Drumkeerin Co. Leitrim

After a very early start, we caught the first train to Chester and then changed for another early train to Holyhead where we boarded the Dublin Ferry. From Dublin we caught a further train to Carrick on Shannon, from where we cycled to our first night's accommodation near Drumkeerin in Co. Leitrim. 

County Leitrim is about as rural as you could get, and there was something unchanging and exciting about it. Wild flowers, uncut hedgerows and verges, bird song -and a bit of rain. No big towns, let alone cities, and the villages were living villages with shop, pub, and often a Credit Union as in the case of Drumkeerin which also had an annual music festival.