Belated Happy New Year! If this is the first time you are visiting my blog, I have started to document cycles and walks in and around the Burren Lowlands. so far I have documented Gort’s mini Greenway, Gort’s Golden Mile, Mary’s walk in Peterswell. This time I headed out to nearby Co. Clare to walk on the Flaggy Shore. If you like what you read, please share or why not follow me on Facebook.
Looking for a walk to clear your head, walk the 10 000 steps you had committed to in your new years resolution? Check out the below walk or cycle at the Flaggy Shore in Co. Clare
We are just back from a walk at the very popular Flaggy Shore in Co. Clare., bordering Co. Galway. To get to the Flaggy Shore, you’ll drive on the well established Wild Atlantic Way, passing through picturesque Kinvara.
When we were driving through Kinvara there were road resurfacing works going on. It just made me realize the roads are pretty narrow, especially with the tour buses. Drive carefully( and on the left!!)
The Flaggy Shore is one side of a small peninsula that stretches from the village of New Quay to Finvarra Point, and is one of the most northerly parts of County Clare. Famous for its limestone pavements and fossils that are embedded in the rock, including sculptured rocks along the shore called ‘Biokarst’. Backdrop of rising undulating landscape of the Burrin Hill. The shore itself is most beautiful but what makes the Flaggy Shore so distinctive is, wonderful the views to the west and north to Galway Bay and the mountains beyond.
It’s about an hour’s drive from Galway city, 90 minutes from Shannon airport and a 4 hour’s drive from Dublin. All I can say, it’s worth it!
It has been a while since we were here last, so it was great to see the new signs for the Wild Atlantic Way.
Wild Atlantic Way sign for the Flaggy Shore
We definitely weren’t alone there either, the car park was packed with cars, and plenty of people walking, kids on bikes, roller skates, it reminded me of walking the promenade in Salthill, only difference was that we were in Co. Clare! I am guessing it’s very busy in the summer months! ( We were there early January!)
Car Park at the Flaggy Shore
Lot’s of people walking!
Here is a few images I took as we walked from the Cark Park to just past the lake. As you can see the weather was just amazing, and we truly enjoyed the views and the sea air. Its’s always pretty windy there, so we were very grateful we brought hats, gloves and a scarf to keep us warm!
The Beach at the Flaggy Shore, Co. Clare, West of Ireland View over the Beach at the Flaggy Shore
View over the Atlantic at the Flaggy shore. If only you could smell the fresh sea air!!
As we walked we a saw a sign for Linnalla Ice cream parlour. Unfortunately, we turned back just a little too early, and didn’t get to sample their famous ice cream. To wet your appetite, check out his video ! There is always next time:)
We walked for about 2,5 kms, and turned back just after the lake. There was also a house that looked like it may have been a schoolhouse in a previous life. The Martello Tower was in view. Next time we are bringing the bikes !
Can’t wait to go again, with the bikes, explore the Martello tower and of course sample the Linnala Icecream.
A few years ago, I took part in a charity walk called “ Run for Mary” in Peterswell. As it happens, I live in Peterswell, but had never really explored that side of Peterswell( the actual village). It was an amazing walk and as the charity walk is coming up soon( click here for more info) I thought I’d walk it again, without the crowds. I have called the walk Mary’s walk, in memory of Mary.
The walk is just under 6 Kms, and it took me 1 hour and 10 minutes to walk it. Regardless of the time of year, wear a high Viz Jacket. Bring some snacks/drinks in case you get hungry or thirsty. And yes, it’s a looped walk!
So where is this walk?
Make your way to Peterswell, off the main road between Loughrea and Gort.
Here is a little map of the walk. ( If you are Runtastic User, click here
Park your car at the Community Center and walk toward the church.
One you are the church, look back to get a view over Peterswell.
View over Peterswell Village
This is a country road, so just be mindful of traffic.
As your walk progresses, you’ll pass many fields, and enjoy views over the countryside.
Keep walking, the road veers to the left , don’t take the road over the bridge.
At this point you are in a very rural location! I loved the view with all the leaves on the ground.
The road comes to an end, take the left turn. As you walk on that road, it’s a bit hilly, you’ll see hedgerows on the left.
There is a beautiful view from the top of the hill:)
Keep walking till you come to the end of the road. Take a right, as you are now back on the road that leads you to Peterswell.
