Mayo Sunday

Well what can I say about my trip to Mayo yesterday. Firstly the weather was beautiful. I had to pick up Lucy from Ballina so I decided to head out early and visit the Ceide Fields which I’ve wanted to go to for a long time. On the way I had to stop in Killala and take a photo of the harbour above….I love the reflections and colours.

After a lovely scenic drive I got to the Ceide Fields. There is a nice visitor centre there with a cafe (although it was fairly expensive). A film was shown explaining all about the fields, it lasted for about 20 minutes and I found it interesting. It’s amazing to hear that Ireland was tropical at one time! Also fascinating to find out the lower part of rock in Downpatrick Head date back 350 million years ago!

I read on the Ceide Fields Visitor Centre that was meant to be a guided walk but I didn’t hear any mention of that and I was given any details about walking around the grounds. I thought this was a shame as at the other visitor centres I have been to have handed out self-guided maps which I would have found useful.

After the Ceide Fields I headed back to Ballycastle village where if you take a left turn opposite a shop with a petrol pump you will reach Downpatrick Head (it isn’t signposted from the village). I thought this was a beautiful place. Dun Briste above, an impressive sea-stack, estimated to be approximately 50 metres in height, stands 80 metres off Downpatrick Head.

It was interesting to see a statue of St. Patrick (and a lot of coins left at the base of the statue). There is a legend of St. Patrick slaying the last snake in Ireland at Downpatrick Head, creating the separation of the mainland and sea stack with his mighty sword. You can read more about Downpatrick Head and Ballycastle here.

As I was leaving the Coast Guard arrived! For a minute I thought someone had tipped them off that I was there! I am well-known on Facebook for either getting lost or falling flat on my backside 😉