Flying Without Wings

LETJOG E2W – Day 37: Monday 20 May – KILLARNEY to CASTLEMAINE (14.3 miles)

Today has been a day when everything has come together. I am aware of the maxim of not wanting to tempt fate, but on this short walking day I have had a fabulous ramble in fine sunshine, through gentle rolling pastures, and with views of the mountains all around. And this evening, from my hotel in the town of Tralee, I have succeeded in booking overnight accommodation for the remaining nights of my LETJOG E2W adventure: it might be said that, for the first time in the last week, I actually have a confirmed plan!

Just occasionally, when weather, landscape, mood and the like, all come together, walking can indeed feel like ‘flying without wings’. I have reached a happy state now, having ‘walked myself fit’, such that, over relatively short distances like today’s lovely ramble, the legs do their thing without complaint and just seem to glide. Add in a gently undulating path with few significant inclines, along the flat surface of well-made lanes, and the miles pass by without numbering, and almost too quickly. If there is one shame, then it is that I have been passing all of these hills via lanes and cols, rather than climbing them and enjoying the full upland experience, but that is very much the nature of this distance-orientated challenge. I hope to return to these parts to right that particular wrong sometime soon, but for the moment I need to remain focused on my end goal of reaching Dunmore Head at the western extremity of mainland Ireland. Here are the pictures of my day.

Here, at Castlemaine, my day’s trek ended. The infrequent but impressively on-time local bus service took me on, ten miles up the road, to the town of Tralee, and to my overnight refuge.

These last few days of my trek, and particularly since leaving Cork, I have faced an ongoing challenge in finding suitably-placed (and priced) accommodation. This is due to the remoteness of some of the parts of my route, to demand (especially in Killarney, where my needs coincided with a weekend and with an important gaelic football match), and to a general shortage of overnight refuges. I understand from various locals, and from a couple of my B&B hosts, that covid closures resulted in many small establishments shutting their doors for good, whilst a huge number of mid-range hotels (up to 60% I have heard stated) have been requisitioned to house immigrants, from Ukraine in particular. Some of the prices that I have been quoted have been staggering, but fortunately I have just about managed to steer a sensible path. Enough of my travails – it has been a wonderful day, one of the best walks of my LETJOG E2W adventure.

With record sales of well over 50 million since their formation in 1998, my Irish playlist would not be complete without a song title from Westlife, and so it is that I have taken their 1999 hit ‘Flying Without Wings’ as my Blog heading today. Written by prolific songwriters Steve Mac (McCutcheon) and Wayne Hector, the song was the third single off the Sligo boy band’s eponymous debut album, and the optimistic lyrics match the spirit of a fine walking day amongst, if not upon, the hills of Kerry.