Dingle Way 5. Dunquin – Cuas

Walking in the rain

Today it rains and I walk, it rains some more and I walk, it goes on raining and I walk on.

Glean Dearg B&B in Dunquin is a gem and I leave happy. I enjoy the arty, cottage-style decor, pine panelled rooms and a great evening meal in a conservatory with rampant grape vines overhead.

The route today should have great views but cloud obscures nearly everything. Without distant views, I find myself noticing small details: flocks of starlings bathing in puddles; grasses glistening with water droplets; the different sounds of running water. I pass the Louis Mulcahy pottery, too wet to sit in their smart café. I enjoy the 4 kilometers along the beach at Feothanach to An Mhuiríoch (Feohanagh to Murreagh) when the cloud lifts briefly to reveal the distant hills. Runners pass by. Some adults are playing group games with hurleys, in shorts and tees despite the weather, dog walkers leave footprint trails in the sand.

I stop in Baile na nGall (Ballydavid) for lunch at the pub on the quay. I don’t stay too long: a hen party is expected.

From there on, the rain gets heavier and the wind gets up. Horizontal, driving, persistent rain. My waterproofs begin to fail where my pack presses on the fabric. My waterproof over-trousers get sweaty on the inside, I am wet through, dripping and soggy. My camera gives up, covered in condensation.

The clifftop walk out of Baile nGall has waves crashing against the headlands but I get cold if i stop too long to watch them. At the beach car park, camper vans are steamy with condensation.

At one point I see a torrent of water flowing down a road crossing my path and begin to plan a strategy to cross it before I notice a nearly submerged waymarker post showing a sharp right turn along the bank of what is actually a river in spate.

I am relieved to reach my destination: An Bóthar pub in Cuas. I send most of my wet gear to their drying room and then crank up the heating in my room to dry off everything else. It gets quite steamy in there!