Working, Living & Travelling In Ireland

Tag: South Galway

  • Bunakippaun Woodland Attyslany loop near Tubber

    Bunakippaun Woodland Attyslany loop near Tubber

    Welcome to my blog about working, living & Travelling in Ireland!

    Looking for inspiration for a beautiful walk in nature in South Galway/North Clare? Check out my below instructions for Bunakippaun Woodland Attyslany 5 km looped walk. The walk is right on the Galway/Clare border, you can say you were in both counties in the one day! 

    Click here to check out other Walk/Cycles I have mapped in the  South Galway/North Clare region.

    Looking for Gort Cycle Trails ? Check out my new website or join the GortCycleTrails FB Group. 

    Coilte Woodland Restoration Project

    This is one of the 9 project sites of Coilte, where Coilte is restoring Priority Woodland Habitats in Ireland, this is site number 2. Last year  I visited site number 7, CastleTaylor Woods , you can check out that walk here. Both sites fall under the heading of Woodland with Limestone and yew. More info on the Coilte Website here.

    Information board Bunakippaun Woodland Attyslany 

    Looking at the information board, it shows there are two looped walks that aren’t connected, however when we walked it, we didn’t see where the first loop ended and the second loop started, so we did one big loop ( and also got a little bit lost 🙂 on the way back.

    Detail Bunakippaun Woodland Attyslany
    Information about Bunakippaun Woodland Attyslany

    What does the Bunakippaun WoodlandAttyslany looped walk look like?

    ( I forgot to switch off the tracker so it shows as 8 km )

    Distance : Approximately 5 km

    Things to bring: Bring Snacks/Drinks so you can take a break when you get tired. There aren’t any benches, so bringing a small blanket will make it more comfortable to sit. Don’t forget to charge your phone before you head off, and tell someone where you are going if you are going on your own. Or better, bring a friend to enjoy this walk with!

    Footwear: I would recommend wearing hiking boots or sturdy shoes as the surface can be rough in places

    David in Attyslany Woods with two dogs
    David in Attyslany Woods with two dog

    Where to park at  Bunakippaun Attyslany Woodland 

    There are two places you can park a the Bunakippaun Attyslany Woodland. 

    You can park at the Tubber Tiger GAA Grounds , as the entrance to the Bunaukippaun  Woodland Attyslany is on a narrow road with no parking. It’s a short walk from the Tubber Tiger GAA Grounds to the entrance of the Bunakippaun Attyslany Woodland.

    Check out this map from Gort to Tubber GAA. I prefer to drive via Tubber village as the road is not as busy as the other roads. Interesting bit of information, Tubber village is right on the border of Co. Clare and Co. Galway, some people live in Co. Galway, others live in Co.Clare!

    Tubber GAA Car Park
    Tubber GAA Car Park

    Alternatively you can park on the opposite side of the looped walk, where there is plenty of parking. See Drive from Gort ( Via Kilmacduagh – be mindful for cyclists, the roads is narrow )

    As it happens the parking is right on the border of Co. Clare and Co. Galway ( see picture), The Burren Mountains behind me! There is apparently also a holy well ( I only saw this on the map as I was putting the blog article together)

    Attyslany Galway and Clare
    Attyslany Woods Carpark, both in Co. Galway and Co. Clare

    The area there ( and most of the surface of the walk in the forest) has recently been resurfaced, making it very suitable to walk it with a pram/buggy or even cycle it)

    Attyslany Woods recently resurfaced
    Attyslany Woods recently resurfaced

    The terrain at the Attyslany Woodland Walk

    We started from the Tubber side where the surface is walkable and relatively smooth, including some stones and tree trunks. 

    Attyslany windy forest trail
    Surface on the Tubber side Attyslany Woodlands
    Attyslany path into the Woodland
    Surface Attyslany Woodlands Tubber side

    At some point there is very steep downhill part, and until then I would have said you could walk it with a buggy ( with a bit of muscle power and determination). It’s pretty steep so don’t think it’s a good idea. ( picture of myself where there is sudden drop, the picture doesn’t do it justice). I was struggling on the way back, as it’s a steep hill!) Looking on Strava it’s a 6 meter drop!

    Attyslany Woodland Steep drop
    Steep drop behind me!

    A much better idea is to start your trip from the other side (Kilmacduagh Side), where the path/parking was recently resurfaced, allowing for easy navigation of the loop. You will just need to keep on the path, rather than heading for the Tubber entrance.  

    Hopefully they will add some signage as we got a little bit lost and ended walking the same road again ( for a while until our penny dropped that we had seen it before). It just meant we had some extra time to enjoy the tea in our flask and some very yummie donuts 🙂

    Kaleen eating a doughnut at Attyslany
    Eating a delicous doughnut with a cup of tea

    I loved this walk, it’s very peaceful and quiet, another great example of forest bathing, and lot’s of bird sounds, rural views, and depending on the time of the year, you’ll see flowers typical in the Burren, check out the fauna & Flora in the Burren.

    Attyslany Woodlands Flowers

    It’s a great way to unplug, enjoy nature, and recharge those batteries!

    If you liked reading this, why not share it with a friend, and let me know if you walked this!

    Katleen

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  • Cycling the #GortMiniGreenway

    Cycling the #GortMiniGreenway

    Hi all,

    Back in 2019 I cycled Gort’s Mini-Greenway with a friend so I thought that would be an ideal loop cycling the #GortMiniGreenway for #BikeWeek2021 . It’s a 9.2 km loop starting from the Gort Railway Station, via Glenbrack ( which I renamed the #GortMiniGreenway) into Coole Park and then return over the motorway bridge onto the main road, back into Gort. 

    If you like cycling for fun ( and love eating cake),  join my  Facebook Group Gort Cycle Trails 

    Using EventBrite to set up an event for #BikeWeek2021

    I messaged a few people with the registration link, put it onto Twitter and very quickly I had 26 reservations.  Towards the end, there were a few cancellations that were very quickly snapped up by others that were interested to join the Cycle. The one headache/concern I had was insurance for such an event. I recently joined Cyclist.ie which put me in contact with many more rural cycling initiatives, and the added perk of insurance…  so that part was covered. Definitely recommend using EventBrite so you know who has committed to coming.

    RSA & Galway Sports Partnership goodies  and Drink Bottles

    Thanks to the very efficient team at both RSA and Galway Sports Partnership they turned around my order super fast and I received a number of drawstring bags, high viz backpack covers,  safety straps, facemasks. All ready for cycling the #GortMiniGreenway !

    RSA High Viz Drawstring Bags
    Cyclists at the Gort Railway Station, Draw String bags against the wall

    I separately ordered Drink Bottles via Printon Galway. I highly recommend them as they got my order printed in time!

    Image of drink bottles that has Gort Cycle Trails printing on it
    Drink bottles for BikeWeek

    I’d love to see pictures in my Facebook Group of people using the #GortCyCleTrails bottles – please post them in the group!

    Additionally, I also got Wheely Lights for the kids! Did anyone succeed to actually install them? (Click on the image to order)

    Wheely Lights - click to order via Amazon
    Image Wheely Lights

    Hot Drinks and Bailey’s Chocolate Cake at Coole Park TeaRooms

    Part of the funding I received from Galway Sports partnership  for cycling the #GortMiniGreenway was for the participants to get treated to hot drinks and cake from the Coole Park Tea Rooms…  I pre-ordered for almost 40 people so there was no congestion — it all worked out perfectly. Big thank you to the Coole Park Tea Rooms for having it all perfectly organized and ready .

    Image of Chocolate Bailey's Cake Coole Park Tea Rooms

     

    #RailAndBike

    I decided I wanted to invite people to come to Gort by rail and pay for their Return Trip. I had added this as part of the funding, and 5 people came from Galway and 5 people came from Ennis! Check out the video I took as the Ennis Group arrived at the Gort Railway Station.

    As I was booking the tickets, I realized there were very limited spaces available to book Rail Tickets with bikes. Turns out that there is a maximum of 2 bikes that can be booked in on the train that comes from Limerick or Galway. Luckily they were all let on, but it does make me wonder if more people would use the train to get into Galway/Gort and bring a bike, if they can’t actually book their bike online, they may not choose that way to travel.

    Safety First

    Setting up an event requires you to ensure the participants are as safe as they can be, so I did a short safety talk, recorded by Lilya, who has been promoted to the chief photographer for Gort Cycle Trails. 

    Picture of Lily
    Image taken at the Gort River Walk

    Check out the safety talk here before we headed off cycling the #GortMiniGreenway 

     

    Thanks to my husband who drove the front car, and Karen O’Neill for driving the back car. Couldn’t have done it without your help!

