WW Day 9 - Shillelagh to Clonegal

 Our bags are packed and waiting patiently by the door for time to leave. Once again we must wait until 9 am for the cafe to open. 

This is the outside door to our room.

We are back at D’lish for breakfast this morning. 

Kody had the veggie omelette again 

I had the porridge 

Our driver, Patrick Murphy, will pick us up at around 9:40 and take us back to Shillelagh, where we stopped yesterday. 

Joe and Lucy, the couple we met at Maura and Mick’s will be riding with us. They will be doing the walk we did yesterday but going the opposite direction at Shillelagh. Patrick took us all the way back to the trail so we didn’t have to do any backtracking or extraneous walking before the official walk began. 

12.4 miles

ascent 1,387.8' / descent 1,384.5'

The sun is shining and the sky is blue, another amazing day. I can’t believe it’s our final day on the Wicklow Way. We will have two days of travel and rest before beginning the Dingle Way on the 10th. 

Even in Ireland we have to deal with the windmills marring the landscape. If you don’t zoom in, you probably won’t notice them too much. 

We took off onto a series of forestry roads through Moylisha state forest. 

A mama sheep and her baby have gotten out of the fence and are walking Kody down the path

The clouds start to build around noon. 

Heart shaped opening in the hedge 

The sheep are very woolly 

Amazing tulips 

Herb - Robert, a form of geranium 

Gorgeous blooms on this plum tree

And a wonderful color of lilac 

European Robin 

Our direction was mostly southwest now and it was clear we were making our final descent. The clouds are getting much heavier in the direction we are headed and the mountains are getting rain. 

There was a beautiful blanket of bluebells on the forest floor.

A brand new baby lamb that was still getting her legs under her. 

We crossed a bridge that separated County Wicklow from County Carlow but never saw it. We were walking on tarmac for several miles along the valley of the Derry River and County Wexford was on our left too. It wasn’t long before the clouds opened up and a light rain started falling. It didn’t last long and as we walked on, we could see it had rained much more in other areas. Once again, we were blessed. 

Clonegal (with emphasis on the last syllable) is the end point of the Wicklow Way 

As we approached the church in Clonegal, a wave of excitement washed over us. We made our way to a small triangle of grass, took a left, and spotted a familiar sight: the roofed notice board with the same map we had first encountered in Marley Park nine days earlier. It was 1:45 PM, and we had just walked 95.3 miles over those eight incredible days, officially completing the Wicklow Way! What an amazing achievement! We couldn’t have done it apart from the grace of God, who kept us safe, met our needs, and guided us every step of the way.

After waiting for about 45 minutes, a different driver finally picked us up in Clonegal and took us and our bags to the Millview House B&B just outside Bunclody. As we drove, we noticed we were getting further away from town, which made us start to think about where we’d grab lunch or dinner.

When we checked in, the hostess kindly offered to drive us back into town for a meal. She dropped us off at a place called The Holy Grail or Rivers Edge—depending on where you look, it has a bit of an identity crisis with its decor, music, food, and even its name!

Kody had stir fried vegetables with rice and chips?

I had the (un) crispy duck, which was the special. 

After dinner, instead of having the B&B hostess come pick us up, we decided to walk back to the B&B, which was about half a mile up the hill. I mean, what's another half mile when you've already walked 11 today, right?

These views are from our room. The gardens are lovely. 

The Millview House B&B has 4.8 and 4.7 out of 5 stars on Google and TripAdvisor. We are wondering how, but I won’t go into details. It is rather disappointing though to spend our final night on the Wicklow Way in a room that is less than satisfactory. 

Today's Stats:

Miles - 10.7

Steps - 27,196

Ascent - 1,601’

Time - 3 hrs 31 min

Once again the threat of rain caused Kody to unapologetically pick up the pace. Our average pace today was just over 3 mph, even climbing those mountains. Whew!

I have no Internet access in the room, so I’m sitting downstairs in the sitting area to post this. I will calculate the total Wicklow Way stats and post them tomorrow. That’s it for today except for some closing thoughts. 

I don’t really mind camping, as a matter of fact, I kind of enjoy it (in perfect conditions). However, if I had to pick between a tent, bed and breakfast, or a cottage for my vacation, I wouldn’t go for a tent! But I do love hiking in the outdoors, the fresh air, and being close to nature. Dealing with the wind, rain, and cold adds a bit of a challenge—but we haven’t had to deal with that so far. I hike for enjoyment, and I always know that if the weather gets too rough, I can head back to a warm, dry house with all the comforts of modern life.

Preparing for our upcoming hiking trip is what got me thinking about the difference between being a camper and a pilgrim and the hymn, "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah." Did you know this hymn, written by William Williams in the 18th century, talks about the history of Israel. It references their journey from Egypt to their promised land of Canaan and connects it to the Christian life. Are you getting the theme here; wandering, wilderness, sojourner, pilgrim, journey to our forever home? Let me remind you of the first verse, and you’ll see why I love this old hymn and how it directly relates to 1 Peter 2:11.

"Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah!

Pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but Thou art mighty,

Hold me with Thy powerful hand:

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,

 Feed me 'til I want no more,

Feed me 'til I want no more."

The Bible has a lot to say about Christians being pilgrims, but it’s not something we talk about much these days. We’ve all heard sermons encouraging us to be faithful disciples and about being "salt and light" in the world. I’m certainly not downplaying those themes, which are clearly in the New Testament, but it’s been a while since I heard much teaching about being "sojourners and pilgrims". For the next few days I’d like to explore this old hymn, so bear with me.