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ADVENTURE OF THE MONTH—DECEMBER, 2003 discover
surprising pastoral beauty
The North Riding of County Tipperary is—in my mind at least—classic dairy Ireland. Bordered on the west by the long Lough Derg through which the River Shannon passes on its way southwest to the Atlantic, the North Riding is walled off from the county’s southern half by hill country that could fit seamlessly into Appalachia. Numerous streams that drain the hills and valleys flow northwest into the lough, most never gaining enough size or speed to float barges or make power. But they ensure constantly irrigated bottomland rich in grass for most of the year. And, being largely unimpeded by the works of man, they continue to be excellent fishing streams, and often the traditional realm of fishing clubs.
Uniquely, a public trail follows the Nenagh River providing an especially typical look at the gentle, green, muddy, pastoral, dairy landscape of Ireland. The history of rural Ireland is there, too, by implication. Walk the walk and you may, if you watch closely, be able to talk the talk.
Starting in Dromineer makes some sense, because it was once the Port of Ormond on Lough Derg, providing commerce by barge for local farmers before the creation of a reliable road system. Via the Shannon Waterways system (the navigable River Shannon, Lough Derg, the Grand Canal) goods from Tipperary’s North Riding could be carried north and east to Dublin and the Irish Sea, and south and west to Limerick and the Atlantic.
Between the Whiskey Still and the Dromineer Bay Hotel there’s a sign-posted map on the Sli Eala "walk of discovery" describing the walk in detail. The sign also marks the start point of the walk. Don’t walk from here.
HOME AT FIRST has cottages in Dromineer |
Ireland earns its reputation as a
gentle, green land of rich pastures and brown, burbling waters full of fish not along its
wild coasts or in its rocky, thin-soiled mountains, or in its smudged, boggy plateaus of
peat. No, buttermilk Ireland is found in the lush bottom lands around the lakes and
meandering rivers in the country’s rural interior. This is dairy country populated
with Friesians and Holsteins. What narrow lanes that invade the meadows here are littered
with clods thrown by tractor tires and soggy, steamy piles from herds returning to the
barn.
The market town of
Tipperary’s North Riding is Nenagh, properly located halfway between the hills and
the lake in the middle of prime agriculture country. Passing through Nenagh is the Nenagh
River—An Ghaothach in Gaelic—which rises in the Silvermines Mountains and flows
slowly from Nenagh to its marshy entrance into Lough Derg near the hamlet of Dromineer. In
the 7 miles between Nenagh and the lake the river gets lost, meandering in the meadows and
missing all pockets of population except Ballyartella, which boasts a castle ruin, a weir,
and Hanly’s Woolen Mills and Visitor Centre. The river contains trout, pike,
and—occasionally—salmon, as well as "coarse" fish (such as bream and
perch), but fishing rights belong to a local club.
The walk has a name, "Sli
Eala", the Swan Way. Pick-up a brochure/map for the walk at the Nenagh Tourist
Office, or at the village shop in Dromineer (50p), or download one free from the internet
at this address: 
Today Dromineer remains
a port, but for pleasure boats, and is home of the 3rd oldest yacht club in the
world (1837) the Lough Derg Yacht Club. Dromineer harbor offers Shannon cruisers good
protection, overnight lodging at the Dromineer Bay Hotel, provisions at the village shop,
and sustenance and entertainment at the Whiskey Still pub and the hotel. The upscale yacht
basin/harbor can be quite busy on sunny summer weekends. When it is lined with gleaming,
fiberglass and chrome boats and ringing with the laughter of children in the large harbor
side playground, Dromineer marina contrasts sharply with its two noteworthy architectural
ruins: a medieval castle tower, and a thatched cottage relic from before the Famine.
The first half of the
Swan Way follows narrow roads through the farm country, but apart from providing some
exercise, this 90 minutes of walking is neither especially informative nor scenic. And,
because the roads are narrow, even though they see little traffic, walkers must be
vigilant for oncoming or overtaking cars and farm vehicles. Instead, drive the first half
of the walk. At the intersection with the Dromineer-Nenagh Road is an old house that had
originally been a school and later which served as a soup kitchen during the Famine
1845-48 when the region lost more than one-third of its population to death and
emigration. The Famine was felt even in the lush dairy lands of Central Ireland where
potatoes were far from the only crop, when the traditional feudal agricultural economy
crashed. Scattered in the fields and along country lanes are the relic cottages of
pre-Famine times, reminders that rural Ireland today is but a shadow of its former self.