    David and myself
    The hubby and myself
    Image of Karen O'Neill and Myself
    Karen O’Neill and myself
    Image of the Back Car for our cycle
    The Back Car following those cycling the #GortMiniGreenway 

    I am currently taking a Cycle Right course by Cycling Ireland to become a Qualified Safe Cycle Instructor and it’s thanks to this course I was able to talk about some basics, such as when and how to break, what to look for etc. There is more to cycling than meets the eye.

    Garda Help

    Setting up an event also requires you to do a risk analysis, so I cycled the route again to remind myself where there are risks, and there are quite a few. I contacted the Local Garda Station who were extremely helpful and provided us with our very own escort from the Gort Railway Station to just past the Roundabout. 

    Image of Garda Car
    Gort Garda helping us out to stop traffic at the roundabout

    Once we left Coole Park on our return journey, I rang the Garda to stop traffic so we could safely cross the main road back into Gort. Looking back this really made the cycle very enjoyable, the look of surprise on people’s faces as they saw a sea of people cycle on the streets of Gort was priceless.

    I had a dream

    I think it was when we were campaigning for #RedRoute5 I had this vision /dream of seeing a sea of people cycle in Gort. I hadn’t really given it much thought until I looked back on our way to the roundabout and saw…. A sea of people..

    picture of people cycling in Gort
    Sea of People on the streets of Gort on their way cycling the #GortMiniGreenway 

    Also looking back as we were cycling the #GortMiniGreenway, I saw a sea of people cycling and smiling

    Image of lot's of people cycling
    Happy people cycling the #GortMiniGreenway

    Call me sensitive, but I cried….. A dream came through when I least expected it.

    Videos taking during the Event.

    One of my favourite clips is this one where Amelia – 5 years old, heads up the whole group and we are just turning into the #GortMiniGreenway — the weather was on our side at that point:) 

    Here is a longer clip I created from the footage I took on my phone.

    Thanks also to Joe( Amelia’s dad) for taking this footage on his rear-facing camera whilst cycling the #GortMiniGreenway 

    Go Pro Footage from Gort to Coole Park cycling the #GortMiniGreenway 

    What’s next? 

    Well, I have been talking about the Woodford to Flagmount cycle quite a bit now, it’s 25 km one way, but it is not the easiest of cycles( read = hills). If you are interested to join this cycle, just fill in this form (if you haven’t already ) and I’ll be in touch when we will do this one ( very likely next year) 

    Another cycle on my radar is the newly opened Limerick Greenway. It’s 45 kms but it’s flat – so that’s the one I’d like to cycle first.. As it’s a Greenway, there is no need for Garda etc, making it quite a bit easier to organize it. All you need to bring is a bike  ( or rent one) and bring good humour.  I haven’t planned it yet. Register if you are interested to join this one – I do hope to get this done before the end of the year, the sooner the better… just need a semi-dry day for it:)

    Come say hello in the FaceBook Group or contact me here.

    Thanks all for coming & Thanks for sharing!

    Katleen

    #GortCycleTrails #SafeCycleTrails #BurrenLowlands 

     

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  • Mary’s Walk in Peterswell

    Mary’s Walk in Peterswell

    Hi all,

    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!

    Join my Facebook Group Gort Cycling Trails and let me know if you cycled or walked any of the trails, what you thought about them, and if there are other cycle trails that should be mapped in the #burrenlowlands 

    For a full list of #SafeCycleTrails  and maps I have mapped so far, click here

    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

    Image of Mary's walk in Peterswell

    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.

    Hope to see you at the Charity event in memory Of Mary which takes place on the 10th of November. Follow the Run for Mary Facebook Page here.

    Greetings from Peterswell,

    Katleen

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  • Homecoming Galway Seniors and the M17/M18 Cycle

    Homecoming Galway Seniors

    Well, well,  what I week, that’s all I can say! Unless you have been living under a rock( or maybe you live outside of Ireland and are not familiar with hurling), the all- Ireland Senior hurling championships took place last Sunday between Waterford and Galway and the Galway team won!!  

    It’s been 29 years since Galway won the  Liam MacCarthy cup , so there was plenty of reason for celebrations in and around Galway. A homecoming for the Galway Seniors was organized, starting at Pearse Stadium in Galway City, then onto Clarinbridge, Loughrea and a final stop at St-Thomas’s pitch. St-Thomas’s GAA club is the home club of David Burke ( the captain), so it really was a homecoming.

