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Runblin, Kiltiernan (2026)

16/06/2024

⚠️ WARNING ‼️
🦅 I was attacked by a Buzzard
on this evening’s run 🦅

Initially, I noticed a beautiful bird swoosh through the trees overhead.
Thinking it may be an owl 🦉
I reached for my phone and grabbed this blurry shot just as it found perch.
Whereupon, he immediately gave me an evil eye
and squawk.

The penny dropped ( !)
and I moved to scarper.
Twice more it swooshed my head.
I sped up considerably.
I could feel the draft of his wings on each fly-by 😱

By now I was fearful for my eyes and face,
my hand forming a visor,
I ducked forward.

The fourth swoosh was a hit.
Talons dug into the top of my scalp.
Ouch 😫!

When would this end?
I keep running
Still aware of the preying bird
he landed no more strikes.
I didn’t stop until I was several hundred meters further down the trail.

The zone of attack must have spanned 100-200 meters.
Long enough for the ordeal to seem quite protracted.

Scalped in The Scalp Woods.
Maybe there was a clue here all along? 😄

This is one of favourite
and most frequented trails.
How will I feel about it from now on?
Honestly, I would be scared to run here again any time soon.

Sure, it made for a great anecdote,
but this wasn’t a pleasant experience.
I really wouldn’t encourage you to seek out a similar encounter.
Steer clear.

To avoid the Buzzard,
stay on the steeper DMW trail if passing through Barnaslingan Woods at The Scalp⛔️
This alternative well beaten trail is not recommended for the coming 2 months of nesting.

And to think meeting legendary The Fonz
(Henry Winkler)
would be my story of this weekend?!

.ie Kilternan, Glenamuck & Carrickmines Areas

01/02/2023

Feb 1st, Saint Brigid’s Day:
Is this the face of St Brigid?

Purportedly the 12th century high cross has a long association with St Brigid, and that the faded figure on its eastern face is that of the female saint.

There is also debate as to whether Brigid was a real person, or if she is was a Christianisation of a Celtic goddess, with her feast day of 1st February coinciding with the pagan Irish festival of .

Despite a Right Of Way, access to this cross continues to be impeded by developers.

Ancient Lehaunstown Lane’s decline continues apace.

This winding road which becomes , then connecting Cabinteely to the mountains, must surely be an ancient highway?
I love the sense of history whenever I run this route.

Along its trail, are two ancient crosses, a Bronze Age fort, a Norman castle, an early church, as well as a Neolithic standing stone and two dolmens.

Yet, all sense of the trail between these monuments is evaporating by the minute.

Saint Brigid, among other things, is patroness of protection. Sadly, it looks like her powers are fading as our heritage disappears, becoming mere memory morsels, forlorn forgotten follies in the narrow nooks between apartment blocks.

02/08/2022

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 🌻🌻🌻🌻
🌻The Kilternan sunflower field is back🌻

Kindly donated by Scalp Wood Nurseries
in aid of Our Lady’s hospice & care services Harold’s cross, Blackrock & Wicklow.

Open 10:00 - 16:45 daily.

Be sure to donate and bring home some joy.

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

21/07/2022

Accusations that I Photoshopped my image of lightning striking Poolbeg lighthouse this week are strongly denied.

29/03/2022

An inadvertent triptych, featuring unfiltered photos grabbed running Dublin Bay this Sunday. The faint mist drew a mystic ambience diffusing the familiar coastal features.
1. Killiney Bay
2. Dun Laoghaire
3. Sandymount Strand

20/01/2022

Carrickgollogan Dolmen:
Before and after the damage images,
taken on runs in May 2020 versus January 2022.

5,000 years ago, these deceptively inconsequential stones were placed here looking out across Dublin bay, the Sugarloaf & the Wicklow mountains. And there they proudly stood observing the changing world below for millennia.

That was until recent months, following years of neglect, when this historic neolithic Dolmen’s capstone was apparently callously knocked from its ancient perch.

Most folks are unaware that the foothills of the Dublin mountains boast a very rich Neolithic history, with many portal tombs and passage tombs located within a very small area.

, or more correctly , were built between 3000 to 2000 BC, serving as tombs and also likely ritual sites. These predate the later , also abundant further uphill across these mountain summits.

Perhaps the fact that people have been so unaware of our Neolithic monuments. has contributed to developers being able to aggressively encroach upon these historic settings, landowners block millennia old access routes, and now we see vandalism of a precious site.

We are the custodians.
We must make noise.
Please hassle and hustle politicians, agencies, everyone 🙏

We each have a duty to protect our heritage on our watch.

.ie

06/10/2021

Sunset running at this time of year can be quite spectacular. Here are a few recent twilight scenes from Three Rock Mountain, Wexford Harbour & Baldoyle Estuary.

14/04/2021

All of these locations require a Public Right of Way to access. Despite the existence of these particular ROWs

- Two of the these locations have already been physically blocked
- Closure of at least three appears to have been sought through the courts

The county development plan recognises the ROWs.

You have until this Friday to contribute your thoughts on the .ie plan.

The website is easy to use and it will only take minutes to share your thoughts with the council. Alternatively, do nothing and perhaps never get to visit these locations again.

https://www.dlrcoco.ie/en/county-development-plan/draft-county-development-plan-2022-2028

06/04/2021

Right of Ways vs Development:

The county of Dún Laoghaire is fortunate to have many wonderful natural and historic sites dating back over millennia. For many generations landowners have been kind in facilitating passage of fellow members of the community via defined trails across their property.

Unfortunately it seems that this long history is under severe and accelerating threat from the current custodians of our shared heritage.
Historic sites are becoming closed off and long established public right of ways to access historical sites and areas of outstanding natural beauty are being purposely shut without challenge from the authorities.

Meanwhile the residents of the county are left frustrated and deprived of access to such locations. So much is being robbed from us in such a short space of time.

For example, how were fences and barbed wire allowed to be erected across this established right of way In Kilternan? Oh yeah and a horse track popped up!

But wait, there’s worse to come. A recent application to the local development plan, on behalf of billionaire Monaco residents the Comer brothers, is seeking to rezone much of this area of natural beauty as residential. Right now the case is being made for “nursing homes and healthcare facilities”. Make no mistake rezoning the valley as residential is a one way ticket. Considering the size of this site, if built this would likely be the world’s largest ever nursing home by some way. Hmmm

Kilternan, Glenamuck & Carrickmines Areas

01/04/2021

The Blue Church in Kilternan wasn’t always blue.

At the time of its building in 1929, there was much rivalry between the parishes and Tidy Towns committees in Kilternan and nearby Glencullen. The competing Dublin mountain villages were constantly trying to score points against one another. Glencullen had Johnnie Fox’s pub, whereas Kilternan had its lead mine.

And so with this backdrop, Kilternan decided that victory could be claimed by building the new Our Lady of the Wayside Church and painting it baby pink. The “Pink Church” as it became known was an instant hit in the downhill community. Meanwhile, uphill in Glencullen, the tidy towns committee were so enraged by this ostentatious display, that Kilternan residents were banned from Johnnie Fox’s pub until 1952.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that the church was eventually decorated in its more familiar colour. Blue was chosen to represent the cooling tensions between the villages.

For the next 20 years peace prevailed in the valley. That was until Kilternan built the ski slope in the 1970s. The ramifications of that reignited tension that still festers in the community to this day.

Johnnie Foxs Pub (Official FB Page) Glencullen Tidy District

Runblin

16/06/2024

01/02/2023

02/08/2022

21/07/2022

29/03/2022

20/01/2022

06/10/2021

14/04/2021

06/04/2021

01/04/2021

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