Weekend up North

Sheep and a sign


The rugged landscape of the peninsula


Caitriona and I on Inishowen peninsula


Notice EIRE marked out in stone, this is from the time of the Second World War when the letters were to deter German bombers from targeting the neutral Republic.


Me on the edge of the Irish world! Next stop North Pole...


Caitriona, Blathnaid and their mum and dad. The two boys had unfortunately already left.

It had been far too long since I was up in Carandonagh, the home of the fabulous McEniry family; so last weekend myself and Caitriona headed up. Caitriona drove all the all the way there and back, and I am so impressed with both trips I had! On Friday night we stopped in Blathnaid's wonderful house in Letterkenny, where we sipped on red wine and gave into the exhaustion, hung up the dancing shoes and watched Pretty Woman.
The next morning we were served a breakfast fit for a king, but I must add that breakfast was at 11.45!! Back on the road, it was a short trip to our final destination on Ballyloskey Road. We were welcomed with open arms and the chatting and the slagging began (for you none Irish amongst my readers, slagging is what in Ireland for being cheeky to another person). Apparently, I have become more cheeky since my last visit! I make sure I visit more often so the same mistake is not made again - I have always been this cheeky!
Unfortunately the weather was more lie that of a dull winter's day, and aside from a short walk we remained safety indoors. Cards were the activity for the evening, where all accusations of cheating were quickly quashed...
The magic of the Inishowen peninsula is the fact that the most northerly point on the island of Ireland is located there. Malin Head is one of my favourite places in Ireland and on my second visit, it was not to disappoint. The wind was northerly and bitter, but the view was fantastic. An important point to add here is that one of the biggest weather stations in Ireland is located at in the village close to Malin Head, and Maurice McEniry, Caitriona's father, used to work in the weather station until his retirement a few years ago. Now some of you know of my deep regard for the weather people, in fact when I was a child home for the summer in Ireland I used to place myself directly in front of TV when the weather was on to watch my childhood hero. Now it was not the weather girl or boy whom I admired, as some of you might imagine, but rather the people behind the scenes - people like Mr. McEniry...
All too soon the weekend over and we headed south again. Thanks again to Caitriona and her family for an amazing weekend.