    As St-Thomas is so near to where I live, I went over to go and take a look. As you can see, I wasn’t alone! There was an amazing atmosphere, lot’s of people cheering and singing! When David Burke did his speech, you could hear a needle drop – to hear his speech go to 23 minutes into the video.

     

    It was one of the first times I experimented with a Facebook live event on my page workinglivingtravellinginireland, and 150 tuned into the video. Very quickly the video had a reach of 2000 people. At this point in time it has been viewed by well over 7000 people and has had a reach of 16000. It really is amazing what you can do with a mobile phone!

    The Great Western Motorway cycle on the M17/M18

    Today was also the Great Western Motorway cycle, offering cyclists a one-off opportunity to cycle the soon-to-be-opened M17/M18 Motorway that will connect Gort to Tuam. I was here in 2010 when the Gort to Crusheen bypass opened. At the time I was working in Shannon, which took about an hour on a very windy road and dangerous bends( I am sure some of you will remember the very dangerous bend at Crusheen). After the opening, this journey became significantly easier and shorter, getting me to Shannon in less than 45 minutes. By 2015, Directroute started works on the long awaited Gort to Tuam Motorway with an expected finish date of early 2018. The new motorway is just over 50 kilometers long, and will offer much needed traffic congestion relief for travellers, bypassing the main bottleneck of Clarinbridge in South Galway and Claregalway in North Galway to get to Galway city and also connecting with the M6 to Dublin. Here is map of the new motorway.

    Image of the Gort to Tuam Motorway from the http://www.directroutegorttotuam.ie website

    It’s been very exciting to see the works progress, new bridges being built and watching some YouTube video made me realize that this was not an easy job, with the vast amounts of limestone that needed to get blasted.  Here is just one of the videos I found on Youtube:

    The Motorway is due to open ahead of schedule on the 27th of September! We went over to the Gort side of the cycle and spoke with some cyclists and the ladies of the Gort Lions club. 

    It was very windy ( and relatively dry), I can’t say the same of the weather later in the day. 17 more days to go, and the Motorway will officially open!

    Blustery greetings from Galway,

    Katleen

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  • The National Broadband Plan(NBP)in Ireland

    The National Broadband Plan(NBP)in Ireland

    Broadband in Ireland

    As I am awaiting on  some of the small business interviews to be completed, I  thought I’d write a blog post on broadband in Ireland. In case you are reading this from afar, broadband is alive and well in Ireland, however the access to it and speed can be questionnable at times, as it all depends where you live, and specifically how far you are from the exchange.

    A bit of history about Broadband in Ireland

    As I was Googling about a telephone exchange, I came across information on the “first” Telephone exchange in Ireland, in an article( or maybe it’s book) called The Growth and Development of the Irish Telephone System* By A. J. LITTON, B E , B.Sc, M.I.E.E. (Read before the Society on December 15th, 1961) and thought it would be quite fitting to add this to the blog post. We have come a long way since:)

    Early development in Ireland The first telephone exchange in Ireland was opened in 1880 by the United Telephone Company on the top floor of Commercial Buildings in Dame Street with five subscribers. Initially a boy was employed to operate the switchboard, but finding time hanging on his hands, he adjourned to the court yard to play marbles, which led to his dismissal A lady operator, Miss Agnes Duggan, was then employed, and in July 1881 the staff consisted of a manager, three clerks, the lady operator and a handyman who served as fitter, electricians and linesman, he had as helper a boy who carried all the tools in a straw basket on his back The subscribers had grown to about 20 at this time, and as may be imagined, the switchboards were extremely primitive, subscribers were not 82 answered immediately when they called but had to wait patiently till the operator rang them back to ask their requirements. Continuous service was not thought of, the normal hours being from 9 a.m. to midnight.

    The National Broadband Plan ( NBP)

    ​I have heard about the National Broadband Plan (NBP), it  was published in August 2012. This is a Government wide initiative to deliver high speed broadband services (minimum speed of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload) to all businesses and households in Ireland. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and a State Intervention in those areas where commercial providers acting alone will not provide this essential service. It seems there is movement in this area now, as I spotted an update on Ciaran Cannon’s Facebook page

    Additional roll out High speed broadband Galway

    There was a discussion about the type that would be made available, so I had to dig a bit deeper in the terminology of Copper, Fibre , cabinet and premises!

