With its English looks and metropolitan feel, Dublin invites comparisons with London, and while it is friendlier and cozier than its British counterpart, the Irish capital inevitably falls short in some other respects.
It is, for one, less international, less multicultural and does not give out the same buzz of nervous excitement. But there are advantages in being small, too.
For example: if you take the London underground across town, would you get to see this on one end …
… and that on the other?
You would most certainly not: genteel High Wycombe and South Wimbledon may provide the perfect settings for hushed exchanges of drawing room drama but cannot match the grand opera of rocky cliffs over the Atlantic coast. Which is what you get in Dublin – that and more.
The Irish capital covers less than one tenth of Greater London’s surface area, and the “real Ireland” starts on the far end of a 20-minute-ride on a DART city-rail train. You will see fishermen repairing their nets, hobby anglers casting their rods into the Irish Sea and skinny old men walking to the beach in their bathrobes to take their morning swim alongside groups of school children, all of this orchestrated by the piercing shrieks of the seagulls.
This week and next, we shall offer you two coastal walks on opposite ends of the Irish capital and with opposite characters: gentle and bucolic the one, wild and dramatic the other.
We will start today in Howth, the top end of Dublin’s rugged north. Our walk starts in the polite surroundings of Howth marina, just to the left of Howth’s city-rail station …
… but already on the gentle climb on the coastal road out of town, you will get an idea of what is expecting you.
And if you look back, you will get splendid panoramic views of Howth and the Eye of Ireland, the small island in front of its coast.
But it is behind the Kilrock car park, approx. 30 minutes into the walk, where the real fun begins.
See the Eye of Ireland and the Nose of Howth
Cross the car park and, turning your back on the Eye of Ireland, the Nose of Howth will be around the corner. (This is probably the right place to point out that the “Eye” does not represent an allusion to human anatomy: “Ey” is the old Viking word for an island.)
For the next hour or so, you will be walking right on the top of the cliff, …
… witnessing the grand dramatic spectacle of the Irish Sea …
… but also some more lyrical moments. (The tower in the far distance is the Baily Lighthouse.)
There are different options of how to explore the cliffs around the Howth peninsula. Before you start the walk, you can go to the Tourist Office in Howth Harbour and pick up a free map of the different routes on offer, but there are also information panels in Kilrock Car Park.
We went for the GREEN route, also called the Lower Cliff Loop, which takes a sharp uphill turn at “The Summit” for the return to town.
The longer tours are colour-marked in BLUE, RED and PURPLE. PURPLE is the longest route and will take you all the way around the peninsula. If you want to do this, you should leave Dublin early and schedule a whole day for the trip.
Whatever option you decide to take: before the routes separate, you will encounter what is possibly the most famous landmark of Howth.
This is the “6 EIRE” sign, an aerial recognition marker from WWII that was meant to remind approaching war planes of Ireland’s status as a neutral country.
Shortly after the Summit, the descent into the suburbs of Howth begins. This section of the walk is not as dramatic as the previous one but also possesses a certain charm.
After you have made it back into town, take the time for a portion of Fish & Chips in one of the seaside chippies. Ireland and England are divided by many things, but this is one passion they share. This seaside classic is no longer a cheap snack as it had been for decades (following the steep rise in energy costs: deep-fat fryers must be kept in continuous operation for the whole day), but this is surely too good an opportunity to miss. Sign off your day trip in style!
And if you have appetite for more walking: next week, we are off to Dalkey on the opposite end of Greater Dublin. Looking forward to seeing you then!
