Moyle Way Domino Dander Charity hike

Eileen Fitzgerald  21 August 2011 17:49:58

Before I even start this recap , I have to comment on Steve McDonagh ..  a couple of years ago he invited a few of us up North to walk the Giants Causeway , and an excellent outting we had .. ( Yes Bill there eventually was a pub around the corner ) . This kinda developed into an Annual tradition of a Domino Dander .. where a few of us who work in the same industry will do a walk. This year , Steve suggested upping our game... making it a challenge and raising money for charity. So we did , we decided to do the Moyle Way 26 miles across country. For me , it was a challenge but something that I knew that I was more than capable of achieving , Steve had been involved in a bike accident (Someone went into him ) and has a leg injury which did cause him pain and suffering during certain sections of the walk. So if anyone earned the money for charity it was Steve .. anyone who would put pressure on themselves , and obviously be in pain to achieve the Charity objective.... well if you have not contributed Steve deserves it for the pain and effort that he put himself through yesterday.  So if you have no given already .. now is your chance Moyle Charity

The Moyle Way

Before we start lets state that Andy and Steve decided to do the walk in Kilts , now its a terrible shame that this photo is out of focus as its the only one that I have of the three of us and if it had been in Focus it would have been a great photo .. ( But I'm including it anyway )






Soo off we went,  thank you too much to Val McDonagh for the lift at the start and pick up at the end. One of the repeated conversations that we had during the day , was the fact that Ireland is beautiful .. and only the 5% of the population in Ireland who Hike (heard that stat somewhere ) get to see the really beautiful sections . I constantly consider myself privileged to be part of that 5%.

Anyway off we went , Setting off at Glenariff ( I'll let Steve comment on the Barbies at the start ;-)) we had a lovely walk along the river bank and even saw a buzzard , we actually saw three of them during the walk , I'm not sure if its because I do not walk in Wicklow with the font of knowledge that is Steve McDonagh or because they are not there but I've never seen them when out walking down south , yet we saw three on the Moyle way wall .   Anyway off we went , heading through through  Glenariff Forest Park , the entrance of which is through a 'stress free zone' well it was before I got there anyway ;-)

Absolutely stunning walk , with loads of waterfalls and river view, s bit of a steep ascent,  but well marked and a very very obvious trail, then up Trostan ( well around really ) where the Scottish really came out in Andy ( add a kilt to a Scotsman) with loads of catalog posing and pointing out thistles ;-).

The around to Slieveanorra Forest ( with a slight off trail mishap ) where we stopped for a well deserved lunch. I learnt early in the day on that its an interesting exercise on where to look when Men in Kilts sit down. I did a lot of sudden map studying .
Then onto the way around Croaghan , nice trail but a bit mucky .. through Breen Forest .. where we saw the most amazing sight ( I'm really annoyed with not getting a pic ) of 100's of ducks by a pond. Then up a steep ascent ( where Steve's injury hurt him and he earned every penny for charity ) after Breen Bridge.

The Descent down and around Knocklayd was stunning, absolutely beautiful scenery

I have to admit the last 5 miles were tough , when you know the end is near , you start willing it. We made a strategic decision to skip the forest way into Ballycastle and go along the road. For a list ticker like me ( If I do the Moyle way I do the entire Moyle way) it was a tough call, but it was the right decision for the time. It was dusk so a forest walk would have been dreary, it had been raining so the route would have been muddy plus we coming in via the forest would have meant missing the sea views on the way in. And it was the same distance anyway. So we were treated to views of Rathlin Island and even Scotland ( you cannot really see it on the photo ) on the way into Ballycastle.




And into Ballycastle where a well deserved and enjoyed pint ( glass of wine for me ) was consumed just before Val picked us up , off to Chez McDonagh for a fantastic stew. Points to note during the walk..

• Both Andy and Steve have declared that they will hike in future in Kilts .. they found it very liberating ;-)
• As always amazing hospitality from the McDonaghs
• Great company with Andy and Steve for the day, I'd spent a day walking with them anytime
• Steve claimed to be the Johnny Cash of walking as he was dressed entirely in Black .. except for one item of clothing which was not on view. Unfortunately (for me) I can verify that he was not 100% in Black
• Andy has a song and retort for every occasion

This will become an annual charity hike, we have the date and potential hike organized for next year including everyone that we know, whether they like it or not ;-)) and I will do it in a Kilt next year as well ;-)


Great day , thank you to Steve and fantastic that while having a day out we also raise money for a well deserved Charity . thank you to everyone who contributed.

• Comments [1]