    Fibre Broadband

    Fibre cable and copper Cable

    There are two ways, first one involves a fibre cable and a copper cable, but the fastest one is where it’s only fibre cable, giving you the fastest broadband. Below info and images were found on the website of http://www.thinkbroadband.com/guide/fibre-broadband.html

    Fibre to the cabinet (FTTC)

    Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) involves running fibre optic cables from the telephone exchange or distribution point to the street cabinets which then connect to a standard phone line to provide broadband.This is combined with a copper cable from the cabinet to the home or business which uses VDSL or similar technology that can deliver much faster speeds over shorter distances.

    FTTC Architecture

    Fibre to the home (FTTH)

    Fibre to the home / premises (FTTH or FTTP) Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP), also often referred to as Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) provides and end-to-end fibre optic connection the full distance from the exchange to the building and can deliver faster speeds than FTTC as there is no copper leg at all.

    FTTH Architecture

    Both images came from https://www.thinkbroadband.com/guides/fibre-fttc-ftth-broadband-guide

    What about broadband in South Galway?

    As I mentioned, I am located in South Galway, and to get internet access( apart from dial up) and wireless modem access, none of the Telecom companies service us, so it’s thanks to local operators such as Airwire and more recently Lightnet, we are having the privilege of internet access. We have been a long term  ( 10+ years client) of of Airwire, and I am extremely grateful they are around.  Airwire is running an ethernet switched core on top of MPLS. This allows for very low latency and we can offer hosted MPLS anywhere within the core network. We have dedicated base station gear to offer hosted MPLS to customers. The transport media for the network is fibre or fixed wireless. On top of that we run a dual-stacked IPv4/IPv6 network. Our topology allows that we can scale the network to deliver any amount of bandwidth if requested by the customer. We have already started to deliver native IPv6 to customers by default, so if they have switched it on (Linux, current versions of Windows and Mac OS X would have by default) and don’t have an incapable router between our CPE and their PC, they would actually be using it already. Practically this means we have an aerial on our roof connected to a router to give us access to signal. Apart from the annual storms in this area, we have reliable internet access!

    As some of you may remember, I used to run a business from home, followed by a 5 year stint working from home. Thanks to their services,opportunities opened up, I was able to set up a business from home, connect with customers and clients worldwide, something I could have not achieved without access to the internet. The opportunities are real if you have access to the internet!

    National Broadband Plan and your Eircode

    The National Broadband scheme uses your postal code to identify in which zone you are. For those visiting from abroad, postal codes are still quite new( and probably also a bit controversial) as we simply haven’t had them( at least not in the West). Every household has been given one now, or you can “claim” yours. To “find” yours, go to Eircode. Once you have figured out your postal code, enter it on the Interactive Map .

    There are 3 areas:

    • AMBER areas – which are the target areas for the State Intervention of the National Broadband Plan. The Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce has identified measures in the short term to improve broadband connectivity including in the Amber areas and work is underway to implement these measures.
    • BLUE areas – where commercial operators are delivering or have indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services. Operators are continuing to enhance their services in these areas to improve access to high-speed broadband and to increase speeds to meet consumer demand and customer requirements.   Please contact us at Broadband@DCCAE.gov.ie to let us know if you cannot get High-Speed Broadband from the providers in your area.
    • LIGHT BLUE areas – new areas where commercial operators have committed to concrete plans to deliver high-speed broadband in rural areas. The commercial rollout to these areas is primarily Fibre to the Home (FTTH). By 2018, all homes and businesses in these Light Blue areas can expect a significant improvement to their broadband services.

    So if you are in the blue area or the light blue area, you are ( pretty) close to getting access to high-speed broadband. If you are in the amber zone( which we are with 38 others in our townland) you’ll need to exercise more patience, but, rest assured that by 2020, we’ll have access to the high fibre access… plenty of time to buy a shovel to dig a channel from the kerb to your house 🙂 Check these out in case you are looking for a shovel( affiliate link)

    There is a FAQ that answers some of the questions, as the map has changed, why it has changed etc. For  Galway, check out this PDF, it lists each townland, in case you can’t quite find or remember your postal code. You’ll also notice that some townlands have a mixed area, meaning that some will have access much faster than other!

    Update National BroadPlan 2021

    Time has flown, and we are now July 2021 and there have been a few delays, Covid-19 still around, a fourth waving looming.  A lot of bad news, however.. some good news too.. I recently received an email that by latest March 2022, our house will have Fibre Optic Broadband. Hurray!

