Where were we up to? Ah, yes, Bundoran, I think.
After two nights in Bundoran the weather had changed and we drove off on a soft St Valentine’s Day, in a fine drizzle. The plan was to go to an Aire at Gortnor Abbey Pier. I had asked around on Facebook for a suitable spot to stop and walk the dog on our way and Easkey (or Easky or Eskey or any one of the variant spellings that abound) had been suggested.
On our journey the character of the landscape changed considerably, becoming ever more agricultural and warmer and more lush. Numerous small tractors populated the road on our way. The heady aroma of muck-spreading seemed omni-present. That muck is good stuff though as I noted shortly before reaching Easkey that the grass here was growing well already.
Easkey, apparently, is a surfer spot of world-renown. It remains unspoiled, a one-street village of the standard “two pub” size that we have come to understand and recognise. It stands out however by virtue of its community-run caravan site. We decided to stop for the night and to move on to Gortnor Abbey Pier the following day.
Check in is at the Community building adjacent to the site. The code for the barrier and facilities is obtained on paying your €20 (Includes EHU). The free Wi-fi password had to be requested as it was not offered. (The staff appeared to be in need of some training and a customer information handout)
The Easkey site is small and unfussy. It is new, so the facilities block looks very spanking-new and promising. Accessibility is, as you might expect from a new-build site, very good (so far as this able bodied person can tell) with really roomy shower and lots of turnaround room in the Ladies.
There are three showers in both Ladies and Gents and each has one of them designed for Disabled use. Showers cost €2 for six minutes. To add insult to injury, the showers are of the push button type and deliver (I counted) around 12 seconds of water per push. Not enough to keep a body warm in the cold ambient temperature of the block. A blown air type heater on the wall by the entry door appeared not to be functioning.
Between the Ladies and Gents is a kitchen with kettle, toaster a couple of sinks and washing machine and tumble dryer. There is a small dining set and a book shelf with books etc. Presumably this can be used as a social space.
The motorhome pitches are hardcore and are very approximately level, each surrounded by plain grass (just cut – underlining my assessment that the grass was already under way for the year.) We chose the most apparently level pitch. They are not “fully-serviced sites” as promised at the barrier and we think this applies only to the handful of static pitches sharing the park. Motorhomes have a hookup only, not even a dedicated water point. It does make the overnight charge expensive for what you get, especially as we were unable to find any grey or black water waste points. Fresh water, rubbish and electricity only.
The free wi-fi provided a very weak signal to the van with only intermittent access. We tried indoors in the kitchen area but had no signal at all there.
The village has a couple of general stores, butchers, a pottery, Restaurant, Takeaway, bicycle hire and a small Heritage centre – most of which were closed for the season. The Pottery was open but we did not go in as I find it embarrassing to not spend money in such a place and we have simply nowhere in the van to put beautiful or delicate objets d’art. We were sad that Pudding Row was not open and i was equally sad not to be able to view the Heritage Centre, which is in a tiny cottage occupied until the middle of last century – ultimately by a family of eight! This may not seem remarkable but the small size of the place has to be seen to be believed – it made the standard Scots two-room But-and-Ben look positively palatial. I imagine it was a one-room place, about the size of our van…. but with SIX kids in it.
There is a ruined Kirk dating back to medieval times. The kirkyard is tiny and jam-packed. Not possible to navigate without walking on graves,
I fact it is so tightly packed that it is difficult to photograph – it’s not easy to get back far enough to frame a shot.
There is a riverside walk down to the sea. No beach but there is a small harbour and a castle ruin plus the prospect of watching the surf dudes at play.
