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Dawn Walk on Ballycuggaran

Ballycuggaran, Killaloe East Clare Way

We couldn’t believe our luck last Sunday morning when we realised that it wasn’t raining……we were nearly ready to start building an Ark after Saturday’s downpour.

Huge thanks and congratulations to the 15 walkers who were at Two-Mile-Gate ready for road by 6:30am.
While we didn’t see the sun rise, it was still a beautiful morning to be out and it actually stayed dry for the entire walk!

We will take a bit of a break for the Winter but will be back walking in the Spring. We will continue with our monthly Ramblers Guided Walks on the last Thursday of the month.
If you would like to keep up to date on all our walks, check out our website or Follow us on Facebook.

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You can’t beat a bit of home baking……………

Clare Ramblers, Ogonnelloe, East Clare Way

Our recent “Ramblers” guided walk took place in Ogonnelloe in the stunning East Clare. Although the weather forecast was not looking good, 17 brave walkers (and 2 dogs) joined us for a 7km looped walk starting at the Piper’s Inn Bar & Restaurant. We headed uphill to St. Mary’s church, towards Ballylaughan with stunning views over Lough Derg, and returning via Ballyheefey to the Piper’s Inn, where some freshly baked scones and biscuits, just out of the oven,  were waiting for us, along with fresh made jam, and a very welcomes cuppa.
A huge thanks to Cian and Tess, and all at the Piper’s Inn for looking after us.
And thanks to all who walked with us on the day and contributed towards the future maintenance of the East Clare Way and the Mid Clare Way long distance walking routes.

In case you missed the walk, or you would like to do it again, check it our here!For best results, click on the walker icon and then satellite icon.

Our next Ramblers Guided Walk will take place in Quin on Thursday 31st October at 11am.
See you then!

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Lunch at Bohatch Dolmen for Heritage Week

Bohatch Dolmen, Mountshannon, East Clare

15 walkers headed off from Mountshannon Harbour last Saturday for a 12km looped walk to Bohatch Portal Dolmen, said to be the burial place of local chieftains over 3,000 years ago.

We followed quiet roads with a upward climb to start but the views were well worth the climb – lough derg and over towards Tountinnna and Keeper Hill in Tipperary.

We had a lovely refeshment stop at the dolmen, sitting in lovely sunshine, admiring the views below.

For details of our upcoming walks, check out www.clarewalks.ie/events. We hope you will join us for a ramble some time soon.

 

 

 

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Walkers head to Whitegate

Dromaan Harbour, Whitegate, East Clare Way

38 “Ramblers” hit the trails recently in Whitegate for an 8km looped walk taking in Williamstown Harbour, Hollands Quay, Dromaan House and returning to Whitegate, and the good old reliable Half Barrel Bar & Restaurant for some fresh scones and a well earned cuppa!


Thanks to Tom Holland and Michael Ryan for providing us with some fascinating history and great local stories on route!

If you didn’t get to walk with us, or you would like to do this walk again, please see route map here. For best map results click walker icon and satellite.

Our next walk will take place on Thursday 29th August at 11am – check out route here. 

We hope to see you then!

 

 

 

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Sunshine and Sausages….

Ardboula, Tulla, East Clare Way

What a fantastic day we had for our monthly “Ramblers” walk in Tulla. The sun shone down on our 23 walkers as we headed off from Ardboula House for a 6km looped walk taking in unspolit surroundings and the beautiful Clondorney Lake.
On our return, we dined Al Fresco in a stunning shaded area beside Ardboula House, where our chef Brendan, treated us to cooked sausages, fresh rolls, scones, tea and coffee all prepared outdoors.
A great ending to a fab morning of walking.

Thanks to Christine and Willie O’Brien for the use of Ardboula House as our base for this months walk.

Our next walk will take place on Thursday 25th July at 11am from the Half Barrel in Whitegate – full details here.

We hope to see you then!

 

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Active Agers “Shut up and Dance”

Although the forecast was not looking good, 26 eager Active Agers joined us in Ogonelloe last Thursday for our monthly Guided Walk. Surprisingly we experienced only warm and sunny weather throughout the walk and it was so enjoyable to be out.

We started at the Ogonnelloe Hall/Exchange, which is the recently renovated Ballybran School on the main road between Scariff and Killaloe. The building and the facilities are absolutely fantastic and there is huge credit due to the committee and the community who made this happen. There is a fab Community Cafe open here every Saturday from 11am, so if you are passing make sure to pop in for a cuppa.

Before we headed off walking, we did a quick warm up to the song “Shut up and Dance”. We organised this in conjunction with Today FM’s Dare to Care/Be a Dancer for Cancer campaign and all donations from the day will be going to the Irish Cancer Society. We are delighted to have raised €178 on the day! Thanks and well done to everyone who donated. Thanks to Concepta for leading the warm-up.

Although this was a moderate walk of approx. 8km with one or two steep climbs, it was well worth it! We passed through forestry paths parallel to the lake and had to stop to admire the blanket of bluebells. We had fantastic views of Lough Derg to Holy Island,  Mountshannon and to Tipperary on the far shore and Ballyloughnane on the Clare side, and the unexpected beautiful weather greatly added to this.

Thanks to Antoinette for the great photo (above).

On our return to Ogonnelloe Hall/Exchange, we had a well deserved cuppa, scones and biscuits (but nobody was counting calories….)

