Peaks for Patrick 3 - Gleninchaquin Waterfall June 2021

https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/11429343_in-memory-of-patrick-michael-o-loughlin.html

June 2021 finally brought us back to Kerry and to Kenmare, allowing us a magical hike up to the top of Gleninchaquin Waterfall in Gleninchaquin Park on the beautiful Beara Peninsula. All through the winter and spring lockdowns, I'd been longing for those few days away. It's a place that soothes the soul. If your batteries are low and need recharging - this is just the place for that.

The elderflower was still in full bloom and here, in this little piece of heaven, we spotted some pink elderflower which I had not seen before. It looked so pretty...and as for the delicate scent of the gorgeous little flowers...unbelievable.

When we hike to the top of the waterfall with the kids, we always like to take the Riverwalk up. It meanders up alongside an often wildly gushing stream of water and the only sounds you will hear will be that of the water and the sheep baaing nearby. Sheep were Patrick's favourite and he'd often come home after creche to walk over to our portable DVD player to watch a few episodes of either Timmy Time or Shaun The Sheep - happily bopping along to the theme music.

Once you clear the Riverwalk, you come up to what has to be one of the most beautiful picnic spots in the country. Views reaching far down the valley, overlooking the lakes and the amazing Uragh Stone Circle. The light constantly changes with the passing clouds casting shadows onto the ancient mountains and valley below. You could get absolutely lost in your thoughts and memories up here sipping your tea or coffee.

Next you head up some steep steps along the trail. Through gates and over stiles, past sheep and trying (and failing) to dodge sheep do. You cannot really see it from the bottom but there is a bridge right at the top of that waterfall which, actually, gets even more amazing the wetter the conditions. Head out there on a dryish day just after some heavy downpours in the days prior. You'll be blown away by the sheer force of the water coming down the cliff face - with the goats and sheep just munching away at the foot of it...completely oblivious, it seems, to the beauty before them.

From the bridge you have the most gorgeous views of entire valley. A perfect vantage point to spot the signs of human habitation in this part of the world spanning hundreds, if not thousands of years. From the time of the people who built Uragh Stone Circle to the modern day farmers who tend to their sheep.

The trail leads on after the bridge and down the other side towards Cummeenadillure Lough but as that's a bit tricky to navigate for smaller legs in places, we tend to walk back the way we came and stop by the bottom of the waterfall at one of the picnic benches for another break.

Once fuelled up on sandwiches, Rich Teas and Tea, on we go to join the Heritage Trail with a short excursion up to Cummeenadillure Lough - a deep, black lake which someone living in the valley at the time once described to me as one of those Thin Places...a place where the veil between this and the next world is particularly thin; a place where one can walk in both worlds. Standing there, in this quiet, rugged and remote place, it somehow just makes sense. It truly feels other-worldly. 

Along the Heritage Trail, the kids always enjoy exploring the old famine cottage while I, time and time again, feel humbled as I ponder the decimation of the valley's inhabitants in the times of the Famine. Life must have been incredibly hard in those days.

The path then leads us back down and across the fields where you walk among the sheep and beside the streams back to the car park with the waterfall in perfect view all along the way.

Gleninchaquin, for me at least, is a little piece of heaven on earth. It's the atmosphere, the quiet (apart from the sounds of gushing water, birds and sheep) and the scenery (and so much more) that make it so special. I am sure Patrick would have loved it here and so every time I come back, I carry him close to my heart as I walk those trails and listen to the sheep baaing. 

Whenever it rains

I'll open up my hands

And whisper your name

Alone you stand

Though you're not coming back for you we are strong

Though you're not coming back you will live on

                                                                    Barry Murphy "Alone You Stand"

Kudos to the kids for sticking with us up and down hills with relatively minor complaining....!