We continue our trek north and are further up the west coast and in County Donegal for tonight – in the town of Ardara.
Not a lot to report today I’m afraid. The rain started last night and whilst it had stopped when we set off this morning, the sky was still very grey. Ryan’s Hotel hasn’t quite got up to pace with the rest of the world yet. When we arrived yesterday, there was no computerised check-in system – just a big diary with all the names of the guests booked in for the night- and plenty of liquid paper where bookings had been changed !
Breakfast this morning was a very quiet affair, but good food. There was one gent just finishing his breakfast when we arrived – about 8.20am – and us. The gent serving coffee – who also happened to be one of the barman in the bar last night – indicated that there had been a wedding in town last night so it might be a slow start for many ! He was a “true irishman” according to the definition one of the musicians on our musical pub crawl in Dublin gave us – he asked us, “where are you from ? where are you going ? and where have you been ? 😂 He gave us a tip for a stop on our route however it hadn’t opened yet as we passed through the town.
We had a relatively short distance to cover today with our main viewing goal at the cliffs of Slieve League on the Donegal coast – weather permitting of course. The first part of our trip today even included some dual carriageway roads – double lanes each way ! – but even these can clog a bit when you get some farm machinery along the way. There was still plenty of narrow stuff though.
Typical little town – all the houses / shops right on the street
Look at all that space !
Spoke too soon !
First stop was the Mullaghmore peninsula in County Sligo. It is a noted holiday destination in the area, with ocean views and a skyline dominated by the monolithic shape of Ben Bulben mountain – though it was pretty well covered in cloud ! Nearby, Classiebawn was a favoured holiday retreat of Admiral of the Fleet Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy of India, who had inherited Classiebawn Castle. It was off the Mullaghmore coast in August 1979 that his boat was blown up by a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA.
Louis’ pad with a cloud covered Ben Bulben behind
Nearby was a well preserved megalithic monument, said to be one of the largest court cairns in Ireland. Creevykeel is a massive wedge shaped pile of stones, a tomb dating back to the Neolithic Period, 4000-2500 BC.
Creevykeel tomb
Then it was on to Slieve League. This series of coastal cliffs is actually about 3 times higher than the Cliffs of Moher we saw yesterday – in fact the highest sea cliffs in Europe. However, as it is off the beaten tourist track – there are no real “other” attractions around – it is not as well setup, nor visited, and the access is more difficult – or just standard “Irish” access 😂 The coastal scenery on the way is very pretty – with fields rolling down to the water – however you soon note the dramatic change as the road leads higher – and, of course, narrower.
The coast toward Slieve League
As we arrived at Slieve League parking area, it appeared part of the access must have been on private property as there was a large gate across the road. Adrienne had read there was parking much closer however as most seemed to be parking here and walking the remainder of the way, we decided to follow suit. Besides, the weather wasn’t too bad, and we could do with the walk – about 20-30 minutes each way.
On the walk in
The sheep don’t seem to mind the precarious clifftop
The cliffs are very spectacular and the photos certainly don’t project the scale. Despite the flash of blue sky as we arrived, the weather soon crept up on us and it started to rain – so we made our way back to the car in steady misty rain.
Still on our walk in
A bit wet and in need of a coffee, we headed for a cafe / craft shop we had seen nearby on the way in. Unfortunately the 3 little tour buses which had passed us as we walked out were already there and the place was packed. We decided to move on and found a little pub / cafe in the nearby town of Carrick and had a light lunch and coffee. Refreshed, we drove on to Ardara, over narrow Glengesh Pass – which was now pretty much covered in mist and rain.
Glengesh Pass
One final stop at the Donegal Woollen Mills – which included a short video on the significance of the trade in the area – and we reached Woodhill House, our stop for the night. It is a manor house, with parts dating back to the 17th century – and a host seemingly stuck in it also ! He struck us as a sort of Basil Faulty but in a totally opposite way – a sort of absent minded Basil. When we arrived, we said we were here to check-in. He almost quizzically replied “you want to check-in ? Oh yes, of course !” Dinner was very proper – we were taken to the bar for drinks and given our menus to order dinner, then eventually taken to our table. Despite the funny peculiarity – and the 17th century plumbing in our room which seems to be typical of much of the UK and Ireland – dinner was excellent – we both had the steak which was just so tender and well cooked. And not a Manuel to be seen !
The rain has continued most of the afternoon and into this evening so weather-wise it hasn’t been the best few days of sightseeing but what we have been able to do and see has been fantastic. Off, over the border, to Northern Ireland tomorrow.
Today’s Tour Trivia – County Donegal was voted number 1 on the UK National Geographic Traveller 2017 “cool list” – “the culture capitals, hipster hotspots, wild escapes and places generally keeping it cool in 2017”