A hound was happy to fall into step with me on a recent walk — and to share some of the blackberries I paused to pick along the way.

OUR trailhead is Howe Strand, where a few cars can park but space is limited. The beach looks out onto Courtmacsherry Bay and beyond it, the open ocean. Westward are the Seven Heads, and to the east, the Old Head of Kinsale.

FOLLOWING the publication of my column about the mystery of our missing dog, 14 readers were good enough to phone the Irish Examiner or to email me to offer advice or help.

“DON’T write about Howe Strand, you’ll have everyone going there,” whisper the cognoscenti when told there’s a seaside bungalow up for grabs in this little-known location.

By Tommy Barker