Malahide, located in north County Dublin, is a twenty minute DART ride into Dublin.
Malahide participates in an annual event called Tidy Towns. The national Tidy Towns initiative was launched in 1958. It was originally part of ‘Tostal’, a nationwide festival celebrating all things Irish. A step-up from the original National Spring Clean Campaign, which ran between 1953 and 1957, Tidy Towns rapidly developed its own identity and has gone on to become Ireland’s most well known and popular local environmental initiative.
The primary focus of Tidy Towns was to encourage communities to improve their local environment and make their area a better place to live, work and visit. The competition aspect was an important element in developing friendly rivalry that would help boost standards across the board. The emphasis was always on participating rather than winning as the very act of taking part brought benefits to the community. As a result of this focus on long-term results rather than quick returns, Tidy Towns was seen as a unique and far-sighted initiative.
Although just 52 towns entered in its first year, Tidy Towns rapidly increased in popularity with an average of 700 entrants per year. Sixty years later, the initiative still retains the same core principle of its founders – “make your place a better place.”
Our three story unit is on the left facing out over the Irish Sea.
Here are some photos from one of my morning walks. Shout out to all my friends and family that have ever walked with me. Miss all of you! 
One possible explanation for the term “Yellow Walls” is that at one time it had a popular local industry of weaving linen from flax fibers extracted from the stems of the flax plant. In its natural state, flax fiber ranges in color from pale yellow or cream to dark brown. Raw linen woven from flax fibers naturally has a yellowish color so in order to get white linen, the fabric must be bleached. This, it is said, was done by hanging the fabric on walls in the locality to bleach in the sun, resulting in yellow stains on the stone, hence “Yellow Walls”.
On the way we spotted a Krispy Kreme. Ireland is big on donuts! We have yet to see a bagel. And Chuck’s favorite snack – pretzels – are a rarity. In the giant mall supermarket, we finally found a bag or thin pretzel sticks. They were extremely light on the salt. I neeto bring some back on next trip home.
Adventures in Ireland 