Lough Gill to Dowra: E2 Day 15

Good progress today in three counties, 40 kilometres covered, dry in the morning then persistent rain began and never stopped, rather dampening my mood.

Of the three counties I began in County Sligo, waking to a joyous dawn chorus, not that it was much of a chorus as the birds were all singing different songs. Above my tent a robin was belting out periodic stanzas of high pitched song, a cuckoo echoed in the distance to a background of cheerful chirping and chiruping. Later I heard crows, coal tits and a song thrush, my identification aided by the BirdNet App on my phone. For the first time camping on this trip I only had two layers of clothing on in my sleeping bag, the second only added in the early hours, nor was there any frost on my tent. Although the sky was overcast, the avian orchestra sent me off in a happy mood, pleased with my choice of campsite last night.

After woods, rush filled fields, and roads I reached Dromahair and the end of the Sligo Way. Just before the village lies the ruins of Creevelea Abbey. Founded in 1508 it was finally abandoned in the 17th century, closure forced by the soldiers of the English Oliver Cromwell. I was surprised that the ruins still seemed to be used to bury people, a few of the gravestones were recent. Beyond the ruins a path through trees by a river delivered me to the village centre. Dromahair was blessed by a Centra supermarket that had a coffee machine and seats inside where I was able to enjoy some breakfast. Nearby I saw a van advertising "Boxty" products, which reminded me of the Boxty bread (made from potatoes) that my future wife had cooked for me to eat for lunch between my final exams at University. 

Creevelea Abbey with more recent gravestones.

Now in County Leitrim, I needed to reach my next "Way", the Miner's Way. I planned to join it in the village of Drumkeeran. In deciding on the route, there was a tension between choosing the shortest, or selecting one which avoided busy roads. My selected route was almost all on minor roads with little traffic, running to the south of the main road. They led me through hills among sheep and cows in  fields often populated by clumps of rushes. There were a few conifer plantations. I considered following a track through one of the larger plantations but on reconnoitring there was the usual "No Authorised Personnel" and "Tree Felling" signs. The maps also failed to convince me that the track went all the way through the plantation, so I stayed on the roads, although (as usual) I could neither see nor hear any evidence of tree felling in action.

Cows in poor pasture in the hills beside the lanes I was following.

Drumkeeran had a café open, so I settled in to a good lunch. The kind owner refilled my plastic water bladder and refused a tip! Gentle rain was falling as I left the café, and it was continuous for the rest of the day, at various intensities, but all of them wet. Possibly this affected my impression of the Miner's Way which I was now following a small part of. From what I could see from under the hood of my anorak, the farmland, like that earlier, consisted of fields of poor quality sheep and cow pasture. The roads the Miner's Way followed were unusually straight. In Britain I would have thought them Roman roads, but the Roman's left Ireland alone, never invading. A consequence of the undeviating progress was that that the roads went up and down some very steep sided hills. Supposedly a route once used by Miners, I wondered why they did not pick a more gentle path. A sheep with her lambs, and later a single sheep, annoyed me. They kept going ahead of me on the road as if I was herding them, and I saw the potential for me to herd them for several kilometres to a point far from where they belonged. Admittedly the walls, hedges and barbed wire designed to keep them in fields also prevented them from leaving the road. Eventually they did turn off somewhere. Maybe the roadside would look attractive in the sunlight, the sloe coming into white blossom, bushes and trees in green bud, sporadic scatterings of primroses, pale yellow against the green grass of the verge. Farther away I could see lakes dimly through the grey of the falling rain. Good visibility would no doubt improve my impressions of the Miner's Way.

My walk on the unnaturally straight roads of one part of the Miner's Way (in the rain).

Reaching the village of Dowra, with the rain and landscape making camping unattractive, I took the advice of the lady at the Tourist Information Office at Ballina, and asked at a bar about accommodation. After a discussion between the barman and two customers at the bar, asking at the bar next door was suggested. Then a seated man offered to put me up at his house, however it was 20 miles away. I did not wish to impose on his kindness and envisaged problems returning to Dowra for the next stage of my walk. So I declined, trying my best not to offend, although he probably thought me a funny chap!

Not being able to spot the other bar (at least not an open one), I gave up and started on the Cavan Way, for now I was in my third county of the day, County Cavan, having crossed County Leitrim in a single day. Unfortunately I had trouble finding a suitable spot to camp. After putting a bit of distance between myself and the village, the trees in the subsequent woodland all seemed to be sitting in puddles of water. The farmland also looked inauspicious. Fields of rushes, stones and mud, pock marked by the hooves of cows and sheep, and generally waterlogged. In time the route left the road on a path which followed the River Shannon. Not wishing to walk anymore I pitched by the path on a patch of uneven ground avoiding wetter areas, although with the continuing rain I am hoping the I will still be dry in the morning. 

My road route from Dromahair to Drumkeeran can be found on Wikiloc.com or Outdooractive .