ZigZag Wanderer

Across the Irish Sea we go

3rd September 2025

It was a foul start to the morning, and an early one, as we had to be in place in the ferry queue before 7.15am. We’d almost forgotten what proper rain was, but we soon had our memories refreshed. It was throwing it down.

Number of passengers in the ‘Pet Den’: Three (M, mesen, and her Lacyship)!

Seems chilled enough

Mind you, within half an hour of departure, the outlook had vastly improved to the point we could actually see what looked very much like the normal horizon. Perhaps things were looking up?

The Wicklow Mountains and Dublin (just about)

Dublin seemed to hove into view almost too quickly, and the EE ‘welcome to Eire’ message popped up little more than an hour after leaving Wales, enabling me to quickly (re)publish yesterday’s blog before we descended into the Cyprus-registered ship’s diesel-stinky bowels once more (via a lift as Lacy is decidely anti steel-open-tread stairs).

As usual with us, there was an issue with getting off the ferry due to lorry trailers blocking a couple of rows (including ours) in, meaning it took far longer to move than it should’ve. However, once outside, it all went smoothly and quickly enough, including the pet control checkpoint, run by a lovely lady who gave us the almost-obligatory ‘welcome home’ greeting!

After fighting the Dublin traffic (fairly grim), we emerged onto the N3 heading northwest through the on-off rain showers (mostly ‘off’ fortunately) and Navan and Cavan, and thence to Killykeen forest park for a couple of hours and a sandwich and coffee. We’d thought about staying the night; it’s a lovely and peaceful spot, but there’s some doubt whether overnight parking is allowed (reviews vary on this point on Search for Sites) so we moved on, fortified, to the private marina at Ballinamore. This charges 15€ per night, but has full facilities, is obviously right by the water, and is nice and secure, so no complaints here. Try and get that kind of price for a night on a campsite with EHU, water, dumping, toilets, and showers.

There was one minor problem on setting up, though. Hooking up to the power post resulted in nada electric, and had the marina’s owner fetching us a known good cable, to no avail. It turned out to be the van’s ‘fusebox’ which had either tripped, or more likely, been accidentally switched off while we were packing. It was sorted quite quickly

Looking East…

…and west.

It’s pleasant enough too, and just a short amble to the town centre – so we may well stay for a couple of nights.

4th September 2025

Well, that was a really peaceful night

We both (all) slept pretty well, which is not surprising given that we didn’t sleep too well the night before, and it was a long travel day.

We awoke to sun and showers – some really bright ,warm sun, and some quite heavy showers. But it’s warm enough, and it dried up by 2pm, so no worries (apart from Lacy’s POV as she just loves lying outside, but no way do we need a wet dog in the van!).

A sturdy brunch with copious amounts of tea and coffee set us up nicely for a wander up into Ballinamore.

It’s a funny little town, but very friendly, if you can go by the greetings in the street, the compliments re. Lacy, and the service in the cafe where we topped up our caffeine levels.

It’s also very much a republican town, celebrating councillor and Sinn Féin man John Joe McGirl – an ‘unbroken and unbreakable Fenian’ with a large polished and well cared-for memorial. His is an eye-opening story that bears looking up.

Just along from there, by the the walkway between the bifurcated channels of the canal navigation, is a weir dropping the one course level noisily some six or eight feet, with an adjacent corresponding lock on the parallel navigation.

The weir and the public marina beyond

It’s not a busy stretch of water here at this time of the year, but we’ve been passed by a narrowboat, a couple of large cruisers, and a few utilitarian-looking barges. Most of the vessels moored here at the private marina don’t look as though they see much service though – and a good many would benefit from a good stiff brushing down!

There were a couple of fancy looking craft at the public marina, which is run by Waterways Ireland, however. There’s free overnighting available there too, and it was on our radar for our first night(s) , but the lure of the private marina just won out as we were still finding our feet in Eire. Had we been a bit further into the trip, I reckon we’d have used it, and it really does look a pleasant spot. Waterways Ireland smart cards are also available to purchase, which give access to showers etc. at all their many marina-type facilities, and would be a worthwhile purchase if we were staying in the area longer rather than heading off towards the north coast tomorrow. Maybe if we’re passing again…

Time to settle in for the evening though, and to plan tomorrow’s route to the Giant’s Causeway (tourist trap? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s on the list!).