I'd planned a big trip to Achill Island for the weekend, but the weather was terrible. All too often recently I've let bad weather keep me from going out and I wasn't going to let it happen today. I wasn't going to go camping in it, but I wasn't going to stay indoors, either.

So, I set off for Westmeath to track down a few bullaun stones - no surprises with my choice of target really! I tend to ignore the midland counties, so it seemed like a good plan to see what I could find.

I had some success. I managed to track down some bullaun stones that I don't think have been visited for a long time. One is a big lump of limestone and another was the only one I've been to that is a quartzy comglomerate. I also went to a very interesting motte and bailey, which is in very good condition. The motte itself looks as if it could be a reused barrow.

All-in-all the weather was pretty bad. I came across several trees that the high winds had brought down and it didn't stop raining until mid-afternoon. I still had a very enjoyable day out, though.