Posted by COUNTY DONEGAL
We headed off on a wet and windy morning and had to pass on the sightseeing along the coast as planned and headed straight to Donegal. The strange thing was that as soon as we crossed the border into The Republic of Ireland the rain eased and we decided to stop into Letterkenny for some morning tea. It was still drizzling but we found a lovely cafe, THE QUIET MOMENT, and enjoyed a nice Scones and Coffee combination out of the chill outside.
We headed south and the rain cleared as we approached NewtonCunningham Town so we had a look around and not a Cunningham in sight !! anyway off we went towards Donegal and our accommodation at Harvey’s Point Hotel on Lough Eske just outside of Donegal town.
After checking into the very grand estate we drove the 10 mins into town and had lunch at really nice cafe called “Simple Simons”, a cafe upstairs and a health food store downstairs. Great fresh produce with a mostly vego theme. There were pubs in abundance so we popped into McCafferty’s Bar for a tipple and found that it was actually there pubs joined together with nooks and crannies and snugs and bars everywhere. In Donegal Gaelic football is king and the yellow and green is everywhere and we found out they had just lost the Grand final to Kerry the week before so there was a bit of mourning going on that week. The pubs are truly amazing and the best word to describe them is “eclectic” with bits of memorabilia, history and junk all over the place and it works a treat.
DONEGAL TOWN
The Donegal Bay is world famous for many reasons and its also the home of one of Irelands most famous leaders, Red Hugh O’Donnell who was the leader against the English in the nine years war. At the enterance to the harbour and Donegal Bay stands the ruins of Donegal Abbey, destroyed by the English of course along with all its library of treasures and history. And now all that is left are the graves.
THE SLIEVE LEAGUE
We ventured further afield on our second day to the west, out through Killybegs to Aughera and Teelin and onto the Slieve League cliffs, the highest sea cliffs in Ireland and maybe Europe. This is also where Sinaed O’Connor lived with her Australian husband as well as where Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Brodrick also have a home. The River Glen runs though this area and is as picturesque as can be and where we found our first of many portable mini cafe/shop vans.
The Cliffs centre is the access point and The Rusty Mackeral is the local pub and the mountains surrounding the area are covered in pink Heather and the mixture of vivid grean fields and pink hills is a sight to behold.
The Glen River and its shores, with pristine sandy beaches and quintessesntial Irish country farms surrounding are proving very popular with the expats from the USA who are flocking here.
The only way to get to the Slieve Cliffs is to park at the Visitor centre and walk the 8km into the Park or to catch the shuttle bus in. We caught the bus and were glad we did as the road is narrow, winding and up and down so pretty tricky to navigate. Once there the sights are amazing and so is the wind…literally blown of your feet so care needs to be taken across the slopes and rocky terrain. suffice it to say we did not do the cliff walk to the peaks above the sea, the view was great just climbing to the first rise. The heather clinging to the side of the gravel cliff face was stunning.
HARVEY’S POINT
It was then back to Harvey’s point via Lough Eske castle for a lovely meal looking over the Lough and its where we discovered, W.B Yeats water, which comes with an awesome quote, see below.
The lake shores were lovely and were dotted with beautiful villas and farms.
The Coast around Donegal has some lovely beaches but the tides are crazy as the bay sucks the water out rapidly and then it comes back rapidly as well.
Donegal Town is centred around a triangular or as they refer to it..The Diamond. It was a meeting and market place created by the Town Platation leader Sir Basil Brooke and the town thrived around its new centre piece, and still does.
DONEGAL TOWN
Donegal castle was originally home to the O’Donnell clan who left with the flight of the earls in 1607 when the English took control…and that was that. The additions to the castle were done by Basil Brooke in the Jacobean style and adjoined to the original medieval castle. the original has stood the test of time far better than the new.
We wandered aimlessley through Donegal Town and loved the style of windows and door treatment that was evident right across the country dating from the 18th century.
BARNESMORE GAP
On our last day we visited Biddy’s O’Barnes Pub for lunch in the Barnesmore Gap Valley of the Tawnawully Mountains as it was said to be Irelands best regional Pub. The food was fabulous and the fish chowder was exceptional.
Our last glimpse of lough Eske below as we headed South West towards Galway via Sligo and County Mayo.
The coast between Donegal and Westport, our next stop, took us past Ballyshannon and the Assaroe estuary and then onto the town of Bundoran where we stopped to check out the West End pools.
