Bangor Trail facts for kids

The Bangor Trail is a special walking path in Erris, North Mayo, Ireland. It's a great way to explore the beautiful countryside!

Discovering the Bangor Trail

The Bangor Trail is about 29 kilometres (about 18 miles) long. It starts in a village called Bangor Erris and goes south through the Nephin Beg Mountains. The trail ends in Newport. It's known as a challenging but rewarding hike, perfect for adventurers!

What You'll See on the Trail

The trail mostly goes through a type of land called a blanket bog. This is a wet, peaty area that looks like a huge, soft carpet covering the land. Even though it's called "Atlantic" bog, the ocean is a bit far from the trail itself.

You might also hear about other walking paths nearby. The Western Way is another popular trail in the same area. There are also many exciting cliff walks along the coast of North Mayo, especially near Benwee Head and Glinsk. These paths offer amazing views of Broadhaven Bay. If you want to find maps for these walks, you can often get them from Comhar Dún Chaocháin Teo in Carrowteige.

The History of the Bangor Trail

The Bangor Trail isn't just a modern walking path; it's a very old route! It follows what used to be a "drover path." A drover path was a route used long ago to move farm animals, like cattle, from one place to another. This path might even be as old as the Iron Age, which was thousands of years ago!

Life on the Trail Long Ago

As you walk the trail, you might spot signs that people lived here a long time ago. There's evidence of homes from the mid-1800s. This was just before a very difficult time in Ireland called the Irish Famine. During that time, many people lived in this area, and the trail was an important route for them.

In the past, from the 1500s to the early 1900s, rich landlords from England owned huge areas of land in Ireland. They often had special houses called hunting lodges near rivers and lakes. They used these lodges for fun activities like hunting red deer and going on shooting trips. These landlords sometimes helped keep parts of the trail in good condition, especially the parts that crossed their land. Before proper roads were built in the early 1800s, the Bangor Trail was the main way for people and their animals to travel through this remote part of Ireland.