Carrowkeel

On Saturday, I collected George Huxley at Buswells at 07:55, or so, to drive him to Collooney (really, to have a long chat along the way). An Goban Saor says that a story shortens the way, but the National Development Plan played no small part. I'd not been up to Sligo for several years, and was somewhat bemused to reach the Shannon at Rooski by half-past nine. His appointment was for 11:30, so we settled down at the hotel with tea and toast for an hour or so, before continuing.

Collooney has a fine-looking river (Owenmore?), and a splendidly vertical parish church high above it.
I'd thought of opening the book on the 2007 trout season, but the weather, fine in the East, like the very dawn of creation, had turned foul when we came to the Shannon. Heading back, I decided to stop to view the Carrowkeel megalithic passage-tombs. There is some seriously-misleading signposting (which is the main point of this blog). My advice is to park the car and walk when you reach the sign that says the tombs are 1km away. That way, you can't drive up the wrong dirt-track and get stuck in the mud, as I did.

I ended up two km from that point, on top of a ridge, in mist, gale and and rain, utterly stuck, with the drive-wheels dug in to the axels. But God is good. I had waterproof clothing (for fishing), so trotted out in reasonable comfort, met some amiable tourists from Colorado, walked up the right way and inspected four tombs (two with exceptionally-fine chambers), and got a lift back to the nearest farm. This proved to belong to the wonderful and great-hearted Mr. Haendel ("like the composer") and his family, who dropped everything, got out the tractor, and came back up,the mountain to haul me out
of the bog. Did my heart good to meet such people!

One tomb has no visible passage. The others are all oriented towards 300 magnetic. Possibly midwinter sunset, or simply towards Knocknarea?