Coolnahay was a pretty little place that had two picnic areas, a little tea-room operating out of a lock-keeper’s cottage which was even open on a Friday in March. I felt a bit bad in that I was fully stocked with coffee and lunch but I sat down at a bench by the harbour to eat. I had a nice lunch of tuna roll, crisps and coffee. I left the woman a small donation (they had a sign saying donations welcome) as I felt bad about using their facilities. There was water available there as well but I took stock and figured I had enough to get me to Mullingar and didn’t need the weight. I got the map out and reckoned on being able to make Mullingar with about half an hour to spare for the 4:10 train so long as I didn’t faff about.

I met four people walking around Coolnahay and excluding the woman in the shop in Ballynacarrigy, these were the only people I saw for the entire day.

A little bit further on I came across this modern intrusion on the landscape which is Shanonagh bridge. At this point I was getting a sense of being on the home stretch but the weather was getting a bit nasty. It was a little uncomfortable but not a real problem thanks to my rain jacket and moleskin trousers.

After another couple of kilometres I came into Ballina where we joined the disused Athlone to Mullingar railway for the last 5 km or so into Mullingar.

I was getting pretty tired at this stage but with the end in sight I was moving fairly well. As I headed closer to Mullingar,  I came across this odd looking memorial cross

 

When I got home, I looked this up and it turns out the Mary Walker was brutally murdered at this spot in 1909 and a man was hanged for the crime about six months later. It all looks quite gruesome – I will probably read up about it if I can.

Closer to Mullingar, I came across more disused rail infrastructure. I had never realised how big the railway yard was in Mullingar. There was the huge amount there and it’s all just falling apart. 

  

So finally after 6 hours and 10 minutes, 10 minutes longer than estimated, I made it to Mullingar station with about 40 minutes to spare for the 1305 from Connolly to Sligo. I changed into a clean t-shirt and fleece so that I wouldn’t stink out the train and got back to Edgeworthstown in 20 minutes on the train.