Day 158: Ring of Hook

Day 158 - Saturday, September 15th 2018: Duncannon to Fethard 25 km / Total 3257 km, 18°C, cloudy If some morning I'm lazy and really take my time to get ready, that day I was definitely enthusiastic to walk. After an hour and a half along a quiet little road (well, not so quiet: there was a tractor cutting the hedges ... Of course now that my walk is almost over, while I've been scratching my naked arms on it the whole summer), I reached Templetown. The very little village has a church with a tower founded by the Knights Templar, which explains the name of the village. The Tower was quite well preserved. I decided to get lunch at the pub just in front of it and waited for half an hour before it opened. The service was a little bit long so in fact, my lunch break lasted for almost two hours. If I had known, I would have walked to the lighthouse and get lunch there. Sometimes I don't make the best choice but it's hard to predict every part of my walk. After Templetown, it was almost a direct road between two stone walls recently renovated. I passed in front of Loftus Hall, the most haunted house of Ireland. And it's true that seen from the distance, the place looked haunted. I wouldn't like to live there, especially in winter with bad weather. I finally reached Hook Head, with its lighthouse, founded by the monks, which means that's the most ancient lighthouse still in use in the world.  As Hook Peninsula is a cul de sac, then I had to walk the same way back, to Fethard, where I expected to spend the night in a hostel, or in the campsite. I knocked on the hostel door: no answer. So I decided to go to the pub next door and asked if there was someone at the hostel. The owner told me the hostel manager was on holidays, but there was a B&B in the village. I asked if I could go to the campsite and he told me it was already close, and he joked with a guest, that there was still the castle. Two possibilities of accommodation and both were closed. The Winter season starts very early here. Finally, the barman called some B&B and found me a place in the cheapest one. So it was not a bad solution, more expensive than the hostel of course, but, at least I got a hot shower and a comfy bed for the night.