Jun 26, 2016

Hiking Ireland’s North Coast

Ireland is one of the most beautiful places you can imagine and the Irish are taking good care of it. Once you get out of town — no billboards, no rusting cars, no corporate fast food. The north coast is also rich with history and local culture.

I recently spent a week hiking through a lot of natural drama with hiking guide, Sean Mullan, who runs a hiking company called Walking and Talking in Ireland. Sean is an Irish intellectual with a lot of stories about Irish literature and history and the natural environment. He can also sing an Irish ballad with the best of them.

On our first day, we hopped a ferry from the village of Ballycastle, about 50 miles north of Belfast, to the tiny Island of Rathlin. Rathlin is the closest point to the Scottish coast and loaded with history. Marconi’s first telegraphs were transmitted between Rathlin and the mainland. In the 13th century, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, hid there from marauding British soldiers. More recently, singer Mary Black was born there. Here is her moving anthem to Ireland, which she has sung for royalty and heads of state, including Bill Clinton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRdDnpkR3AQ

We walked through the tiny village at the ferry dock, past quiet pubs and ancient churches. Today only about 100 residents remain on the island.

After an exhilarating 90 minute hike over hills with expansive views of the Atlantic, we arrived at Rathin’s west lighthouse, and took the steps down the face of this cliff. It looks scary but it’s not.

From the lighthouse, we viewed the spectacle of the island’s famous Rathlin puffins, which nest here every summer. There are many thousands of them on these cliffs. Every one of those little dots.

Puffins live most of their lives at sea and mate for life. Both parents care for their chicks.

One of the week’s highlights for me was an 11 mile hike along the Antrim coast to Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of spectacular volcanic formations that flow out to the sea. Getting to our destination took us across jagged cliffs, rocky beaches and gorgeous pastures.

Normally full of tourists, Giant’s Causeway was almost empty when we arrived, which may explain why the man on the hil is scratching his head.

No trip to the region would be complete without a visit to charming, historic Derry, which the English renamed “Londonderry” in the 17th century. More than 300 years later, the town’s name is still a point of contention. Derry is just inside of Northern Ireland and, with Belfast, the center of “The Troubles” and violence between the Loyalists and the Republicans which took place for 30 years beginning in 1968. Derry has amazing murals to honor the people who fought for independence and equality. We spent a day learning about the stories the murals tell and visiting the town’s many historic buildings along and withing the medieval wall that circles the old city.

Originally painted by the Republicans in 1969 after they barricaded a portion of the city to keep the British military out.

Bobby Sands on the right fought for the Republicans. He was elected as a member of Parliament from his jail cell. Margaret Thatcher subsequently enacted legislation to prohibit prisoners from seeking office. Sands died in his jail cell on the 66th day of his hunger strike.

Derry remains a place of explicit politics. It flies the flag of Palestine.

Another hike took us out over moss and heather-covered hills to a promontory and then to a gorgeous beach.

This narrow cliff hangs about 400 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. I had to stay below to take the photo. :)

A personable Sheltie convinced to throw a stick many, many times.

The traditional village of Ramelton where we stayed.

And what Irish adventure would be complete without an evening of traditional music? We were lucky to have learned about a jam session of local fiddlers at a pub in the tiny town of Cushendall. Incredible!

The northern coast of Ireland is truly magical.