The weather is quite unsettled (or should I even say unhinged) for the past few weeks, which means we’re mostly staying tucked in at home. It also means I get a lot of opportunities to just observe our little patio/garden from the couch and witness the coming of the season. Rosemary, bluebells, and whatever the little white flowers are called are slowly going through the motions and putting on colours.
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Not sure why, but this year we’ve found ourselves heading out to the western reaches of County Cork more often than in all five previous years of living in Ireland. Maybe it’s the weather: more often than not, the forecast for the southwest coast promised low cloud and light rain, which, by local standards, is practically a blessing.
This trip was no exception—my usual trio of weather apps all agreed on scattered clouds, the odd drizzle, and a strong wind that stopped short of being a storm. Expecting anything more pleasant in autumn is a fool’s game, so we booked an attic over someone’s garage on AirBnB, packed our bits, and pointed the car towards Schull.
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The main let-down at Three Castles Head is that, despite the name, there’s only the one castle. That said, the castle itself – Dunlough – is built with three towers, so really it’s more the “Head of Three Towers” than anything else. From a defensive point of view, it’s brilliantly placed: its single wall stretches between sheer cliffs rising out of the Atlantic on one side, and a boggy lake on the other. There’s no record in history of Dunlough ever being attacked, let alone taken.
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We’re at the tail end of summer (according to Irish folk calendar it’s technically autumn already), so winds coming from the Atlantic are brining sputtering of rain every now and again. Still, I try to catch an occasional spot of sunshine and do a quick stroll around Farmleigh park a few minutes away from home.
