A visit to Donegal had been in my to-do list for quite a while (something like 6 years!) and finally got ticked this Easter weekend.
The first mission was finding a proper house for the long weekend for four people. Trying to book a holiday home online can be quite a challenge, due to the vast amount of websites and properties on offer, quite often not very informative! Discover Ireland is usually quite a good guide but there are so many pages of them it is difficult to short-list.
I ended up finding a couple of options: a website called http://www.homesofdonegal.com/ and a listing for a lovely looking thatched cottage called Curragh Mor, all roughly located in the same area (around heritage town Ardara).
Curragh Mor was just perfect: a two bedroomed thatched cottage with all the facilities and a bunch of sheep running out the back ... brilliant. The most relaxing of landscapes in the middle of the boggy mountains.
DAY 1- Gorey to Donegal
After a miserable rainy and cold Thursday, Good Friday looks surprisingly enough how it should: Good.
We leave Gorey at 10 am on the dot (that was the deal) to make sure we cover the roughly 370 km that separate us from the other corner of the country by 6pm.
We stop just outside Navan for a wee - at a petrol station with shockingly filthy loos. Next stop is Cavan town: while it looked eerily quite as we entered the town from the N3, the main street area was actually quite lively and we even managed to get a bite (despite the whole Good Friday All-pubs Closed mess) in a pleasant cafe called Chapter One with very friendly staff.
We keep going. While we managed to escape the rain all the way up, it finally catches up as we are getting to Boa Island (just outside Enniskillen) to visit the Janus Stone, refreshingly pagan but now stuck in the middle of a cemetery.
Donegal is just around the corner now and we make it to the Curragh Mor cottage just before 6pm to find an even better place than I expected from the pictures sent by the landlady, a trusting Donegal woman called Ann. This is the life.
DAY 2- Inishowen peninsula
I don't like getting up too early when I'm on holiday, naturally enough, even if there is sightseeing involved. Leaving around 10,30 / 11 is plenty of time, after a relaxed breakfast. Heading all the way to the top of the Inishowen Peninsula maybe we miscalculated the time, as the drive back from Malin Head took forever.
The day started with lots of energy though and we headed happily towards Inishowen via Glenties and Letterkenny. Fist stop is the fort on top of Grianan Hill, near Burt. A very impressive fort on top of the hill with great views of both the Loughs Swilly and Foyle, as well as Inch island and Derry city. And just in time for one of the best defined rainbows I have ever seen (check out the picture!).
Signposting within Inishowen drives me insane. After eating some hearty pub food at Tir Na Ri pub in Carndonagh, it took us almost an hour and half to find our way to Malin Head (which is supposed to be only 15 kms!) but we finally reached the most northernly point of the country. The worst thing: the drive back to Ardara seemed endless.
DAY 3- South West Donegal
Second day: glorious weather in the West. Plans of visiting Tory Island out the window. Too much driving the first day has left the crew a bit tired of sitting in the car. Instead we head through the impressive Glen Gesh Pass towards pretty Glencolumbcille. The weather is perfect and we do the 2 hours 'blue' walk trail around the village and up the mountain where we enjoy amazing views of the sea and the local beaches.
After a quick visit to Malinbeg looking for somewhere to eat, we head to Carrick for fish and chips, before driving down towards Teelin and the Slieve League cliffs, meant to be one of the highest in Europe.
Back in Ardara we get some shopping for a quick exhausted BBQ before going to a deserved bed after a long sunny and active day!!!
DAY 4- Back home via Sligo
Miserable day and I don't think anybody wants to go. We decide to stop in Sligo before crossing the Midlands and drive back to Co. Wexford. Creevykeel court tomb, one of the best examples of its kind in Ireland, is first stop and the rain is actually not too bad. Pictoresque Mullaghmore harbour is the next: a swim for the lads (mad!) and a hot cuppa for the girls.
The Midlands are next (someone should really put something interesting in the middle of the country - let's say between Longford and Mullingar- to attract hungry tourists coming back from the West- they would really make a killing...), the traffic jams, the M50 and finally Gorey. And it hasn't stopped raining yet...
In short:
I really loved Donegal. I just wish next time we can go for at least a whole week (at the very least) ...
Still in the to-do list:
A visit to Tory Island
A walk in the Glenveagh National Park
Finding a seafood restaurant
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