Next was the Headland of Mullagmore (world famous Big wave Surfing break) and its stunning curved beach that goes on forever . the surf was not happening but the Castle Classiebawn was looking respendant overlooking the rugged coast.
COUNTY SLIGO
The stunning Benswisken mountain in County Sligo with its distictive mesa style top is an illusion as the side view shows a different story. The green was almost lime green in its vibrance and the mountains along this coast all have a personbality of their own .
WESTPORT: COUNTY MAYO
We arrived in Westport and went straight to the Westport Hotel and checked in before walking into town to find some lunch. The first thing that struck us was the lovely creek running through the town and the charming medieval stone bridge into the town centre. The vibe felt really good and looking up the main street it was alive with people and colour, but hunger was taking control so we popped into the West Bar and resturant (the blue building in the photo below) as it started to rain and get chilly.
The town was alive with colour on every store and it had such an eclectic charm, so after a nice meal we ventured up the main street, booked a Thai resturant for dinner and investigated the live music scene in all the pubs we came across, and since there are about 20 bars/pubs in Westport we figured we would get a bit of luck, and we did. Music started at 6pm at the Porter House and went onto midnight with other venues, next at 8 pm at John J O’Malleys, 9 pm at The Cobblers bar and then10pm at Lofty’s bar on the way back to the hotel.
It was such a joy to wander the four streets that make up the town centre with people spilling out of bars (sober as can be) and onto the streets to socialise and enjoy the Craich.
We had a blast at The Porter House Bar which was packed and our new English bar mate was trying too hard to chat up the ladies and was getting very dispondent with his efforts. If only he had the nouse to take some advice and just slow down , but no its straight back into old habits!!! After a fabulous night where we caught up with a few people we met in the pubs doing the music crawl, we finally got back around midnight after too many beers and Whiskeys ( plus a half pint of Guiness).
WESTPORT HOUSE
The next day started with a bit of shop wandering as well as a visit to the dock area and then onto Westport House for a visit to the Huge grounds and the 18th century Paladian mansion build for The Hughes family ( another Plantation English overlord) who married ancient Irish Royalty in Maude Burke who was Grace O’Malley’s grandaughter (The Pirate Queen)
Ever good Palace/mansion needs a good Dungeon to hold those pesky Pirates along with the European wines of course.
Statue of Grace O’Malley, the Pirate Queen (below), and yes she was a formidable women, over 6ft tall and a ferousious warrior who controlled the west coast of Ireland in the 17th century. And inside Westport House with the famous and very expensive grand staircase that is supported by the side walls and steel pins through every tread.
We had just two nights in Westport and had a world class modern french meal at Arno’s Bistro which was located up one of the mediaevil lanes and the meal was truly amazing. We then continued on to do another music pub crawl on the second night and there was a fabulous show back at the Porter House Bar with some lovely locals doing requests from Ann as well a poetry reading to make it very special.
JJ O’Malleys bar had a trad band when we first arrived and then followed by Guitar guy and crazy flute dude who looked like magic mushrooms may have been his staple diet… but all good fun.
The Locals love their County Mayo and especially the rounded peak of Irelands sacred mountain Cropatrick where pilgrims walk, hike, run and crawl up the other side. There are many songs to be sung about Cropatrick and i think we heard them all over our two nights in Westport.
On the way to The Connenmara we passed along the coast from Westport to Louisberg and dropped into a few beaches to take in the sights of Clew Bay before driving the Famine path, The Dhulough Pass road to Doo Lough (black lake)
MWEELREA MOUNTAINS
The Coastal countryside was spectacular and then when we turned back inland things changed to the boglands and then desolate but beautiful Mweelrea Mountains. This path was walked in the mid 19th cetury by a few hundred starving souls who were forced by hunger from Louisberg and tried thier luck 60kms down the road but were turned away and 90 perished or drowned, some intentionally on the way back as they had no choice. A very dark day for Ireland where humanity went out the door and stayed there.
Black Lake was where the disaster happened and the eerie silence of the place is quite extraordinary, especially knowing what took place here.
The Green sheep now control the roads and vantage points, and a fierce buch of locals they are indeed.
The Road comes out at Irelands only estuary that they call a Fjord and Killary Fjord gets a bit more spectacular as it moves through those mountains down river.
The waterfall and river Erriff feed to the Fjord and is a very popular fishing spot for salmon especially. The road then continues into Galway and our drive through the spectacular Connemara.
