County Donegal

We had the radio on as we were driving from Belfast to the village of Glenties in County Donegal. Max was tuned in and asked, “What language are they speaking on the radio?” We told him the announcer was, in fact, speaking English, just with an incredibly thick accent. Welsh was very tough to read, but the thick Irish accent up in the northern reaches of Ireland definitely gave our ears a challenge! County Donegal is one of the largest counties in Ireland, home to a mostly Gaelic-speaking population and a rugged coastline stretching from the border with Northern Ireland in the north to the town of Donegal in the south. The coast is a draw for tourists in the summer months, with almost countless white sand beaches fringed by the turquoise water of the Atlantic. The turquoise was replaced by the churn of late-autumn storms during our time in the area, and snow from Storm Barra that ripped through the area a couple of days prior to our arrival was still visible on quite a few of the region’s mountainous peaks.

On the cork board in our comfortable little farmhouse in Glenties I noticed a post-it on which was scribbled a note about a local woman offering trail rides. Never one to pass up the opportunity to hop on a horse, Lilia proposed she use some of her pocket money to pay for a ride. Once Lisa realized the ride was going to take place on the beach, Mum was onboard too! We headed out to the picturesque seaside village of Portnoo on a blustery morning to meet Geraldine and her steeds, passing her on the road as she was leading the horses down to the beach. Lilia and the largest horse – a towering animal 16.5 hands tall named Sea Girl – seemed to take a liking to each other immediately in the beach parking lot, so Geraldine allowed Lilia to ride on the big girl along the beach. Portnoo Beach was deserted for the girls’ ride, the thunderheads rolling in coupled with the low December sun made for some absolutely electric skies with the clouds lit up by rays from below. Max and I explored the dunes and the village of Portnoo while the girls rode, unfortunately missing out on seeing Lisa’s steed get a little unsteady whilst frolicking in the waves and sending Lisa off into the knee deep ocean! The couple below drying themselves off from a swim lived in the village and said a swim (without wetsuits) was part of their daily routine, even with a water temperature of 9°C/48°F and air temperature of 4°C/39°F!

Glenties – where we stayed – was roughly 30 minutes from the county seat of Donegal, where we ventured one morning when the Irish weather wasn’t cooperating. Donegal Castle was quite a bit smaller than the towering relics we’d toured in Wales, but unlike the castles across the Irish Sea, Donegal Castle’s dining room and bedrooms had been reconstructed with Irish oak to reflect the way they would have looked when first built. The main square in Donegal was probably home to more pubs and bars than regular shops, some quaint old stone structures with classic Irish names like McCafferty’s and Sonny McSwine’s. We also spent an evening in nearby Ardara, a quaint town near the coast where our hosts in Glenties recommended we enjoy a meal at an eclectic bar named Nancy’s followed by live local music at The Corner House. The food at Nancy’s was solid, but the standout was the local Irish oysters served raw with a dash of gin, teaspoon of finely diced cucumber and smattering of lemon juice. Absolutely divine. I’m definitely going to replicate it myself next time I have the opportunity. The patriarch of Nancy’s strolled in and had a lengthy chat to us while we were waiting for our meals, he was the fourth generation in a line of family members to run the bar (his granddaughter was sixth generation and manning the cocktail bar that night…). He was a wealth of information on the area and the history of the Donegal region, great to get a little local knowledge while we were waiting for our meals. The Corner House was pretty quiet when we arrived after dinner, but by the time the music started at 9PM a few locals started to filter in. Was quite a memorable night of food and culture for the four of us, Wild Man even drummed up the courage to walk up and make a request from the band (a Greatest Showman number which they performed and dedicated to “Young Max in the audience”).

The Wild Atlantic Way – a route hugging the western coast of Ireland, much of which we’ll explore as we head south to Cork – is home to some stunning natural landscapes and an almost countless number of hiking trails. It traverses some mountainous portions of County Donegal, one of the most famous being the peninsula stretching west of the village of Teelin. Along the peninsula, in addition to some quite picturesque beaches, the mountain of Slieve League towers above the Atlantic with a height of 596 meters/1955 feet. The cliffs below the peak drop almost vertically into the ocean, forming the second-highest sea cliffs in Ireland and some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe. We scored some rare blue sky for our adventure out to Teelin and made the most of it by attempting to hike up the rugged clifftop trail to the peak ofSlieve League. The views from the trail were so dramatic, the sheer cliffs dropping almost vertically hundreds of meters to the ocean below made for some stunning views west along the coast. It wasn’t as cold as our icy adventures in Lake District National Park, so no frozen steps or ice puddles, but the wind ripping over the clifftops from the west was incredible. Max’s beanie got blown off a couple of times, and the little guy got blown off his feet and flat onto his stomach once! Fortunately the wind was blowing us away from the cliffs and not towards them, but even so, the force easily matched that from some of the worst blizzards I’ve skied in. We made it to the saddle below the peak ofSlieve League, but the precarious spine leading up to the peak was a little sketchy given the howling gusts so we decided not to climb all the way to the top (well, Lisa, Lilia and I decided…). The views from the saddle were spectacular, nonetheless, a great climb and awesome to have the entire route to ourselves (who else would be crazy to go up there in there in December?!).