Coastal Adventures in Dundrum, Co. Down

Over the weekend a couple of my friends and I went on a little adventure to a place called Dundrum in Co. Down, a little town on the coast surrounded by the Mourne Mountains. We went up in the early evening on Saturday night so we were there whenever the sun started to set, which was beautiful, especially because the moon was so bright. We parked the car and headed down the pathway through Murlough National Nature Reserve towards the beach. It started getting dark quite quickly after we arrived so that was the only part of our trip I really managed to capture (my camera isn't great in the dark), but since Robin Williams's death my friend Chris (who was still a nutcase before this) has been moved to "suck the marrow" out of life- a reference from Williams's role in "the Dead Poets' Society"- so as soon as we reached the beach, he stripped down in the pitch black and ran half-naked into the sea. He has since caught a cold, but fair play to him I guess, I think we could all do with sucking the marrow a little more, because let's face it, life is short! I think Robin William's sudden death has really proven that to all of us in these last few weeks. I've certainly been thinking about it anyway.

When Chris had enough of frolicking around in the water and had dried himself off we headed back and up to Dundrum Castle which sits on a grassy hill overlooking the town. The castle was built by John De Courcy, an Anglo-Norman knight, during his conquest of Ulster around the turn of the 13th Century. As like many of the castles in Ireland, Dundrum Castle is now in ruins but at one time it was a strong and imposing structure, passed through the hands of kings, knights and earls over the course of its time, and so is seeped in history. If you'd like to read a bit more, I found this little PDF from Northern Ireland's Department of the Environment. I'll confess, the castle is pretty creepy in the dark and I was a little bit nervous but we still went up and had a good wander round anyways! Because it was so dark though the stars were really bright which was nice.

After that little adventure we headed back home (though not before stopping for a cheeky McDonald's!) and I went straight to my bed. It was a really lovely, fun night though, I really want to do it again soon!