Ireland, 2023 – North to beautiful Donegal

June 22- 24, 2023

From Athlone I travelled north to Donegal, a rugged coastal county characterized by hills, mountains, and magnificent beaches. My first stop was Ballyshannon where I was warmly welcomed by Marius and Mary, relatives of a friend and former teaching colleague, Moira. Marius is a big hiker and had planned a wonderful hike for me along Slieve League, the highest sea cliffs in Ireland, with his friend and hiking guide Michael, but because of my tummy troubles and late arrival we had to cancel that and instead Marius and I did an easy but still very scenic walk near his home through a wood, past fields, and along a very picturesque lake.

The next day, Marius drove me to Glencolmcille and we did the marvellous six kilometre Tower Trail hike up onto Glen Head. We started off in the valley and passed this amazing view of a river curving its way towards the sea.

From there the trail climbed quickly up a curving old road with great views back down over Glencolmcille.

It didn’t take long to arrive up at the top of the headland and we approached the signal tower that was built by the British in 1805 to keep watch against a possible invasion during the Napoleonic era. The wind was blowing fiercely, and light sweeps of rain came and went.

A short walk further along the cliffs brought more fantastic views and I know that another trail continues along the coast to a scenic cove, old port, and small abandoned village.

The descent on the Tower Trail loop was just as fabulous as the hike up, with outstanding views of the valley below as we walked, and it was fun to come across a trail marker with two hikers on it – the first of its kind that I had seen, and coincidentally on a day when I had a hiking partner. The tall one is Marius!

As we reached the valley bottom the rain started in earnest but luckily we were only five minutes from the car. Marius drove me to my B&B and we said, “See you next Wednesday,” when I would be lucky enough to visit with Mary and Marius again.

That evening I could smell woodsmoke through my open window and remembered that it was June 23rd, St. John’s Eve, which is traditionally celebrated by the burning of bonfires. The tradition dates from pre-Christian times as a midsummer celebration held to ensure fertile fields and abundant crops. I headed out for a walk to see the fires and chatted with a fellow on his way to one of the village pubs. Like many of the visitors to Glencolmcille he was attending a week-long session of study at the Irish language school. He invited me in for a pint, and the sound of the music was tempting, but my day had been full enough so I strolled back to my accommodation, happy to be in Glencolmcille.

The next morning I woke early and it was another beautiful day in Ireland! I headed towards the meandering river that I had seen the day before that leads to a large sand beach. The sky and the views across the valley towards Glen Head were very inspiring and there was a spring in my step.

I found my way down to the river,

and followed its curving course across a wide expanse of sand.

It was a good distance to the beach but I was in no hurry, happy to be barefoot walking along,

and stopping often for the equally gorgeous views back.

Then I came out onto the beach where the river met the sea. A young mom was installed on her beach blanket, with her book open, while the dad, daughter and dog ran and played happily along the shore. Glencolmcille would definitely be a great place to spend a whole week or more as there are many trails to hike as well as beaches and coves to explore and enjoy.

I walked away from the river across the soft sand,

with views out across the bay,

and views back towards Glen Head.

Here is a zoomed in view of Glen Head with its signal tower where Marius and I had hiked the day before.

A set of stairs at the end of the beach led up to the road and directly across the road was the Glencolmcille Folk Village with its collection of replica cottages and other buildings that showcase life in rural Ireland from the 18th to the early 20th century. There was an excellent and very inspiring film about Father James McDyer who was assigned to this once impoverished parish in 1951. In the seventy years from the Great Famine to 1950, Glencolumncille had lost sixty percent of its population to emigration and that trend was continuing due to a lack of employment in the area. As a child and youth, Father McDyer had attended many “convoys” which were a gathering of neighbours to say goodby to those who were about to emigrate, and he felt that his new parishioners deserved to be able to live and work where they were born.

For a first project, Father McDyer galvanized the local population and a community centre was built with volunteer labour. He petitioned the government to bring improvements to the area that included electricity, piped water, and new housing. He helped organize agricultural shows, sports days, and the Errigal Seafood Factory. Then he and the community created the Folk Village to bring tourism to the area. Four cottages were built initially, all with volunteer labour, and they were furnished and decorated with authentic period pieces donated from members of the community and from the surrounding area. The Folk Village has since grown to include several more cottages, a replica school, a tea house, and a craft shop, and it attracts thousands of visitors to Glencolmcille each year. I’ll share photos from just a few of the cottages.

The Kilaned Cottage represents a typical cottage from the 1850’s to 1900. The grandparents would have slept in the small bed closest to the fire as that would have been the warmest.

This cottage, Teach An Athair represents a medium -sized cottage from the 1900s.

The Dooley Cottage represents a simple two-roomed cottage from the 1700s. The tools include a pitchfork for hay, a sand eel hook, a dipper to make holes for planting potatoes, and a slean which is a special spade used to cut turf for use as fuel.

Also depicted was a Fisherman’s cottage. Many local farmers also fished during the spring and summer months for salmon and lobster to help generate income and feed their families.

This is the Taibhairne Agus Siopa, a combination pub/grocery which was very common in rural Ireland. The larger room had the grocery store on one side and a bar on the other, and the small room at the end was the kitchen where the ladies would get together (three bottom photos).

After viewing all of the cottages, I rose up on the “heritage trail” which included replicas of a lime kiln, a sweat house, and a hedge school. A hedge school was a secret school hidden in dense vegetation during the time of the Penal laws in the late 17th and early 18th centuries when the native Irish were not allowed to be educated, their language was banned, and they were forbidden to practice their Roman Catholic religion. Subjects like math, history and geography were taught in the hedge schools as well as Latin, Irish, and religion.

At the top of the heritage trail was an example of a Mass Rock which was typically a stone slab placed on a stone wall to act as an altar where a Catholic mass could be performed in secret. The top of the heritage trail also provided an excellent view of Glen Head, the beach, and the Folk Village below.

After my educational and enjoyable visit to the Folk Village I caught a bus to the crossroads at Malinmore and then had a four kilometre walk to reach Malin Beg, a fantastic beach that I had seen in photos. It was a pleasant walk on a quiet road with scattered homes, grassy fields, sea views, and a wonderful breeze that kept me alert and energized.

Then I arrived at the beach! Wow!

There was a long steep flight of stairs down,

and here is a view back of those stairs from the beach!

For the second time today I took off my boots and strolled on wonderful soft sand towards the far end of the beach one way,

with views out to the sea,

and then I sat a for a good long while before strolling to the other end of the beach where I took this photo encompassing most of the arc of the beach from one end to the other. Again, wow!

At the top again, I couldn’t resist taking more photos and here is one of my my favourites.

By now I was getting a bit tired and didn’t relish the seven kilometre walk back to Glencolmcille (the next bus from Malinmore wasn’t due for some time in order to transport me three of those kilometres), so I asked a kind-looking couple if they were driving to Glencolmcille and they were happy to give me a ride. Yay! I asked them to drop me off about a kilometre before the Folk Village so that I could walk part of the road that I had missed on the bus. I loved the views towards Glen Head, and I found a perfect little cottage, surrounded by pink and white roses and with direct access to a third lovely sand beach. That’s where I’ll stay for an entire week when I can return to wonderful Glencolmcille in beautiful County Donegal.

Note: Some photos of my Tower Hike in this post (which were taken on my phone), do not seem to be loading on my ipad, though they do load on my phone. Please let me know via the comments if some photos are not loading for you and I’ll try to find a solution. Thanks!