Croagh Patrick

On my last full day in Wesport, I started off with a swim at Old Head Beach.

I was proud of myself for doing this without Ann as my fellow paddler. She's the braver of the two of us. The water was slightly warmer than in Belfast Lough due to the Gulf Stream. About 59 F instead of 56 F. Every degree counts.

Then I stopped at Murrisk Pier for a look round.

I got a nice shot of Croagh Patrick as I drove back toward the main road. I think there's a lot of equipment around this cottage b/c it's being renovated. My theory.

While the first few days in Westport were unremittingly sunny, Sunday was cloudy and a bit rainy, so I started my hike in the afternoon, when the sky had lifted. Across from the Croagh Patrick car park is a striking famine memorial. There are famine memorials all over Ireland, particularly in port towns.

St. Patrick welcomes you at the beginning of the hike up Croagh Patrick. This statue was erected in 1928 with money collected in America. From wiki: "Croagh Patrick is renowned for its Patrician Pilgrimage in honour of Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint. It was on the summit of the mountain that Saint Patrick fasted for forty days in 441 AD and the custom has been faithfully handed down from generation to generation."

It's roughly 2 hours up, 1.5 down, including a lunch stop. Here's the view as you ascend. It's hard to keep looking where you are going when this is over your shoulder. This is Clew Bay and some of its 365 islands.

It's hard to make out in the photo below but I could see a stream of hikers heading up and down the path. I kept thinking of Dave Matthews' song Ants Marching.

Here's me eating lunch with, I believe, the mountains of Connemara in the distance.

This is me not being good at selfies. I'm looking at the sun. Why? I don't know. I never know where to look when you take a selfie.

Also from Wiki: "The tradition of pilgrimage to this holy mountain stretches back over 5,000 years from the Stone Age to the present day without interruption. Its religious significance dates back to the time of the pagans, when people are thought to have gathered here to celebrate the beginning of harvest season."

St. Patrick's church below was closed due to Covid.

I took more pictures on the way back down–with the sun lower in the sky.

I was lucky to have a long chat with a fellow hiker, a sheep farmer from Cavan, as we descended. We talked about EU subsidies, which I find very confusing. The EU is both a great champion of environmental regulation--and the source of vast vats of money that incentivize intense livestock production. You can't have it both ways. The farmer said cows and sheep would not be profitable without the subsidies. So why not subsidize something that doesn't pollute the groundwater and generate so much suffering? He would rather be a better steward of his land, but it doesn't pay. Speaking of sheep.

I headed to the Westport quay for dinner. I had an amazing pizza and a glass of wine, with this view.

After dinner I drove a little bit back in the direction of Croagh Patrick to watch the sun go down.

I was really tired--and I was standing precariously on a standing stone to get these photos. The beauty of it all kept me going.

My experience in Westport was very much like my time in Scotland, in that I felt overcome by gratitude for being able to visit such incredibly beautiful places.

I'm a big fan of Paul Henry's Achill paintings. That's Achill in the distance, so the photo above is a bit Henryesque--he's famous for his blues and purples.

Sept. 2020