Ferry Ports and Passports

This fifteenth peak was a very special one, for many reasons! (:

I almost thought about saving it for last, as I hold an Irish passport (+ US). The first country I traveled to was Ireland, and my first “real” hike was up Croagh Patrick in 2007. However, a weekend opened up when Gill and Andrew from the BiH and Croatia trip were free, as well as a fellow Crown of Europe hiker, Brendan! We’d need the luck of the Irish for this mountain, as it’s known to have maybe the worst visibility of any in this challenge.

Normally, flights from London to multiple airports in Ireland are very cheap. For whatever reason, this mid-July weekend was pretty pricey. I came up with an alternative: drive five hours to Holyhead, Wales, camp near the ferry, leave my car at the campsite, walk to the ferry, board the ferry on foot, take a train from Dublin to Cork to meet Gillian, go with her to meet the group at Carrauntoohil on Saturday, continue with Brendan to Slieve Donard on Sunday, return to the ferry that evening via bus from Newry, dock in Wales at 2am and walk back to the campsite to camp, then drive back to London later in the morning. Did all of this go to plan? Not even close.

The drive out to Wales was beautiful, with a unique rainbow cloud. Another special part of this climb is whom it was dedicated to: Jen Murphy Foreman, my aunt Alison’s sister who passed last year. She fought a rare and aggressive T-Cell Leukemia for 17 months.

Considering that Alison had sent a photo to carry up Carrauntoohil with one of Jen’s favorite quotes, “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud”…I can’t really imagine a clearer sign! ❤ I grabbed this screenshot from a video I took from the road, which is saved to the Instagram highlights. And here was the photo in question, at the summit:

As Alison said when we were choosing a peak to dedicate, “She loved Ireland!” – Ireland seems to love her too, because this was a rare, beautiful, full weekend of sunshine and clear skies. Her family has created a GoFundMe page “to raise money for T-PLL research, awareness, and patient care with the goal of creating a Foundation in Jen’s name”.

Back in Wales, my brain was apparently not focused on taking photos, just videos (in Instagram highlights)…I arrived at the campsite at around 9pm, pitched the tent, went to sleep, and was promptly woken up by the worst food poisoning of my life. At 7am, running on barely any sleep, I attempted to hydrate a bit and make a decision. Leave the car and walk to the ferry? Not an option…I couldn’t stand or walk for more than two minutes at a time. Giving up entirely? Maybe wise, but what if it was just a 24-hour bug? Are there any scenarios that could result in making it up these peaks?

There was one: adding my car to the ferry booking. Sitting felt better, so the short drive to the port would be doable. The crossing would then take 3.5 hours, arriving at around 1pm. I planned to see how I felt on arrival and either find somewhere to park and proceed with the rest of the plan, or…figure it out later. To avoid turning the ferry into a petri dish, I grabbed a surprisingly-not-too-pricey cabin to attempt a nap. I think this decision may have saved the trip, because the short rest gave me enough energy to drive off the ferry, pull over somewhere, and look at hotel options. Gill had generously offered her place…but I was still in no state to be around anyone!

I ended up finding the Devon Inn Hotel, a 3-hour drive from the ferry port. Along the way, I would drive for 30-45 minutes at a time before pulling over and taking a nap. This hotel miraculously had something (soup) that I could not only eat (with my dietary restrictions), but that was plain and tasty enough to get a bit of calories in before the hike (that I was still hoping to do the next day). I was in bed before 9pm, and the group agreed to meet at 8:30am.

Moment of truth…my alarm went off at 6:30am. I felt a bit weak but otherwise fine!! The weather was looking great, the group was all on the way from Cork and Galway, and I started my hour-long drive after a (successful) quick breakfast.

The Hike

The four of us started the hike a bit after 9am, heading up the quickest (but steepest) path to the summit: Devil’s Ladder. It begins as a pretty gentle path, passing a couple of lakes. The sky was perfectly clear, and the “ladder” portion was a proper scramble…without its usual waterfall cascading down the path. (:

Here’s how it looks as the path starts ascending more steeply up the rocky gully:

It’s a straightforward route up a mix of loose rocks and sturdier boulders, and it just keeps going!

It’s not too technical, and it’s really a lot of fun. Remember to look behind you as you head up, as the views get better and better.

Finally, you know you’re near the final summit push when 1) you see the trail stop rising in front of you and 2) it narrows as in the first photo below. The ladder just ends in a pass, and the real summit is a bit further up to the right side. On a clear day, the goal is in sight! As are the McGillicuddy Reeks and the many other peaks and lakes of County Kerry.

Before noon, we were standing on the highest point of Ireland! (:

Don’t be deceived, though…sunny as it was, it’s still the top of one of the windiest countries in Europe.

After a failed solo flag photo attempt, we changed tactics.

With such rare, perfect summit weather, there were quite a few hikers up there. Still plenty of room for a snack break!

It was time to head back down. We went a slightly longer way, with the most incredible views of the day. Don’t miss the lamb video in the Instagram highlights…the sheep on this mountain were adorable, and there were so many of them.

This route is called the “Heavenly Gates”…so you may be thinking it’s the opposite of Devil’s Ladder…but nope! It’s a bit more challenging to descend, largely because of navigation and a few tricky parts. We had Andrew leading the way and great conditions, so we could enjoy the panoramic views.

There is a nice spot to refill water (or ice your feet, but maybe not simultaneously) on the way down. The path eventually joins back up with the main one back to the parking lot.

There is a coffee hut right in that lot, and I have no recollection of what I purchased, but I know it revived me enough to get to the next (incredible) lunch spot, recommended by Gill: Kate Kearney’s Cottage.

We enjoyed some roasts before popping across the road for another Irish staple: the 99. It’s just vanilla soft serve ice cream with a Flake sticking out of it, but it’s amazing and a great post-hike reward.

Post-Carrauntoohil

That was it for the Carrauntoohil adventure, but the Ireland exploring continued that with a stop in Galway, the fourth-largest city in Ireland (excluding Belfast in Northern Ireland). It’s known for traditional music (and these days, you can find all sorts of music). My favorite spot we popped into was a small bar having “live sessions”, where strangers meet to improvise traditional music together on instruments like accordions, uilleann pipes, bouzoukis, guitars, fiddles, and flutes.

The rest of this trip’s recap continues with the Northern Ireland post, with Brendan and me continuing up Slieve Donard the following day. This was one of four times I’ve been in Ireland, so I’ve included a map at the bottom of this post with some notable places to see. (:

THANK YOU ❤

Thanks for reading my fifteenth Crown of Cureope blog post! At the time I stood on the top of Ireland, we had raised $1,620 for the American Association for Cancer Research to fund lifesaving discoveries. As of publishing this post, we are at $1,710 raised of our $2,500 2025 target. There’s still a bit further to go to hit this year’s goal – any donations are appreciated!!

Map of Places to Visit in Ireland