Thursday June 27th ’19. 9th day in the saddle.
Before leaving from Kilmacthomas, I flew my drone over the area and saw my first ever Fairy Fort. These are areas that are commonly believed to house fairies, and people take these stories very seriously. To the extent that they won't destroy, or even work the areas to make sure they don't antagonize the fairies, who have been known to be very malicious. In fact, they'd rather the leave the Fairy Fort fallow in the middle of a field.
From there, I started on my way to Dungarvan and on. I had to stop though at the viaduct over the Mahon River in Kilmacthomas to photograph it. What an amazing piece of architecture. While flying my drone here, I also photographed the Flahavan Mills and Kilmacthomas Town.
I hopped back on the Waterford Greenway and headed on to Dungarvan, the light at the end of the tunnel, the rainbow at the end of the Greenway.
While cycling through, I got to a really interesting section of the Greenway. It was a part of the old railway that was carved through the mountains. The dappled light, cool shadows, and a really awesome tunnel. A totally other-worldly experience. When I came through the other end, there were these little doors placed all over the carved-out walls of the mountainside. Fairy doors. It felt like I'd come full circle.
As much as I wanted to stay and explore, I had cycling to do and places to get to. Plus, there were some cool cows to photograph.
I carried on the Greenway, and coming towards the end, I came out on this beautiful beach. I really, really, really wanted to go for a swim, but I don't enjoy cold water.
I cycled on to the end of the line in Dungarvan and cycled around for awhile. I stopped off at the Dungarvan Castle. Smaller than I was expecting, but really cool to see such a piece of history come alive in front of my eyes.
I finished up exploring and headed out back on the road. I was cycling toward Youghal (pronounced You-all) the town that Moby Dick was filmed in, in 1954. I somehow or other mistook a curb for a painted white line, and tried to cycle over it. It was only about 2" tall, but it was tall enough to spin my wheel off to the side and send me head first into a rock wall. Luckily for me, I have a hard head and was wearing a helmet. I tore up my hand and my knee, but all in all, I was very lucky not to have gotten hurt any worse. Really glad I carry a first-aid kit :-). My bicycle was fine, it had taken all the impact on my panniers (saddle bags). I got up, dusted myself off (okay, I also put on antibiotic ointment and band-aids, I'm not getting any younger 🙂 ) and headed out again. I arrived in Youghal later on in the afternoon, and very happily got myself settled for the evening and washed off my aches and pains.
We were worried about you. Hope your wounds heal quickly. Keep safe. Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos. It is amazing to learn how different cultures have so much interesting history. When one lives in different places one becomes aware of the culture and some of its roots, which in these pictures are quite fascinating. In Ireland stories of fairies and giants, I was wondering what one would learn in other places. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Dear,
Wounds are healing nicely, Thank G-D. Ireland is a land of beauty, stories, legends and myths. And wonderful, warm, amazing people. Each country has a story, but some countries, you’re lucky enough to feel them.