Our last morning to walk on the St. Patrick Way. We had breakfast with Conor, another guest, who is a medical student at Belfast’s Queen’s University and is interning near Dundrum. Arlene fixed a wonderful Irish breakfast to get us started.
15.90 miles, threatening rain but it always misses us! 934 feet elevation gain. Temperature 53 degrees, humidity 86%.
Richard’s ReLive video is here: https://www.relive.com/view/v1vjPzVJoJ6
We head back toward the town of Dundrum, and back toward the Mourne Mountains. Arlene said these mountains are the best weather forecaster. It looks good today!
Today’s trail begins at the Dundrum Coastal path as we traverse the lowlying mudflats.
Dundrum is now visible on the other side of the bay. In the far right, the Dundrum Castle, built around 1177, is visible on the hill. We only viewed it from afar as it is closed on Monday.
St. John’s Point lighthouse is visible in the distance.
The Mourne are foretelling our weather: more clouds and possible showers.
For now, the weather is beautiful as we head toward Downpatrick. This area is dominated by ancient dunes and granite ridges called drumlins, reflecting the fluctuating sea levels history. Thus the town is named for the dunes.
We pass the Ballynoe stone circle, a State Care Monument. Excavated in the late 1930’s its purpose is still not fully understood.
It is over 33 meters in diameter and some stones are over 2 meters high. There is an oval, stone-edged earth mound inside the circle. It was built over an earlier stone cairn (man-made pile stones).
The burnt bones of an adult male were discovered in the cairn in a small stone grave called a cist. On the other end, burnt remains of two possibly female adults were discovered.
A few pottery fragments suggest that at least part of the monument dates to the Neolithic period (4000 BC). The presence of cremation burials and stone cists shows that the monument was probably Early Bronze Age (3000 BC).
The pathway out to the stone circle is lined with trees.
Trees and stones are decorated along the path. Are the fairies busy here?
A view of St. Patrick’s Church from the highway.
Dinner at the hotel with Klaus.
A last celebration with our pilgrim friends. (L-r) Richard, Johannes, Michel, Jan, Patrick, Klaus. Klaus will head to Belfast tomorrow morning, and the other three will travel and be home in the Frankfort area tomorrow night. Until we meet again!
4 Responses
So glad you didn’t have another day of rain! Bad part was the highways. Think that would make me very nervous. Wonder if earplugs would help?. Nice to have that last meal out with your walking friends. Hey looking at your calendar it seems like you only have about 5 more days of purposeful walks. Thanks for the pictures and dialogue. Really enjoy following your adventure.
Dan
Thanks for following us. Despite the highway noise, I think it’s important to hear what is around us. The drivers are careful, but we have to protect ourselves.
What an adventure you are on. Can’t believe you walked on that highway with all those cars whacking by, but you also saw some beautiful country too. I think the reunion group looks like a lot of fun. And you were the lady of honor too, Jan!
I didn’t realize the story behind Saint Patrick. Did you see parallels between Jesus and Saint Patrick?
Hope you have clear weather from here on out and continue to meet such interesting people! Wendy
I love the cadre of Pilgrims we have met. It’s nice to see groups of guys doing things together, but I’m also happy I got to join them.
I see similarities between St. Patrick and St. James, but I’ll have to think about similarities to Jesus’s life.
It’s never clear weather but we’re handling it.