October 25, 2018 (Day 1 of 2) Mullaghmesha’s southwestern slope, about halfway between Drimoleague and Kealkil, 2:00 PM

Today I’m walking the first half of St. Finbarr’s Way, which follows the path the early Christian saint would have walked from Drimoleague back to Gougane Barra. As far as I can glean, he only left the remote fastness of his monastery (on an island, in a lake, surrounded by steep mountains) to come and instruct some errant new Christians. Methinks there is more to this story. I’ll have to look into it sometime.

The day broke clear and crisp at the Top of the Rock in Drimoleague, where David and Elizabeth Ross have established a “Pod Pairc” for camping on their family cattle farm. The full moon still hung bright in the western sky and shone its pale beauty at the sand-colored streak in the east which grew and warmed and blossomed into pink before seeping round the whole horizon. It was one of those morning skies that proclaims uncategorically: Today, anything is possible.

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