The success of last year’s An Taisce trip to Clare Island led to a repeat expedition this year. The tour was booked out with a greater number of travellers who were new to Clare Island. It was good to engage with An Taisce members who I had not met before. A few of us were veterans of our previous sally around the island with Professor John Feehan (seen in centre of banner image with pale brimmed hat). To make the experience different for me, I decided to bring my e-bike and aim to cycle all around Clew Bay and take in Achill Island in the process!

Having alighted from the train at Westport, I proceeded to cycle on the busy road to Louisburg and end up at the Roonagh pier for the ferry crossing to the island. There was a cycle lane alongside the road to Croagh Patrick, but after that you were dicing with heavy noisy traffic, which is not ideal. I parked my bike and walked a little way up the Reek to see the repaired walkways on the mountain. I was disappointed at the number of signs protesting the planned greenway that will skirt the famous peak. We need to improve access to the countryside for walkers and cyclists for many reasons, including boosting local rural economies with visitors and tourists.

At Roonagh, I joined with the An Taisce party for the fast ferry crossing. There was no problem with my weightier e-bike and great freedom cycling around the island with few cars to avoid. John gave a very interesting presentation on the first evening in the community centre, with lots of stimulating images on the island.

The next day, John led us out on our geological and botanical tour of the island, in milder conditions than the hot sun last year. I was hoping that John would take us to explore parts of the island that we did not see last year, but the newcomers really enjoyed it. Getting to the cliffs of the west and north of the island would be fairly difficult with less road coverage.

The two-man traditional music session in the community centre bar was very enjoyable. We were overlooked by a ram with wonderful curling horns outside the bar window! I did a lot of bird-watching on the island and on the ferry crossings in the company of Werner & Mary Sheehan who were helpful with identifications! They are Kerry members of An Taisce and we discussed the current condition of Killarney National Park.

Eoghan Daltun, author of An Irish Atlantic Rainforest has remarked: "Visit Killarney National Park near me, for example, our most extensive remaining fragment of rainforest (or native forest of any sort), and you’ll find a dying ecosystem, being killed by exactly the same factors that were afflicting my place: sika, goats, and rhododendron. Ecologists have been calling out the situation in the park for over half a century now, yet little changes, even under the current coalition government that includes the Green Party. It’s simply outrageous, not to mention maddeningly frustrating and depressing. which environmentalists agree is not in good shape".

An Taisce were members of a liaison committee many years ago, but our involvement has dropped off. If any local members know how we can reconstitute our membership of this committee, do let head office know.

My plan was to hop over to Achill, but it didn’t happen for several reasons, including not getting the ferry time right! I wanted to explore Achill, which I hadn’t seen for many years and cycle the Great Western Greenway (GWG) back to Westport.  I decided to return to the southside of Clew Bay. My revised plan was to take in a bit of the GWG by getting to Newport to view the fine Harry Clarke window in the local Catholic church. The GWG was the first greenway in Ireland and set the standard for others to follow. However, the route from Westport to Newport follows the busy regional road in large part, and this diminished the enjoyment somewhat. It is great when greenways get away completely from roads and cars!

If you wanted to share ideas with Annette about where An Taisce should travel next please email [email protected]. I would be interested in seeing the Killarney National Park which includes the Lakes of Killarney. They were recommended to me by Hall’s Ireland, a fine three-volume tome about Ireland in the 1830’s! 

Banner image courtesy of Annette McCaul