If you missed this walk, or you would like to walk it again, check out the route details here (Don’t forget to click on the walker at the top)

Our next walk will take place on Thursday 30th May at 11am – see details here!

We hope to see you then!

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Sampling the delights of Mountshannon

42 eager walkers headed off from Mountshannon Harbour last Thursday for our second Active Agers walks of 2019 for a 7km looped walk following quiet roads. There were a few hills at the start but the views over Mountshannon, Holy Island and Lough Derg on the way back were worth the climb!

We luckily arrived back to Mountshannon just before the first rain shower of the day.

The newly opened Seasons Restaurant was a welcome stop for hot drinks, home baking and home-made soup. Thanks to Geraldine for welcoming us in to her beautifully decorated restaurant and we wish her the very best for the future.

If you missed this walk, or you would like to walk it again, check out the route details here (Don’t forget to click on the walker at the top)

Our next walk will take place on Thursday 28th March at 11am – see details here. We hope to see you then!

 

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Guided Heritage Walk & Mince pies go down a treat!

It looked like it was going to be a wet day, but despite that, 18 eager walkers turned up last Thursday for our 5km Guided Heritage Walk for Active Agers in Tulla, and we actually managed to stay relatively dry!

The walk was guided by Jane Halloran, an accomplished Genealogist and Local Historian, who provided some fascinating information on some of the historical residences and some stories from the townlands we walked through, including Cragg House, Cloondorney More, Cloondroney Lake, Annagh and the Bog Road.

Thanks to Jane for sharing her wealth of knowledge with us.

As always, we finished off the day with a welcome cup of tea, some scones and gorgeous home-made Mince pies which were made especially by one of our walkers Mary Carmel. Whatever calories were burnt off during the walk were certainly put back on by the time we had finished our mini-feast.

We would like to say a big thanks also to Mike Hoey and the Tulla United Soccer Club for the use of their club house on the day. All were in agreement that this was a fantastic facility and great credit is due to the committee/club for their dedication to providing such a great facility here in Tulla.

We will probably take a break for Christmas now but we will be back walking again at the end of January 2019 so get ready to come along and walk off the extra Christmas pounds………..

This Guided Heritage Walk was kindly supported by

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Local history, beautiful scenery, tea and scones; oh and some walking aswell!

We were joined by 25 walkers for another fabulous walk in Whitegate yesterday as part of our Active Age monthly guided walks. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for this 7.5km loop which started at the Half Barrel Bar & Restaurant and took us along quiet roads where we were surrounded by scenery and history.

Local man Tom Holland joined our walk and provided the most fantastic historical knowledge on the route, including;

Williamstown Quay, where, during the Famine many Irish people started out their journey to a new life (and in more recent history, where local men rowed their boats across the water to the dances in Dromineer, Co. Tipperary for a drink and a dance); The maids quarters at the back of the former Williamstown House, where Michael Egan, Brud McMahon, Alfie Rogers and Martin Gildea – the Scariff Martyrs – were captured in November 1920, taken by steamer to Killaloe and shot on the bridge by a force of Auxiliaries.

We also stopped and took time to admire a fairly well preserved Lime Kiln and the beautiful and peaceful Dromaan Harbour.

Returning to Whitegate, we were delighted to take the opportunity to sit and indulge in fresh baked scones and as much tea & coffee as we could drink (all for just €3.50) in the Half Barrel and we would like to say a huge thanks to the management and staff here for facilitating us.

The next Active Agers walk is scheduled for Thursday 25th October at 11am – it will be hard to match the Whitegate walk so we are still trying to decide on  the route for this but we will keep you posted.

 

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History and Views galore in East Clare!

East Clare saw some fabulous weather last weekend for our Guided walks. Looking at the weather forecast in the days leading up to the weekend, we had fears of needing to cancel our walks due to the threat of storm Bróna arriving just in time to “blow us off course…….”

However, we were able to continue with our planned walks; both of which proved to be most enjoyable.

Pictured at the entrance to the site of the former Tulla Workhouse during the Tulla Famine Walk.

On Saturday 22nd, we were joined by 28 walkers who were eager to learn about the buildings, sites and the people associated with the Great Irish Famine in Tulla. Tulla was one of the hardest hit parishes in Ireland with a population decrease of over 20% in ten years. This was the second time we had run the Tulla Famine Walk – due to it’s popularity during Tulla Weekend of the Welcomes and Heritage Week 2018, we decided to run this again and we definitely made the right decision. The group heard stories about starvation, disease and separation of families; our ancestors from 150 years ago.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Jane Halloran, Dalcassian Origins and Tulla Reaching Out for her fantastic research for this guided walk.

On Sunday 23rd, 38 early risers headed off from Two-Mile-Gate (Ballycuggaran Blue Flag Beach) at 6:30am to walk the Ballycuggaran Looped Walk to watch the sun rise over the beautiful expanse of Lough Derg.

Could we have asked for a better morning? As they say, a picture paints a thousand words……………………

All monies raised through these walks will go towards the future maintenance of both the East Clare Way and the Mid Clare Way walking routes and with a great contribution of €250 raised from these walks, we would like to say a huge thank you to all who came along and supported Clare Walks Ltd.

Keep an eye on our Events page or our Facebook page for our future guided walks.