North Side of Howth

In our part of the world the sun is very important, probably because we don't see too much of it, and people pay particular attention as to where they site a house. Will we get sunshine in the living-rooms during the day? In the case of Howth the north side is a lot less desirable, and less expensive, than the south side, which gets whatever sun there is all day.

Yesterday, however, since our investment was just a few hours of our day, we decided to visit the north side. There wasn't a lot of sun, but it wasn't raining either. We took our packed lunch, and drove past the marina, and up the little road, by the King Sitric restaurant, so narrow and obscure you wouldn't expect anything of it. It climbs, hugging the headland on its right, with mostly old cottages on the left, perched above the sea. One has an inconspicuous plaque, noting that J.B.Yeats lived there between 1880 and 1883. I think he had already fallen in love with Maud Gonne, who seems to have spent her life refusing to marry him. After driving for five or so minutes the road ends in an informal public car park.



We took our collapsible chairs, and our picnic lunch, and climbed up the path, walking for perhaps five or so minutes, until we saw a little patch on the left where we could perch. There was still a lot to climb, but not for us. We were already high, looking down on the seabirds which seemed to have taken over a large rocky headland, a few hundred feet below us. Ireland's Eye was out to sea on our left, where we could also look at the activity in Howth Harbour. Occasionally, we would see a small fishing-boat returning with its catch, surrounded by seabirds hoping for a free lunch. The sun came out, and we lazed in the heat, watching the planes taking off from Dublin airport.