Barnwellstown Loop

If you draw a loop from Navan to Slane up to Ardee and back across to Kells, Lobinstown would be plonked somewhere in the middle. I had heard of it but I had no reason to visit it before now. Most likely I played football against them at one time or another.

Black and white chequered flags waved from gateposts and hedges as me, Pixel and the CEO set off from an old water pump in a townland called Barnwellstown. It is named after a Norman lad who came over with Strongbow. His family motto is “Malo mori quam foedari” – I would rather die than be disgraced.

village pump lobinstown

Off in the distance is the giant wind turbine belonging to Meade Potato Farm, one of the biggest spud growers in the country. They installed it in 2013 and since then it has been harvesting the breeze that blows across Ireland to help power their production. We can barely hear any noise out of it but that could be because of the sky loads of crows that cawed above us.

murder of crows

This road is quiet. A familiar green strip runs down the centre, like an Irish mohawk. The CEO picks blackberries from the high hedges while Pixel sniffs at every gate he passes. Pixel has a thing about gates.

I check my Townland.ie map and inform our merry band of ramblers that we are now in Braystown. Fields of cereal crops stand out in contrast between green hedges, like giant squares of Wheatabix.

We pass a wildflower meadow planted in between two large houses. The potato factory is closed and quiet. It is guarded by a giant alsatian who runs the length of the fence beside us barking ferociously. Pixel pretends he is deaf and is very interested in whatever is on the other side of the road.

Further on we pass a lovely stone house with some German looking wooden cladding around it. I plan to add this to my “Would You Look at That House” tour that I am busy devising for people who like looking at other people’s houses.

braystown house

Around the corner is an abandoned cottage with cascading bright green and red ivy. This is an ideal playground for rabbits and sure enough the CEO spies a few bunny tails hopping into the hedges.

abandoned cottage meath

The road climbs between high hedges until we come to the main Lobinstown – Smarmore road. This delights the CEO. Smarmore Castle was the first place she came to in Ireland to find me. It has sentimental value to her. We are very amused to discover that today it is an alcohol addiction centre.

We turn left and followed a stone wall around the corner and up a hill into Brownstown. The CEO throws me dirty looks. She is oblivious to the fact that this ascent gives her the stunning views that she oohs and aahs over. We can see as far off into Cavan. Fields full of brown cows watched us plod along the road. A line of white sheep thinks we are going to feed them.

The Brownstown road winds its way through old stone walls and mature trees. It is busier here. The green strip down the middle is just a slight shadow of damp lichen. We turn a sharp bend and pass a farmhouse. It looks old enough but it is well done up. Surrounding it are even older ruins from generations past.

abandoned cottage meath

The road straightens. We are rudely greeted by two terriers at the next house. They scramble out of a driveway all business-like and yappiness but the end result is some curious butt smelling with Pixel.

The road rises again before we take our next left. Our route drops away steeply and the views here are even better. The CEO reminds me how lucky I am that we are going downhill. I thank the gods of the small roads for looking after this poor wayfaring stranger.

corballis meath

Far off, we make out the Cooley Mountains rising from the haze. We pass another serious barker. This is an old boy who is making a great deal out of the fact that he can barely move. His tail wags his rump with an intensity that said he’d be off his porch and down to the road in a blaze of black fur to let us know whose patch we were on if he was 10 years younger

The road grows smaller and the green strip pops up again. Purple elderberries hang from red-veined stalks on the bushes. The camera on my phone is stuck on some weird saturated level around here and I do not realise for a while. It didn’t really look like this at all.

lobinstown meath

We pass an old farmyard building which turns out to be Moorestown school, which is strange as we are in Corballis now and Moorestown is a townland to the north. Shifting boundaries. I can find nothing about this school online but the CEO tells me that it looks like it was built by the Society for the Promotion of the Education of the Poor in Ireland. These schools were controversial because they read the bible “without note or comment” but were also non-denominational. Catholics refused to send their kids to them but their books became the inspiration for the National Schools later on.

moorestown school meath

A fast walking man passes us, head down, on a mission. We also meet a floppy-eared basset hound. The hedges have briars that look like they come straight from Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Small robins flit through them at great speed. We round another bend and come across another old farmhouse and outbuildings. It has a quaint old road marker outside it. I presume M.C stands for Meath Council but it could be 1100 in roman numerals for all I know.

old road marker meath

As we walk on the road gets quieter. We find a family of mushrooms enjoying the air.

mushrooms meath

We come to our last junction and turn left into the townland of Footstown. The road here is new and smooth so we have to put Pixel on the lead in case of fast cars.

winding road lobinstown meath

There are none. The last leg of our walk, we pass black-eared sheep that look like they are in cartoons.

suffolk sheep meath

Google Maps: 52.789232, – 6.619592

Distance: 7.6 km

Time: 2.30 pm – 5.00pm

Type of walk: country roads

Views: farmland.

Animals: Cows, sheep, rabbits, dogs.

Humans: One power walker

Traffic: About three cars

Plant of the day: Hawthorn – usually associated with May when it blossoms in white everywhere but this time of the year its red berries feed the birds all along the hedges.

Negative: None

Memorable: We find the biggest nettles we have ever seen in our lives in Footstown.

Score: 8.5/10

This was a gentle route through plenty of townlands so let me know if I missed anything or if you know anything about this place.

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