Onion River Exploration Project: Whitlow Mountains

Glendalough Cathedral and Tower

Day 10 (8/12/15)

Today was our first sojourn out of the city. We have always had a weakness for trains so when we saw that they offered a rail tour south along the coastline to the Whitlow Mountains it made the top of our must do list. After breakfast we headed for Connelly Station to meet our guide and catch our train. We started getting a little worried when it was almost time to leave and we were the only ones standing at the queue. Promptly at nine we saw a man in a yellow jacket walking towards us. It turn out that our tour consisted of five people and our guide Paddy. We then found out that the other group was from Dublin so it was almost like having our own personal guide. We were slightly disappointed with the train ride. Most of it was either below ground level or was very grown over so it was hard to catch many glimpses of the beautiful coastline but Paddy kept us entertained with stories of Irish lore and personal stories. We traveled south by rail until we stopped at Arklow and got into a small van to continue our journey. Our first stop was in the small town of Avoca which is apparently the village used in the britcom Ballykissangel. We had never heard of the show but apparently it brings a lot of tourist based on the reviews I have read. We were more interested in the woolen mills with their hand woven goods and demonstrations. It was a beautiful setting and we spent some time wandering around the area. Then it was back in the van and off to the ancient Monastic city of Glendalough (glen of two lakes). On the way we stopped by Tomas Moore’s tree, the site where two rivers come together and Moore was supposed to have composed many of his songs while sitting under the tree there. The tree was now dead but a new one had been planted in its place. We than continued on to Glendalough and judging by the number of people this must be a very popular landmark. We had a great time wandering around the grounds trying to time our photos to have the least number of people in them. The area was absolutely beautiful so I can understand its popularity. We then took a commuter train back to Connelly Station. It was still early so we meandered our way around Dublin walking along the banks of the river Liffy. Eventually after walking down one side and up the other we headed back towards our hotel. As cities go Dublin is not a huge city and everybody is more than happy to give you directions. We decided to have supper in the other hotel restaurant and then started preparing for the longest and earliest day of our journey the next morning.