Day 9 - Dunegal

August 6, 2014

This morning we drove to Dunegal. On the way we drove through the bogs and got out to feel the spongy plants in the soggy bog and the turf cutting on the dried out bogs. They have burned turf for centuries in Ireland and still do. They give families access to the bogs and they will go and cut turf a few times a year and let it dry out into bricks that they burn to heat their homes and for cooking. It smells very earthy. I imagine that smell would be very nostalgic to Irishmen. 

Afterwards we went to Donegal Castle and had an excellent tour. The tour guide was witty and entertaining and she explained Nine Years War really well. We walked through the restored interior and got a good idea of what life would have been like there. We walked around Dunegal town around the diamond. It was full of cute shops, bakeries, pubs and more. We bought brown soda bread and scones (treacle scone and rock bonnet). 

We continued on towards GlenColmCille We stopped at a tweed/wool mill/shop and a wool factory saw them spinning and weaving. I bought a cute winter hat. 

Another stop on our drive was at an ancient Court Tomb. We hiked a ways up and over a hill and found an ancient circle of rocks with tombs around the edges. Then we drove along the coast to GleanColmCille where we ate our sack lunches at the beach and Jason and I explored around a wee bit. While Phil and Mary and Mom attended a lecture on Irish fiddle music and the Doherty clan, Jason and I walked into the near town, got some Euro coins and a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar. We walked and talked on the quiet country roads and through the little town. There was some sort of fiddling competition so there were fiddlers gathered at the picnic tables in the little park across from the Roarty's Pub so we sat and listened to them practicing while I chatted with Jeff on FaceTime. We walked down to see the Church of Ireland (Protestant) where in this Catholic area of Northern Ireland there is something like 10 members left that attend in this huge, beautiful church. 

We continued on through Killybegs (a fishing town). We hiked to a Dolmen (not sure where) and went to the beach again. When we stopped at the beach Mary told us about how she'd walked across the ocean at low tide to a tidal island. It happened to be low tide so Mary said "how often can you say you walked to a tidal island? Let's go!" I love it!!! She is really a cheerful, fun person and I love her enthusiasm for life! So we took off our shoes and tried to keep up with Mary as we ran across the sand. Mary's pants couldn't roll up high enough so she decided not to go. So Jason and I went ahead and hiked up our shorts into briefs and walked through the thigh deep water out to Inishkeel (the tidal island), careful not to step on jelly fish on the way.  We ran across the sandy beach and explored the old ruins of a monastery and cemetery. It felt so free to run along the uninhabited island to the ruins in my bare feet. No one else was there except Jason and I. It felt like Swiss Family Robinson. 

We had a late dinner at the Highlands Hotel with the Townsends just before they closed. I had beer battered haddock and seafood chowder. It was delicious!!! I was so tired, I fell asleep on the drive home.

Walking through the ocean sandbar to the tidal island in the background.

Watch out for the jellyfish!

Jason and I at the tidal island, Inishkeel.

At the island, Inishkeel, looking back to the beach where we walked from.

Exploring the monastery ruins and cemetery.

Monastery ruins on Inishkeel island.

A headstone for a 4 year old boy in the cemetery on the island.

Wildflowers among the monastery ruins.

On the island. There was a big sandy crescent bay with a dozen or so boats moored offshore but we never saw another person on the island while we were there.

Our awesome hosts and tour guides: Phillip and Mary Townsend.

Mom and I at the beach at Narin. Ireland.

We drove through miles of bog on our travels today. We stopped and hiked up through one to really get a feel for what it's like. The ground is mushy and spongy and teeming with plant life.

Dunegal Castle.

Inside of the ground floor of Dunegal castle.

Mom sitting in a chair in the main hall (second floor) of Dunegal castle while we listened to the tour guide's witty lecture.

The main hall at Dunegal Castle.

Dunegal castle.

The ceiling in the upper (3rd) floor of Dunegal castle. Several thousand tons of timber!

Mom inside Dunegal castle.

Mom and I at Dunegal castle.

The Olde Castle Bar right across from the Dunegal Castle. I wish we could have eaten here but it was too early in the morning. It looked so quaint.

Trying on a sweet twede jacket at the Donegal tweed factory. It was £399 (about $699)! 

Watching wool be spun into yard on a massive scale!

The weaving loom used to make those $699 jackets. It is very labor intensive.

A pile of turf in the bog.

A little babbling, black brook with wild fuschia on our little hike out to the court tomb.

Cloghanmore is a megalithic chamber tomb of the court tomb (or court cairn) type located about near Malinmore village south of Glencolmcille off the R263 in County Donegal, Ireland.

The view from our lunch spot in Glencolmcille.

The beach at Glencolmcille.

Jason at the beach at Glencolmcille.

A cold, windy day at the beach. (Glencolmcille)

The lonely Church of Irelend (Protestant) in Catholic Northern Ireland. Mary said they only have about 10 members for this beautiful chapel.

A billboard on the side of a shed on our walk. 

Our picturesque country road that we walked on.

There are so many beautiful wildflowers in Ireland.

Free range sheep.

The dolmen at Kilclooney in County Donegal, which dates from circa. 3500 BC, is a very fine example of a dolmen, or portal tomb and is thought to be one of the best, if not the best, in Ireland.  (A dolment, also called a portal tomb megalithic buriel chamber).  The Kilclooney dolmen sits on a small hill about 4 miles north north west of Ardara.

The Kilclooney dolmen.