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It’s been a long while since I recommended a Sligo walk, I’ve just been going back to my usual trails so it was nice to rediscover one this weekend.  It was a perfect winters day- utterly freezing but very dry and not windy much.  I was heading out with a neighbour and some friends who wanted  a new walk so we headed for the ruin of Killaspugbrone (also called Killasbugbrone Church) in Strandhill.

Knocknarea from the Church covered in winter air frost

It’s a great walk, a ramble across the dunes – or the beach when the tide is out- and round the back of the airport which makes me smile.  When you get to Strandhill beach you turn right past the surf shop, instead of left along the shore which is the more usual walk out there.  This one works when the tide is all the way in, which makes it a great option if you get to Strandhill intending to walk to Culleenamore and discover the tide is in the way.

Strandhill Beach

You head out along the dunes and after about 5 or 10 minutes you want to head down to the right (away from the beach) and then walk parallel to the beach- you’ll see a series of brown walking posts with a celtic cross on them that you can follow to the church, or just head for the back of the airport.

After a brilliantly irish sign asking you to watch for low-flying aircraft, you cross the back of the runway and head for the ruin in the distance.  The Church itself is pretty special- it dates back to the 12th century but may be much older than that. There’s a great amount of info on a well maintained panel outside the church- courtesy of the Killaspugbrone Preservation Society– which details it’s connections to St. Patrick, and how the cemetery around the church was, unusually, multi-denominational.

It was the main burial place for the Coney Islanders and you can conjure up a vivid image of the mourners walking across the strand between island and church.  It tells of a settlement around the church at one time too- which had to relocate due to shifting tidal and land patterns.

Cast a cold eye...

The beaches to the left and right of the Church are wonderful, great shapes and with beautiful views, well worth an extra walk once you get there. All in all it can be anything from an hour long walk to a 2 hour ramble, and it’s reasonably firm going. Enjoy!

A beach overlooked by the church