Rochestown – College Hill

This route interested me because it is not fully visible on Google Maps and I didn’t know if the loop was do-able. This is because the Google Car seemed to meet a tractor on the narrow road and had to turn back – as can be seen in the following image.

google mar meeting tractor

This is the last image I could find so I had to check it out for myself. When we arrived at our starting point it looked like the laneway was private property. A big house overlooked it. The grass strip was in dire need of a mow. Giant potholes lay ahead filled with rain from recent showers. Even more recent cow-dung splattered the road. So it looked promising.

This route looked like the Google car was the last actual car to chance this way. It got easier once we passed a cowshed but the only vehicles that used this part of the road recently were tractors.

I spent a while wiping muck off my trail runners and thanking God that I didn’t wear my sandals. There were plenty of “No Trespassing” signs on gates but I figured they referred to the farmland and not the actual laneway. “No Hare Coursing” was another sign. “Lurchers will be shot” was another. I didn’t know that hare coursing was still a thing, but apparently it is. It wasn’t the most pleasant atmosphere to be walking through with a dog. It was quiet and short though.

Once we hit the next junction we turned left onto a small road and the views widened out in front of us. We were on top of a hill and the road dived down into a deep dip before climbing up the other side of a steep hill.

rochestown road meath

At the bottom of the dip, I could see from the marsh grasses and rushes that there used to be some sort of water here at one time. It was also the busiest part of the route with cars flying up and down the hills.

The signs on the gates were registered to Wilkinstown Gun Club. As usual, that encompassed a lot of different townlands. I knew from looking at the map that this loop included Rochestown, Braystown, Shalvanstown, Mullaghroe and Faganstown – and only the locals would know where one finished and another started.

There was a big old collie dog waiting for us halfway up the hill. He had that mad look in his eye that collies get when they are way too excited. We put Pixel on the lead. The Collie bounded through the houses and farm that were his territory while we walked up the hill. Sure enough, he ran at us when he got to the last bit of his patch, his head low and his legs scattering pebbles on the road. I had my stick out and he knew he would get a skelp if he came within range.

At the top of the hill, we reached the next junction. It was as main a road as you could find around here but it was quiet. We walked along the verge, passing by College Hill House with its gate entrance and sweeping driveway. Ahead of us, we could see the grand old trees that surround Tankardstown House. I had threatened to visit here for afternoon lunch someday, but had never gotten round to it. Today was not going to be that day as I had fruit in my bag and we turned left again before the entrance.

This last section of this route was the finest for rambling. The road was narrow and quiet enough for us to just stroll along. The road curved gently and the hedges were low enough to give us good views across the countryside. Rabbits stood petrified in the fields when we passed. They stared straight ahead, hoping that we didn’t see them and then scampered away when they got a chance.

Our walk took us by small cottages, abandoned farmhouses and a bustling organic farm with fields of flowering potatoes that made me feel all fluffy inside. We passed a leaning hedge which was anchored by ropes in about ten different places to a tree so that it would stay vertical and not flop over into the roadway.

Google Maps: 53.723583, – 6.630097

Type of walk: Country roads

Distance: 4.4 km

Time: 3 – 4.30 pm

Views: Green fields and rolling hills.

Underfoot: 20% laneway, 20% main road, 60% small road.

Animals: Calves, sheep, butterflies, dogs, rabbits and a bat.

Humans: A mother pushing a buggy with a child. A pair on bicycles.

Traffic: Three cars on the back road and two on the main road section.

Plant of the Day: Thistle

thistle
Nemo me impune lacessit’ – ‘Nobody touches me with impunity’

Negatives: Discarded covid masks along the roadside.

Memorable: We noticed a bat circling above us and we stood watching it for a good while. Neither of us had ever seen a bat in the middle of the day before, but apparently Leinster bats do this. The CEO got a creak in her neck from watching it flap about in a circle above us. So cool.

Score: 7/10

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