My last post covered a little treasure in Gort, which I aptly called Gort’s Mini-Greenway. As it happens, this Greenway also connects to Gort’s Golden Mile, making it a loop.. Yes… I think many of you will take note, as who doesn’t like a looped walk/cycle ( followed by cake I hear you ask?).
So where is this loop?
So you follow the instructions from last time here. Instead of turning left to head to Coole Park( for cake: ) ) you turn right, and head over the bridge.
Out of a practical point of view. I would recommend you first do the Mini-Greenway, as most of it is downhill. However If you are looking to strengthen your quads, best do it anti-clockwise. ( Did you know your quads are your strongest muscles ?)
Once you come to the main road, cross it, and within a short distance you will see an arrow for the L85313 to your left
Arrow on the main Road
Arrow on the main Road
Arrow for L85313
Take that turn and as you walk down the hill your view will be like this!
L85313 Road ( view as coming from Kinincha)
Grazing cows L85313
As you walk on this road, you will see a sign for Gort’s Golden Mile!
Gort’s Golden Mile & connection with the mini-greenway
The road surface changes to a a dirt track. If you were on bikes you could cycle, but dismounting your bike for a short while may work better. This track is about a mile, and is beautiful as you can see from the pictures below.
Dirt TrackStone walls Gort’s Golden MileGort’s Golden MileGort’s Golden MileGort’s Golden Mile( view coming from Kinincha)Fields
As your walk progress you’ll come to the end of the road, with a beautiful thatched cottage on your left.
Thatched Cottage Kinincha Road
Stop for a moment and listen, you’ll hear the river flowing ahead of you. It’s currently NOT safe to descend to the river there, but there are (big) plans for a river walk in Gort.
Gort’s Golden Mile & the river in the back ground.
The only way to go is right, heading back to Gort, the river flowing to your left. This road is tarmacked.
As you walk on that road, you will find the Planning application for a Gas Bio Plant on your right. To find out more about this Bio Plant, check out a very detailed article on why the location of the proposed site is not suitable.
Site Notice Gort Bio Gas PlantProposed site for Bio Gas PlantProposed site for Bio Gas Plant
You’ll walk past access to farmland on your left, which , if you head that way, brings you to a fence .
If you venture passed the fence, make sure you close it, as cattle/horses are kept there from time to time, so be careful. Once in the field, if you head straight, you will see/hear the river. I was there not so long ago during a weekly walk of the Kinincha Road and I was taken by its beauty as you can see from the pictures below.
Track leading to Farm Gate
Anyway, back to the Kinincha Road:)
As I was doing the walk in September, there were blueberries, slow berries, Rosehip and so much more blooming, it was amazing.
You will see a plant on the left which I am guessing is some kind of a depot for salt( or something else – I have no idea) and further down the Waste Water recycling plant.
From then on, for a split moment, you are away from busy Gort and walking on a country road with country views!
Once you are the bottle banks, you are nearly back to where you started, the Lidl Car Park. Who knew:) You can then head into Gort for cake:)
You could also do a looped walk, starting at Lidl, go straight , take a left at the cottage, go straight, and when you come to the main road, take a left road( you are now on the old main road ) and head back to Gort( which is in fact the walk I did). I took some pictures on my way back to Gort, I particularly liked the horse that come over to say hello:). If you do the looped walk, it’s another way of getting your 10 000 steps. The looped walk is just under 5 kms.
Horse
As a side note, there is ( unfortunately) still a lot of dumping on the Kinincha Road, and I have passed on the pictures to the council. I am hopeful that, once the council installs proper CCTV, it will stop the dumping.
Did you know Gort has its very own greenway ? A friend of mine mentioned there is a safe way to cycle from Gort to Coole Park. This was totally new to me, and until then I had never known about it. So I set out to find out. I have called it Gort’s mini – greenway! Greenways are ever so popular these days, so I am hoping the title of this blog post will trigger enough curiosity for people to explore it. It’s mini, as it’s not very long, but it IS there, ready to be explored. So where is this mini – greenway???
Start of our trip
We met up at the Supervalue’s Carpark in Gort ( hello Karen!!), so we could easily unload our bikes.
We then headed for the roundabout , taking the slip road L85311, which runs parallel with the motorway.
