On their third day in Polranny, guests Bas, Laura, Michel and Mark start exploring nearby Achill Island. Mark writes: " We follow a walking trail on the western part of Achill Island. We drive up a steep, mountain road, then down again towards a beach. It's a beautiful beach. There's a number of islands off the coast, and a river runs over the beach and into the sea. There is a car park. But no path.
Immediately behind the beach is a steep mountain. We start to climb it, sometimes on all fours. From afar we can see a house on the top of the mountain, and we decide to first head for that. It's a very rough climb for us, and all four of us are tired when we reach our destination. It appears the house is no more than a ruin, and is used by sheep as a place to crap. On the edge of the cliff is a rusted pole with a lamp socket in it. Nearby is a dead sheep. But the view of the beach below is beautiful."
Photo: Mark,www.mimia.nl
2 opmerkingen:
The ruin is a Look Out Post from WWII. The Irish coast is dotted with them. From one you could ideally see the other. The view from them is always spectacular.
Ireland was officially a neutral country in WWII and the Government didn't want vessels from warring nations to come ashore or within Irish territorial waters. What if..? The Irish had no Army to speak of and no Navy. Just a Coast Guard.
I'm not sure but I think the British started building the huts during WWI when the Atlantic became important as a battle field and the Irish Nationalists started to smuggle weapons into the country. Nowadays they are places for sheep and walkers to find protection against storm and rain.
Very Gothic pix!
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