313-The Ireland Way
Show notes
In mid 2024 Larissa and her husband Brendan, hiked 1047km along the length of Ireland predominantly on ‘The Ireland Way’. This is a trail that has come across my desk from time to time and when Larissa first contacted us towards the end of last year, this was a great opportunity to find out about Ireland’s long trail.
Podcast Overview
Podcast Overview
- Podcast introduction
- Episode introduction (time index 0:01:27)
- Before we talk about your adventure on the Ireland Way, please tell us a bit about yourselves (time index 0:02:01)
- How did you decide to do the Ireland Way? (time index 0:03:48)
- Paint a picture for us about the Ireland Way (time index 0:07:46)
- Direction?
- What time of the year did you do this walk and why? (time index 0:12:55)
- June -august (Summer)
- What is summer like in Ireland?
- Did you do this walk as a couple or a larger group? (time index 0:15:30)
- Were there many other walkers?
- Mainly day walkers, very few thru hikers
- Were there many other walkers?
- What’s the accommodation situation on this trail? (time index 0:16:42)
- Difficulty with tenting it
- B & B
- What’s the trail tread like? (time index 0:20:34)
- Not always a clearly marked trail
- Follow the trail markers
- Yellow arrows
- Is there a trail app?
- Paper maps
- Hiiker App
- What sort of footwear were you wearing? (time index 0:27:33)
- Go for breathable shoes because they dry faster
- Tell us about the gear you were carrying? (time index 0:28:54)
- Packs
- Tent and sleeping gear
- Sleep mask!
- Stoves
- The small screw on canisters can be hard to find
- Synthetic jackets
- Quick dry clothing (tick proof)
- Permethrin treated pants
- Cooking in general
- Describe a typical day on the trail (time index 0:33:57)
- Long days, 9:00am start until around 10:00pm because it’s so light!
- What was the food situation for the trip? (time index 0:36:18)
- Pubs tend to be evening focused rather than during the day
- Water
- Carried filters
- How busy was the trail? (time index 0:40:45)
- Very few on the trail
- What was the wildlife/animal life and vegetation like? (time index 0:41:43)
- Farm animals
- Deer
- Foxes
- What were the trail highlights for you? (time index 0:44:01)
- The people
- The first couple of weeks of the trail
- The forests
- Histotical sites
- Aqueducts
- How easy was it to get to the trail head? (time index 0:50:53)
- Were there any lowlights? (time index 0:52:12)
- Who would you recommend this trail for? (time index 0:54:48)
- Episode introduction (time index 0:01:27)
-
One final question
- What’s your next great hiking adventure (time index 00:56:02)
- Final thoughts (time index 00:57:07)
- Close (time index 1:12:00)
Listening to the Australian Hiker Podcast
You can listen to just one episode but the best way to listen to the Australian Hiker Podcast is by subscribing through iTunes, Podbean, Stitcher Radio, Spotify where the podcast episodes will be delivered to your device almost as soon as they are published. Go on, you know you want to!
You can listen to the Australian Hiker Podcast in the following ways:
- Through our website. All our episodes can be found here
- On Apple technology listen through Apple Podcasts here
- On Android phones (as well as apple) we recommend Podbean
In addition the are a number of other ‘podcatcher’ services that allow you to download our episodes. Below are a few options where to find us:
Larissa and Brendan Social media
Brendan and Larissa towards the end of the Ireland Way (image by Larissa and Brendan)
Camping on the Ireland Way (image by Larissa and Brendan)
Forest on the Ireland Way (image by Larissa and Brendan)
Ireland Way, sometimes rough and rocky through misty mountains (image by Larissa and Brendan)
Sometimes sunny and sometimes long easy walking on quite country roads/lanes on the Ireland Way (image by Larissa and Brendan)
Larissa and her trekking poles at the highest point on the Ireland Way (image by Larissa and Brendan)
The Ireland Way (image by Larissa and Brendan)
The end of the Ireland Way . The official finish point at the Children of Air Sculpture (image by Larissa and Brendan)
A constant obstacle course with trail markers! Note the marker signage on the lower left side of this image (image by Larissa and Brendan)
Rock cairn to guide the way over the mountain to gouge Barra on the Ireland Way (image by Larissa and Brendan)
Australian Hiker Social Media
Australian Hiker can also be found on our various social media platforms
Contact us
Support us
Australian Hiker is a labour of love for Gill and Tim Savage and any money earned goes straight back into helping to make this blog better. Any support that you provide is greatly appreciated! If you wish to support us, even in some small way, it would be greatly appreciated. So why not buy us a coffee? Support Us