My only other memory of Mayo is a stop in Castlebar on route to Ackle back in 2002. Ackle of course was spectacular and a place onto itself in beauty and enjoyment. So view of this I decided to take part in a walking festival in honour of Saint Patrick walking across Mayo to Croagh Patrick back in the day when snakes roamed the lands of Ireland (they still do today but they take on a different more sinister form of politicians)! The festival is a recent orgainsed event where people walk the 66km over the course of 3 days. Now I haven't been in the best physical form lately so I decided to do 22km of the walk and see what I thought.
Arriving on Friday evening the stop for the night was Maura's B&B in Ballintubber where I am told Pierce Brosnan and many other celebs come to get married! It was a beautiful spot and the local priest who has been there for over 25 years has really combined the landscape with the religion and the spirituality of the area. Maura had homemade scones and jam and a wonderful breakfast the next day. We set off at around 9 from Ballintubber and the walk was amazing taking in boglands, fields and winding roads. We were so well fed with numerous stops for tea, sandwiches and scones! The walk was in the shade of the snow topped Croagh Patrick and I knew I would have to set foot on it the following day as I could not possibly leave Mayo without doing at least that. The walk ended at 4 and the next course of action was to find the B&B for the night. Paul has designed and built his house to be completely geothermally heated and is attempting to be self-sufficient and his success so far is great. The Coon River B&B is amazing and I will certainly be back there again. The nearby Lough Inn has the most amazing Salmon I had ever eaten caught of the coast of Clare Island.
Sunday morning was time for the trip to Croagh Patrick and the Famine memorial. The views were amazing and the sense of openness and nature was overwhelming. I want to go back and climb all the way up but maybe when the snow is gone!
Mayo is certainly a place I will be returning too with fond memories of wonderful people, fantastic food, spectacular views and general loveliness :-) Here are a few photos of the many I took.
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