AT THE risk of sounding like Bowerick Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, I have adopted a challenge that many will see as somewhat pointless.
First off, for those who have never read Douglas Adams's Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy books (and even those who have but may have forgotten the names of the minor characters), Bowerick Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged is, as his name suggests, immortal.
According to Adams, his immortality was the result of an accident involving rubber bands, a liquid lunch and a particle accelerator.
However, after a few millennia Bowerick has become so bored that he has set himself a challenge – to personally insult every living creature that ever existed in the history of the universe – alphabetically.
My challenge of walking to all the Irish locations namechecked (in no particular order) in the radio shipping forecast is quite modest by comparison and probably just as impossible as some are out at sea. But as Bowerick said: "A man can dream can't he?"
The BBC Shipping Forecast mentions three Irish locations: Irish Sea, Malin and Shannon, while the RTÉ version, obviously, has a few more Irish ones.
Malin Head in Donegal is the easiest one for northerners to get to. Ireland's northern-most point is in 'the South' on the Innishowen Penninsula in Co Donegal. Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and close to the sand dunes at Five Finger Strand, it is a dramatic and often windswept landscape.
Out to the west lies Tory, to the north is Inishtrahull, while along the cliff path you can watch the churning tides crashing into Hell's Hole.
Down the coast a few counties to Co Mayo and Belmullet, a peninsula – that is almost an island – of hills and coves. To be fair it is not Ireland's most spectacular coastal destination, particularly when compared to nearby Achill, but it has an off-the-beaten-track appeal, with miles of winding roads and lonely coastal paths.
I first went there more than 20 years when I was reading a novel by the late Dermot Healey called A Goat's Song – set in Belfast, Derry and Belmullet – and was so taken with it that I went to Belmullet for a few days to finish reading the book.
Playwright JM Synge also used his experience of living there as the basis for his play The Playboy of the Western World – which caused a riot during its opening night in at Dublin's Abbey Theatre in 1907.
Valentia off the coast of Kerry is connected to the mainland by a bridge and for those who have visited it, it is one of those places that they will return to again and again.
It has become particularly popular in recent years because it provides one of the best views of the Skelligs which have gained international fame due to their starring role in the last two Star Wars films.
The bridge crosses from the harbour town of Portmagee, from where boats ferry Star Wars geeks and the occasional birdwatcher over to Skellig Michael.
Turning left when you cross on to the island, the road narrows to a dead end. But a hop over a style and up a muddy path takes you to one of the most stunning places in Ireland.
A ruined watch tower stands at the summit of Bray Head which has views over to the Skelligs to the south, the Blasket islands to the north and the magnificant rocky coasts and brooding mountains of Kerry. Caution is needed as the rough paths which run the cliffs drop sharply on to wave-battered rocks 30-40 feet below.
Still to be visited are Rosslare in Co Wexford and Roches Point in Cork, but it's all about living the dream.
