Galboly: The Hidden Village

A warm walk up to the hidden village at Galboly, in the Glens of Antrim. Abandoned in the 1950s it was home to 60 people who were co-operative farmers. It may be more familiar to some as Runestone in the Vale of Arryn, from the Game of Thrones. It was nice to see the thatch and the branch rafters, but sadly it won't last much longer...It would have been lovely to walk up behind the village onto the plateau, but it was way too hot!

Ash rafters.

A large fireplace.

A large boulder forms part of a wall.

The coastal fog was still clearing.

What a splendid boy!

Johann the Goat and Pudding Stone

Our next visit was to Cushendun, for a walk along the coast, not very far, to the conglomerate caves, but first time to see the statue of Johann. We were really stuck by it last time we visited - Johann was the last animal to be culled in the area during the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak. Apparently he used to graze down by the harbour and wander around the village and was popular with both tourists and locals. 

Fortunately, given the heat inland, the coast was slightly foggy and much cooler! 

The village itself was designed by Clough Williams-Ellis for the Baron of Cushendun. After the baron's wife's death he designed a row of Cornish-looking cottages in her memory as she was born in Penzance.

Cushendun caves and an arch...

The cliffs are made up of deposits laid down by flash floods in the Devonian. They include a wide range of sizes of clasts/pebbles. This is known as a Pudding Stone, where rounded rocks are cemented together by finer material.

.

The site also, as did so many places in Northern Ireland, featured in Game of Thrones. 

Very 'designy'

Eerie!

Snakes and Adder's Tongues

Next, onto Streedagh Beach, but not for the beach...Streedagh is an important fossil site, with many 
coral species, brachiopods, crinoids and foraminifera. The most spectacular were the long solitary corals, Siphonophyllia samsonensis. Not unsurprisingly, they were likened to snakes - possibly the ones that St Patrick banished.....

Benbulben in the background.

Crossing some nice machair to get to the site.

Solitary corals.....

Colonial coral - probably Siphondendron sp.

An upturned coral head.

More spectacular views.

And on the way back ....Adder's Tongue fern.

Creevykeel Court Cairn,

A quick stop at Creevykeel Court Cairn, in County Sligo: it's a Neolithic burial chamber 55m x 25m and is really quite impressive. This website click here gives lots more information. 

Toberpatrick

A spectacular walk along this part of the coast. Dipping beds of rock, covered in streaks of green Ulva intestinalis (Gut Weed /Entromorpha) make for some dramatic scenery. This is one of Tom's sites where he did his PhD work (click here for the open access paper), on the tufa microbialites.

Tufa barrage pools.

Lunch time.

Sadly the tide was too high to get down to the interesting bits, especially given the swell and waves. Never mind ...next time....

Bundoran, County Donegal

A walk along the coast to an incredible site! 

Parking was at at Tullan Strand.

Bundoran, with the Benbulben plateau behind.

Sea arch.

Looking for fossils.

Slabs of rock that are mainly made up of Chrinoids (Sea Lilies).