I offer a walking holiday with shared rooms only ? We've all heard about 'production orientation' versus 'customer orientation', right ? The former is where a business puts production values before customer...
I Love Bog Pools on Walking Holidays
Bog pools, large and small, dot the peat covered terrain of Mayo, from down in the valleys to the very top of our 700m+ mountains. I love them. They are a regular feature of our walking holidays and are especially evocative when you can see the sea from standing by...
Hillwalking on Achill Island
Achill Island, off Mayo's west coast, offers excellent hillwalking, with fantastic ocean views all around. First, however, let's get the bad stuff out of the way, so we can concentrate on what is magnificent about Achill. The island has suffered badly from the 'Celtic...
Ten Great Short Mayo Walks, Part Two
I want to share with you 10 beautiful, but short, Mayo walks. These are places to go for a short, easy stroll and admire the surroundings. Bring the kids. I've chosen 10 places that you can easily reach in your car or, preferably, on your bike. No need for hiking...
