The morning is bright and fresh after yesterday’s rain. Patches of blue sky shout through scattered clouds. We say good bye to the B&B peacocks. Rather than trek along the river Caragh bank towards Lickeen Wood, the lady of the house recommended that we stay on the road as far as the Windy Gap. After our offroad Bridia Pass adventure yesterday we are happy to do some roadwalking. The road is busy as we skirt Lough Acoose until we take a right and head away from the McGillycuddy Reeks.
This is a long straight road. It is quiet enough for us to settle back into that constant mindful walking that both of us enjoy. Both of us work on screens all day. We are never far from our phones. We spend more time than is healthy being seated, so this is what we are after, the gentle activity of quiet movement. Just as we are getting into it we get interrupted by our phones finally picking up signal now that we are out of the Reeks. We pass through farmland. Yellow furze is in bloom. We see the Rowan Tree Inn at a crossroads and carry on towards Glencar’s Church. A beautiful red roofed farmhouse nestles in the hills like the landscape was drawn around it.
Further on we stop and examine a house with a clever perspex drying station out the side. Anything that is designed to deal with the Kerry rain holds great interest for us. We are having a good old nose at this when the owner comes out and catches us. We wave and shuffle sheepishly on. We pass a grandad driving some sort of hybrid pick up farm truck with kids sitting on his lap.
We turn left at a T-junction and the view opens up. We can see Seefin from here and I think I can make out the track that goes up the windy gap. All that grows here are holly and yellow furze and other prickly trees that evade the nibbly teeth of herbivores. There has been a fire recently and the holly trees stand out green and untouched. We pass the site of an old sawmill with the framework of its original bandsaw still in place. We come to a small wooded area called Blackstones Wood. It is preserved now. A red squirrel peeks out at us on a tree above and we watch him watching us.
All around here became a centre for iron smelting after Cromwell confiscated these lands and gave them to his soldiers. During the 17th and 18th centuries, every tree that stood was used to burn charcoal, creating the bare upland look that is so different to walking in Europe.
We pass the remains of more old Ironworks before we are greeted by a friendly Black and White collie called Lassie. Then we cross the beautiful stone arches of Blackstone Bridge and stop for lunch by the Caragh River which used to power the ironworks. Today the water skips and jumps over hundreds of rocks. After lunch we head on. We pass a memorial for the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish Catholic society based on the Freemasons. One pair of young hikers come out of Lickeen Woods and walk on ahead of us. The road starts to rise slightly.
We cross another stream on a bridge further on. In the wooded area beyond there appears to be a number of habitations joined by walkways and separated by waters. Hammocks are strung from trees. Kayaks are tethered in place. In the background is a large house, barely visible but interesting. It is all woodland here, fresh and coppiced with the ever present Rhododendrons catching the light in places. Eventually we make it to the top of a rise. This is where we turn left and head up a long straight boreen.
It’s a bit of a slog but we take great pleasure in stopping every now and then to look back the way we came, all the way back to the Reeks and imagining our route back around them to Killarney town. The clouds have cleared so we think we can make out Carrauntohill. Hard to know though. From here, one looks as high as the other but one of them is sickle shaped and this is where Ireland’s highest mountain gets its name from. The higher we walk, the more the boreen fades into potholes. Eventually we come to a T-junction. The right leads around Seefin while the left turns into a green road up towards the Windy Gap. Both will bring us to Glenbeigh but the left is more direct and is the original road, so that is our route.
The Windy Gap isn’t windy today. The views are incredible on the saddle. Along with the view back to the Reeks, ahead of us is the Dingle peninsula, Inch strand, Rossbeigh strand, the new greenway being built and the Mountain stage to Cahirciveen, all from the one spot. Legend has it that when Diarmuid and Grainne eloped, Seefin was where Fionn MacCumhaill climbed to get the 360 degree view he needed to see which way to go after them. Down below on Rossbeigh strand was where Fionn’s son Oisin left on Niamh’s magical white horses to visit Tír na nÓg.
From here we have just 2km down to Glenbeigh (which means the Valley of the Birch Trees – although there are very few trees left now). There is a bench for sitting and soaking up the views. There is a wild bird furiously screaming as its nest is being attacked by some animal so we head on downhill, joining with a tarmaced road, eager to slip back into civilisation after a few days break from it all. Cold drinks and fresh coffee wait for us. There is a bus back to Killarney, but we treat ourselves to a taxi.
Distance 15km
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