    Fibre Broadband by March 2022

    Sign up here to find out when your house (hopefully) will get connected to Fibre BroadBand.

    Katleen

     

     

     

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  • My new short commute into Galway from Oranmore!

    My new short commute into Galway from Oranmore!

    Hello all,

    As I am still working on a few small business interviews, I thought I’d write a blog post on the travelling part on this blog.

    Some of you readers may be looking at job opportunities in Galway City ( Go check out the Job Expo event, 11th of Feb)and deciding where to live, and may not be familiar with the traffic congestion in and around Galway. Gridlock in the city is not getting any better and may start to affect investment in Galway as this article suggests or workers choose to work elsewhere to spend more time with their families. Although I don’t quite see a resolution for the city gridlock at peak times, there are some positive developments for the bottlenecks south of the city.

    There is the long awaited motorway between Gort and Tuam, due to open as early as November this year, 3 months ahead of plan. I drive past the roadworks every day, and it’s starting to look like a motorway! And then there is the option to commute by train/bus if you are living south of Galway City.

    Gort to Tuam Motorway www.galwaybayfm.ie

    This motorway will allow traffic to flow freely from Gort onwards into Galway, bypassing the bottlenecks at Kilcolgan, Clarinbridge and Oranmore. ( If there is a sizable funeral in Clarinbridge you can add 1 hour to your journey, unless you know the dark backroads in that area). once complete, Gort will be + -30 minutes from Galway City, and just over 40 minutes from Shannon Airport.

    The Galway City Commute by Car

    So I started to work in Galway City in May ( I live just under 30 kms south of Galway, also known as the Burren Low Lands)and and was all excited about getting the train from Ardrahan into Galway.

    The morning trains worked out great ( leave 7:23 AM, arrive 8:10 AM), the evenings less so, as the first train that would work for me was at 5:50 PM, arrive 6:40 PM which was too long of day for me. So I resorted to drive into Galway by car and park (55 Euros a month), joining the thousands of other commuters. To avoid traffic in the mornings, I had to leave the house at 7 AM to hit Galway City at around 7:40 AM. The evenings were not so pleasant, even if I left the office at 4:30 PM I was never home before 6 PM. Christmas traffic was particularly heavy, some evenings my commute was more than 2 hours and a half…. I was not a happy camper.

    The Galway City commute by rail from Oranmore

    A colleague of mine mentioned that he was thinking of getting the train from Oranmore and that there were more regular trains. So I went to investigate what trains there were to Galway, and more particularly what trains there are from Galway to Oranmore as it was that part of my day that really was making me miserable. Check out the website called “Transport for Ireland” to get all transport options near you, I would recommend you take a look at the app, it’s quite good, and gives you  live options,options you may not have been aware of. Below is the most up to date timetable from Oranmore to Galway and back.

    Galway - Oranmore - Galway

    There is an Oranmore Special Fare – We have a special adult day return fare from Oranmore to Galway for €6 and a special child day return for €4. This is only available from Oranmore to Galway and not in the opposite direction (Info from Irishrail’s website). Best to check with your employer if they offer tickets under the taxsaver scheme.

    So now I leave the house at 7:30 AM, park my car( free so far) at the Railway station in Oranmore, and get the 8 O’clock train, getting me into Galway City at 8:10. The evenings are quicker( downhill?), leaving Galway city at 5:20 PM to be in Oranmore at 5:27 PM, getting me home around 6 PM. It really has made a difference for me, and every evening when I step on the train, I smile to myself, and think it’s the best #7minutecommute ever and grateful I am out of my previous commuter hell!

    Have a great weekend!

    Katleen

     

     

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  • We are blue we are white, we are dynamite

    We are blue we are white, we are dynamite

    We are blue we are white, we are dynamite

    Hello all,

    We waved 2015 farewell and welcomed 2016! My best wishes to you and yours for 2016! Congrats to those that are still sticking with their new year’s resolutions, commiseration to those that have already lapsed, oh well, you are still a good person:). I am back to work, and during breakfast my eldest son asked me if I knew the slogan of the Ardrahan hurlers, and I said I didn’t. He was very quick to remind me that it is: We are blue , we are white, we are dynamite! I choose the above title, as I thought it symbolizes the spirit of the people in this area. We tend to have storms in the winter, and this year we have been “treated” to a few too many ! I wrote about #Stormdesmond in a previous post  and since #stormdesmond we have had #stormeve and the most recent one was #stormfrank, and unfortunately #stormfrank was the drop that made the bucket overflow, quite literally, as many were forced to leave their houses and farms due to flooding. We are no strangers to flooding, as some areas (traditionally) get flooded, and you’ll see lakes that aren’t there during the summer.