Taking the exit L85311
There is a bit of bend in the road, and a steep descent. You’ll feel your bike picking up speed!
Karen going down the hill, the view is amazing.
The road then gets a bit bumpy and narrow and when you come to the end of the road, you take a right.. ( Taking a left isn’t really an option, as there is a fence).
As you take the right, you are on a gravel road, with fences on both sides.
Apart from a tractor, we didn’t come across any traffic.
At the end of the straight stretch, there is another bend, and then you come to a fork, you take a right.
As you cycle along you’ll pass a few houses and a ruin of an old house, it would be interesting to find out what this building once was. As you look at the ruin, you can see the bridge over the motorway to your right.
You are now on the road/avenue that leads to … Coole Park. You’ll see the new bridge over the motorway on your right.
Now all you need to do is cycle/walk to Coole Park. Head for the Tea rooms, I hear they are serving coffee/tea/cakes and lots of other goodies. Check out their Facebook page to their latest menu.
This Cycle/walk is just over 4 kms. from Gort to Coole Park.
Next time I’ll show you how this route connects with the Golden Mile in Gort…
This blogpost has been sitting in my draft section for over a year, so I thought it was high time I publish it!! Before diving in into writing my first blogpost on this blog 8 years ago, I have to tell you another story first to understand the context:)
In 1993 , I moved from Antwerp ( Belgium) to Dublin, met my now husband, and in 1996, we moved to Galway, lured by an interesting offer in a startup. It’s funny how this all went, as I had been applying for a number of jobs online, but in those days you didn’t really know where the job was you were applying for. One day I received a phone call, asking if I was still interested, and I had to ask where this job actually was. They told me it was in Galway. I had been to Galway once before, and all I could remember was that it rained – the whole time- so I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go to the place “where it was always raining”.. I took the train to Galway, and had my interview in the lobby of the then Great Southern hotel on Eyre Square, now the Meyrick hotel. I admit I had kind of forgotten about this “crucial” event in my life, and experienced this strong déjà vu when I was in the now( much fancier) lobby this ( actually last year’s )Christmas party at SmartBear. The circle was round!
Sadly, the start up I joined didn’t last very long, I lost my job, and I had to start afresh. All wasn’t lost, as I learnt a skill that would come to stand to me.
One of the founders was very keen for us to learn HTML, and tasked us to set up our own website to understand what is involved in running a website. I remember buying a book on HTML and found it all very fascinating. We could choose any subjects, but he reiterated it had to be something that we loved, or something we knew a lot about. I decided I would set up a website( blogs didn’t exist yet) on Angelfire, with resources about Ireland, and more specifically about finding a job. I started with the basics around transport, recruitment agencies, but there was also a “live” aspect about, in the sense that I had a running overview of all the job announcements as they came in. We got married in 1999 and just before our wedding, my website on Angelfire got hacked, and I lost all the content I had so carefully collected. The kids were born in 2004 and 2006, and it was Christmas day 2009, visiting our in laws in Northern Ireland, I resumed my writing, this time on Blogger and a few years later I moved to WordPress. I sort of added the topics again, but never really got back into it, and published various articles about my travels, holidays and of course jobs/job news.
Fast forward to today, 8 years later and it’s Christmas day 2017, I am still very interested in the job market in Galway! Back in September I set up a Facebookpage in September called Galwayjobconnector, to provide info about the opportunities there are in Galway. The part I enjoy most is the weekly newsletter I publish, to go over what’s happening on the job front, what companies are moving to Galway, what skills they are looking for etc. and publish/re publish free job bulletins. Having experienced first hand what it means to move to a new country/city, it’s my way of giving back to those who came after me, and have no idea where to start. I also have this idea of doing a weekly Facebook Live to showcase jobs, and we’ll see how that goes:) Follow my page if you want to get insights in the Galway job market!
As much as jobseekers get lost in the maze of information, employers are finding it harder and harder to find the right talent, so to marry the two sides, I am part of a team of people that set up Opentalent, to bring people from all backgrounds to Galway in April to interview with Galway companies that have open roles. And if that’s not enough, we are adding a brand new concept of job speed dating, where talent can meet with employers and have a conversation. Follow our Facebook page here to keep informed of what companies are taking part. Register your interest in the job speeddating here.
For now, I’d like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, and may 2018 be full of joy!
