Donegal Town, Derrybeg, Bunbeg Harbour, Creevykell Court Tomb, Benbulben Forest Hike, Mullagmore Head Loop and Harbour, and the Fairy Bridges and Tullan Strand
June 25-28, 2023
I was sad to leave Glencolmcille and I do hope to visit there again one day for a week-long stay. A Local Link bus (thank you Ireland buses!) took me to Donegal Town, a ninety minute journey. Having visited Donegal town on my first trip to Ireland, I had no plans to see or do anything at all. It was basically a necessary stop in order to facilitate the next leg of my journey. I found a very nice cafe, had a proper lunch, and worked on my blog for a while and then I made my way to the Bridges Bed and Breakfast where I had stayed the last time I was in town. The Bridges is close to the very centre of the city, yet quiet and serenely located by the River Eske in a row of houses just past a lovely Methodist Chapel. Happily settled with an afternoon coffee, and yet another scone, I worked on my blog some more in the dining area and then conversed with a lovely older German couple, Wolfgang and Brigitte, who kindly took my photo.
On the way to my Bnb, I had taken photos of the Reel Inn, located just across the bridge, because their blackboard sign had caught my eye. Hmmm, “Award Winning Trad. Pub” and “Pub of the Year”, with music starting at 8:30 p.m. Wolfgang and Brigitte said that they were definitely going to attend and urged me to join them and I said that I might meet them there. By nine p.m., still in my room, I gave myself a good kick. I had regretted not attending the music sessions in Glencolmcille, and on other nights too, so this was the time to go! It was so much fun! The pub was packed and I waved to my German friends who were tucked up in a corner. One chair was available right near the five musicians and my table companions were all as friendly and jolly as can be. The music and singing were fantastic and I stayed until late, so glad that I had made the effort to go out and enjoy a quintessentially Irish kind of evening of great music and good “craic”.
The next morning I headed off on another bus to Derrybeg, a coastal town where I had planned to start my long distance walk on the Sli An Errigal. It had been too late to cancel my accommodation so I had kept the booking and intended to do the first ten kilometres of that hike, a coastal loop around a small peninsula that would begin and end at roughly the location of my accommodation. I had a lovely room with a distant sea view in an old-fashioned hotel and my welcome cup of coffee came with eight biscuits!
I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the hotel, and then I headed out for a walk to nearby Bunbeg and its small and scenic harbour. In the mid to late 1800s, this was a busy fishing port with catches of mackerel, herring, lobster, and crabs. Today, a few fishing boats were moored alongside pleasure crafts, and the harbour also featured a coast guard station and a passenger ferry to Gola Island.
I headed back to my hotel and for the rest of the evening I was very tempted to go out for another walk, this time down to the beach where the sky had cleared and the lighting was so beautiful on the sea, the beach, and the off-shore islands. But, I thought, “No, I’ll save it for tomorrow”.
Except, when I woke up the next day, this was now the “sea view” from my room.
The heavy rain and clouds were socked in and stayed that way for almost the entire day. Why hadn’t I check the weather?! Oh well! Part of me was quite happy to spend much of the day doing absolutely nothing, but I was relieved when the rain finally eased up to a light drizzle in the late afternoon. I headed out in my rain jacket and pants, down to the enticing bay with its golden sand and blue-green water. The tide was receding and I walked out to a wreck, Eddie’s Boat, marooned here since 1977. Later, I saw a marooned jellyfish that was as big as a Christmas platter!
The trail left the beach and travelled through a gorgeous sea of dunes and then back down to another beach.
Then, the trail headed back into dunes again where I had to be careful to not step on any of the land snails that seemed to be enjoying the cool wet weather.
I got a bit lost in the dunes as the Sli An Earagail way markers were few, far between, and somewhat confusing. But it wasn’t a worry as I could see the houses of Derrybeg up on the ridge to my right so after a while I just decided to follow my own path and headed for a hilltop cluster of large granite stones and boulders and from there I had great views out to sea (or, at least the best views that the weather would allow!).
The rain started up again and I decided to shorten the loop and return to my hotel. I still had hopes of one day doing the entire Sli An Errigail so it was okay to not complete the first stage today. Also, I had had a few lazy days, and I was more than happy to continue that trend!
The following day I was up early to catch a 7:30 a.m. bus back down the coast to Ballyshannon where Marius picked me up for a hike, the Benbulben Forest Loop. On the way, we made a stop at the Creevykeel Court Cairn which is one of the best preserved court cairns in Ireland. Dated between 4000-2500 BC the wedge-shaped cairn is 50 metres long and features an oval-shaped court at its eastern end. It was so impressive! I have found an internet image, a birds-eye view, which really helps one appreciate the shape and size of this incredible monument (photo from archaeology.ie). Excavations at the site uncovered four cremation burials, pottery, polished stone axes, and flint knives and scrapers.
Then we continued towards our Benbulben Forest hike. This is a photo of Benbulben Mountain taken from the moving car!
It is a very distinctive mountain and can be seen and recognized from miles around. The hike began beneath the prow of the mountain,
and continued on a road that paralleled the northern face of Benbulben.
Then the road cut through a section of forest and emerged from the trees to this view of the coast!
It was a spectacular walk on a spectacular day.
Before looping back towards Benbulben, the trail passed the remains of a ring fort (dated 400-1000 AD), with the circle of stones just barely discernible among the grasses. Views from the ring fort included down over the valley towards Sligo Bay and back towards Benbulben.
After our hike, Marius drove us back home on a scenic route that included a drive around Mullaghmore Head. This viewpoint featured distant views of the 19th century Castle Classiebawn which was once owned by Lord Mountbatten.
We stopped for a look at Mullaghmore’s Harbour, and had a quick walk around the lovely Peace Garden that faces the harbour.
We continued our drive north along the coast to the seaside resort town of Bundoran and past Bundoran to the Fairy Bridges and the amazing beach of Tullan Strand.
What a view! The water on the horizon was an amazing shade of dark cobalt that I had never before seen on the sea. It was so beautiful!
The Fairy Bridges are a series of four blowholes, or puffing holes as they are known here, and when the tides and wave conditions are right sea water will shoot up through the holes. There was also a “wishing chair”, a natural formation of rock much like an armchair with a sign that gave strict instructions as to how make a wish while sitting in the chair in order to have it come true. One rule was that you had to sit and look at the ocean for at least fifteen seconds before making your wish. I thought that was a good rule, and I hope that my wish comes true!
As we were heading back to the car, after taking one last photo of that incredible sea, I noticed a rather jaunty way marker that tickled my fancy. The light-hearted, happy, and excited fellow on the post, surrounded by bright blue, mirrored my feelings exactly and I laughed with delight when I saw it.
It had been a marvellous hike and coastal tour and I was very grateful to Marius for taking the time to show me some of the wonderful sights along the coast where the three counties of Donegal, Leitrim, and Sligo meet. We returned to the house where Mary had made a delicious meal for us and then we drove to Sligo town where Mary and Marius were attending a concert and I was moving on to my next accommodation. There was less than a week left to my Ireland trip, and all travel would now be southward. I will just have to come back to Ireland again if I want to have any more wonderful Donegal Days.