    The floods of 2009

    The area of Labane/Peterswell/Kiltartan was badly affected by floods in 2009, and I will never forget the community spirit I saw in 2009. People were marooned in, kids couldn’t go to schools, animals were separated from their owners, and couldn’t be fed. I saw people get together, assist each other to bring food and supplies to those marooned in, offer tractor rides, and get together to pump water out of houses.

    Local vet being towed in a boat to see to some sick cattle
    Local vet being towed in a boat to see to some sick cattle in ’09

    It was one of the most frightening experiences I ever went through,  especially when the road that connects us with the main road was flooded and we were effectively marooned in. The road at Kiltartan was flooded and Gort was not passable. My husband wasn’t able to get to work, as all the main roads were flooded. Fast forward to 2016, and unfortunately the same is happening.

    South Galway Flooding 2015

    I took below video at the same place

    A local aerial photographer Sean Brady took following footage, to give you an idea of the extend of the flooding. Click on the next link  by Sean Brady Aerial Photography. on Monday, 28 December 2015 that shows the extensive flooding at Kiltartan.

    A number of dignitaries visited Labane/Ardrahan today, including the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins. Our youngest son was all set to meet him and get his signature, and his wish got fulfilled, and my husband was interviewed for the radio. Glad to see that some local politicians  Ciaran Cannon and Joe Byrne got together to dig a channel to ease some of the flooding in the Kiltartan area , so water can flow into the sea at Kinvara.

    It’s not over yet, and hopefully the rain will stay away,   the water can flow back to the sea or  evaporate and a strategy can be developed to deal with such disasters. If you are affected by  the floods, you can apply for emergency funds here ( no longer valid). If you would like to support those affected by the floods, you can donate to the Irish Red Cross here ( no longer valid)

    For my part, small business is always on my mind, and is the backbone of many communities in Ireland. Getting your business featured  to a greater public or talked about in local media/TV/Radio is difficult,  is hard to measure and is very costly.  I have decided to start talking to small business in the West of Ireland, listen to their stories , challenges and successes ,and hope that this will contribute to creating more awareness of what small business has to offer in the West of Ireland. if you are a small business in the West of Ireland, get in touch by emailing me katleen@workinglivingtravellinginireland.com.  It will be the best email you have sent in 2016:)

    Cheers, Katleen

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  • Garryland Wood Trail to Coole Park Co. Galway

    Garryland Wood Trail to Coole Park Co. Galway

    Hello Readers,

    Today was another beautiful day! We had some sunny days last week, which I thought was the end of our Indian summer, however today was certainly another of those beautiful days. It’s on these days that you drop everything and venture out and let your eyes catch the beautiful colours in nature around us.

    We regularly go to a nearby park called Coole Park, it’s a big park , with many trails, but from time to time I get a little bit bored, so today I thought we’d venture to Garryland. Garryland is to the side of Coole Park, but is not as well known, but definitely a trail to keep in mind.

    Check out the below map, as there are no signposts to Garryland Woods. It’s pity as it’s a lovely walk.

    Coming from Galway, get off the motorway at Ardrahan and continue driving to Labane and take a right. You’ll pass the national school on the left, the community hall and Bradley’s bar on the right.. It’s a long drive but eventually, you’ll see the car park on the left-hand side.

     
    The trail is 4.6 Kms long, and that will bring you to the carpark in Coole Park. We didn’t do the whole walk, as didn’t want to have to walk all the way back, so  we walked from the car park at Garryland to the fence where Garryland meets Coole Park and then turned back. All by all it took us 1 hour and 20 minutes.
     
    The house you see below in Garryland isn’t a cake shop ( if only), it’s  a bathouse, ie it houses bats. Check out this link to find out more details about the bats! 

    The trail is very well signposted, so you won’t get lost! I am enclosing some pictures I took whilst I did the walk! The surface of the trail is excellent for cycling, but the trail is a bit hilly at times, so if you are pushing a buggy, you’ll definately feel it in your legs!

     

    So if you are looking for a change of scenery, check out the Garryland Woods Trail in Co. Galway.

    Till the next time!
    Katleen

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