County Donegal
Just over a week ago, I had the opportunity to go on a two-day road trip to County Donegal with one of the cooks at Corrymeela and his wife. Before returning to Northern Ireland this time, I wanted to see if there would be some way to get to Donegal and I am very grateful for this opportunity. While the distance to get there and back from Corrymeela is not like the distances we often drive in much of Canada, it is not easy to make the journey via public transportation because parts Donegal are quite remote and also because it is in another country and the transportation systems are fully integrated.
County Donegal is on the northwest corner of the island and is almost completely surrounded by Northern Ireland even though it is part of the Republic of Ireland or, as many locals say, "the South." . Quite a lot of County Donegal can readily be described as remote and, with the remoteness, comes a great deal of natural beauty particularly in the coastal areas. The economy of the county is built on farming, fishing, tourism in places and certain cottage industries. One example is Donegal tweed.
The most northerly point on the island is a place called Malin Head.As you can see below, the scenery at Malin Head is spectacular. The topography in this area and other parts of the county remind me of what it like in the highlands of Scotland.
After spending some time at Malin Head and a few places near there, we headed to the town of Carndonagh where we stopped for lunch at a nice cafe. Like so many small towns in Northern Ireland and the Republic, Carndonagh has its own charm and colour.
Our next destination was Buncrana, where we stayed over night in quite a large hotel. Not fancy, but very comfortable and the price was good. After checking in, we took a drive to the coast near the village of Doagh. Again, we were treated to some great views and found our way to the water's edge by accident. While there is plenty of evidence of farming and peat harvesting (for heat), the area leaves one with the impression that people are living a very basic existence.
Just over a week ago, I had the opportunity to go on a two-day road trip to County Donegal with one of the cooks at Corrymeela and his wife. Before returning to Northern Ireland this time, I wanted to see if there would be some way to get to Donegal and I am very grateful for this opportunity. While the distance to get there and back from Corrymeela is not like the distances we often drive in much of Canada, it is not easy to make the journey via public transportation because parts Donegal are quite remote and also because it is in another country and the transportation systems are fully integrated.
County Donegal is on the northwest corner of the island and is almost completely surrounded by Northern Ireland even though it is part of the Republic of Ireland or, as many locals say, "the South." . Quite a lot of County Donegal can readily be described as remote and, with the remoteness, comes a great deal of natural beauty particularly in the coastal areas. The economy of the county is built on farming, fishing, tourism in places and certain cottage industries. One example is Donegal tweed.
The most northerly point on the island is a place called Malin Head.As you can see below, the scenery at Malin Head is spectacular. The topography in this area and other parts of the county remind me of what it like in the highlands of Scotland.
As the sun started to drop noticeably, we headed back to the hotel for a great evening of conversation, good food and refreshments. I had the first Smithwicks since returning to Northern Ireland and topped off the evening with a "measure" of Bushmills. I am a much bigger fan of single malts from Scotland, but wouldn't normally turn down a Bushmills, especially Black Bush.
The next morning, our destination was the town of Donegal and the journey took us through the Letterkenny (largest place in the country), Ballybofey and a few really small places. On the way to Donegal town, we drove through the Blue Stack Mountains, which certainly reminded me of the mountains in Scotland. Not really mountains compared to what we have in British Columbia, but beautiful nevertheless.
We spent some time in Donegal town just looking around. While smaller, it reminded me of Kilkenny in the Republic because it has many stores with all the Irish souvenirs one can ever imagine for foreign tourists to take home for their friends and family. We did not make any purchases!! Other than the heavily commercial aspects of the town, it is quite attractive.
From Donegal, we headed south to the towns of Ballyshannon and Bundoran, both are seaside towns with beaches, amusement/game outlets, hotels, camping, etc. Ballyshannon claims to be the oldest town in Ireland. I've heard (obviously cannot verify) that both towns purportedly were enclaves for the IRA before and during the Troubles. As with so many of these things, it's hard to know what is truth and what is not, but it makes a good story if nothing more.
Getting in the early afternoon, we had to start the journey back to Corrymeela. We made a couple of stops with the longest being in Enniskillen, where we had a late lunch. Thereafter, it was straightforward driving to complete the road trip.
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