19.06.2004 -- Walking the Reenascreena Trail

Young and old alike flocked to Reenascreena on Thursday evening, 17th June, for a guided walk to mark the start of the Reenascreena Midsummer Extravaganza. The five-mile-plus walk, led by local historian Fachtna O'Callaghan, started at the steeple in Reenascreena village, proceeded to Carrigfadda Church, then on to the William Thompson monument outside The Mall School before returning to the village along "The Straight Road".

You notice so much more walking than you ever can from a car. Inside a vehicle you're isolated from your surroundings. Cocooned in your own little bubble of steel and glass you only catch fleeting glimpses of the places you're driving through. Walking, in contrast, lets you really experience the living, breathing soul of a place. Whether it's the streets of a big city or a pristine wilderness, the only way to really get to know a place is on foot.

That fact was abundantly clear in Reenascreena on Thursday evening. When we see things every day its easy to start taking them for granted, but a walk around the area on a fine summer's evening really makes you appreciate what a wonderful place we live in -- especially when its punctuated by the fascinating historical insight of a local expert. Fachtna O'Callaghan's enthusiastic and authoritative accounts of local history and of the areas more colourful historical characters were interesting, entertaining, and also presented the opportunity for a brief rest....

Everyone had a wonderful time on the walk, and people were looking forward to a weekend of festivities as the festival gets into full swing.