Inishmurray Trip

Trips reports submitted by members
Post Reply
Chancer
Posts: 114
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 9:37 am

Inishmurray Trip

Post by Chancer » Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:37 pm

Recently had a very interesting trip to Inishmurray in the company of Tom Ronayne, Tom Maguire and Alan Roberts as we visited Alan in his new home in Dromahare. I lived in Ballysadare in the late 70s early 80s but never visited Inishmurray. Very glad I got to visit this time. We launched from Streedagh beach and were lucky with the F3/4 South Easterly winds and fine sunshine we had. The Island lies 6kms off the coast and it is about 6kms to go around. We managed to launch without any difficulty as the beach here can surf up big at times. You can launch to the south at another beach if its surfing on the main beach. You could also launch from Mullaghmore but this is a 15 Kms trip. The landing for us was the old pier which is unused now. Landing is onto rocks. The ferry lands in a cleft in the rocks, a natural harbour onto flat rocks. We were not camping but near the natural harbour there appears to be plenty of suitable grassy areas. The island is quite overgrown with gorse, brambles and other thorn bushes. However there are pathways which lead to the architectural gems on the island which make it a rival in many ways to even Skellig Michael. The old abandoned village is interesting and worthwhile but the real gems are within the prehistoric circular fort. The fort itself is a amazing structure more impressive than Dun Aengus in my opinion. Inside is an amazing collection of beehive huts and chapels built by the ancient monks who lived there in 6th century. The huts are in great condition. This is where Star Wars should have been filmed. The piece de resistance has to be the cursing stones. How they have survived is a testament to the wonder and awe that people must feel on visiting the site and nobody wants to touch anything. Some of the stones have top pieces that are designed to fit neatly into the main stone with an accuracy that is incredible. If you stand on the low wall beside the stone platform you can look directly down on a circular stone that has a beautiful cruciform engravement not visible from ground level. Great visit. We landed back at Streedagh where recently they removed bronze cannon in perfect condition from one of a pair of Spanish Armada ships wrecked on the beach. Next day we returned to face a F5/6 SE at Streedagh. We launched for a 15km run before the wind and following sea to Mullaghmore for dinner and pints. A one way trip. Interesting coastline with a massive lagoon lying behind a reef of rocks exposed at low tide. Continuing, we approached the very impressive Classiebawn Castle where Lord Mountbatten resided when in Ireland and the site at Mullaghmore Head where he met his Waterloo.

Post Reply