Knockmealdown Walking Club – Walk to Galty Castle & Kings Yard
We had a very nice walk yesterday (Sunday Feb. 26th, 2012), which started just outside Kilbehenny village, walking toward the Galtee Mountains, turning off for Galty Castle and then walking onward to the Kings Yard. This is a wonderful facility for walkers that you would not expect to find in the midst of the Galtee Mountains. Please do visit their site and utilise the facility if you are walking in this region of the Galtee Mountains, it is a very worthwhile project. The weather wasn’t ideal, as it was a little misty, so the wonderful views the area had to offer weren’t on view. It was, however, still a very nice morning for a walk.
The Kings Yard, look for the signs to the left just beyond Kilbehenny when travelling from Mitchelstown, is a farm tucked into the glen overlooked by Coopers Wood and Knockngalty Hill. Here the Attycran river meets the Glounreagh river and they in turn become the river Funcheon River which flows through Kilbehenny. The Kings Yard provides a full range of services for all climbers and walkers in the area.
In case you are actually expecting to encounter Galty Castle, it is actually no longer there. Built in the late 1700’s as a hunting lodge for the second Earl of Kingston, it was demolished in 1940 and the stone used to build the Catholic Church in Glanworth. This loop provided spectacular views into the Galtee Mountains, many thanks to Jim O’Brien, our walking guide on the day.
The walk on the day wasn’t actually the Attychraan Loop, but it is quite similar and this Discover Ireland link to the loop will give you an idea of what we encountered on the day. Unfortunately the tech wizz with the GPS software on his phone (me) inadvertently stopped tracking our walk half way through so I can’t upload it here. Another day perhaps. I put it down to changing my phone during the week, others to innate stupidity – take your pick.
There is no walk next week, Sunday March 4th, but we’ll be back again on March 11th.
Here are some photos from the morning’s walking activities: