Malahide - Howth

Not where we stayed last night but today's starting point - The Grand Hotel at Malahide.

A short jog through the village brought us to the beach and a chance to practice running in formation.  Flying ducks do this, so it must work.

This is called geriatric static.  The unfortunate situation, understood only by older men, where you don't attract the girl but you do have some success in attracting their hair.

Portmarnock Beach, with Howth ahead - simply beautiful.

We ran around Howth on a great coastal path. I'd never been along this route before but will definitely be back soon.  This is Bailey lighthouse.

Howth Head.  The place where Molly Bloom famously said 'yes' in Ulysses.
Our main concern was staying upright and trying to avoid falling off the cliffs when contemplating Joyce's text.

Balscadden House where WB Yeats lived.  Also visited by Bing Crosby and Phil Lynott. Thankfully not at the same time; it's hard to picture those two performing together after a few drinks.

The finish point for today at Howth village.  I'm off now on a short detour to America before our final arrival in Dublin on 26th May.

Skerries - Malahide

A solo 18 mile slog today, after leaving Bangor on the 06:05 train.
A combination of work, illness, weddings and my predictions of busy roads, managed to deter all the other usual pilgrims.  As it worked out, this turned out to be another great day on the coast.

Last time, we opted for a chip shop tour and missed out most of Skerries.  So, to comply with the rules, the first few miles for me were back into the village and around the coast.  

Skerries Harbour and the well-named "Graceful Morn"

I also found the Percy French memorial seat.  From here he looked North and composed the song: Mountains of Mourne.

 Back on the road, I passed the grave of Jack the Bachelor. Ireland used to be full of these guys; why is he special? 
Did he die a happy man? 

Then it was along the two beaches at Rush.  This is the nice northern one.....

..... and this is the even better southern beach.
Best I've encountered so far and a great place to be on a sunny day like today.

 Luxury yacht at Rush sailing 
club.








Leaving the beach, I took a small lane to avoid the main roads.  A good choice, apart from objections raised by local dogs.  It's funny how one dog barking sets off the dog at the next farm, and so on, until every dog for miles around knows that some idiot in shorts is approaching.

A slog along the busy main Belfast Road was followed by a great run into Malahide via the estuary road.  I've never been here before but it looks like a great place for runners to train.
I met two twitchers (bird watchers) who had just seen a Red Kite.  Must be a rare thing so close to Dublin city.

Dream house.  Another rare thing close to Dublin.  This was just outside Malahide.

Tired but happy,  18 miles done at Malahide beach.








Finally, lunch with the fastest OAP in town.  Pat Timmons is a former European 1500m medalist.  Warning to others .... he might join us for the final leg into Dublin - get training now.