Donegal, in the northwest corner of Ireland is a beautiful corner of the country, partly because it is rural and not overrun with tourists. Here you can lazily spend the day driving along country roads or visiting the coast. It is a land of mountains, pastureland, small towns (though it does have some large one too) and beaches.

We first visited Donegal with our friend Nancy Haynes in the spring of 1999 while we were living in Dublin. As it was spring, the lambs had recently been born and there were hundreds of them bouncing across the landscape everywhere we looked - but never far from their mothers (above)! We had driven into Donegal from Sligo, and as such, made a quick side trip into Northern Ireland to visit Belleek and the porcelain factory there. We found just a few items we just had to have (mostly for gifts), and as you can see from the photo at right, it was just enough to fill the trunk (or the boot, whichever you prefer). All those green bags are from Belleek (but they are mostly Nancy’s!). Slieve League (below) is one of the more dramatic parts of the west coast and boasts 300 meter (975 feet) cliffs that drop straight into the Atlantic. It is rugged country but there is a path you can take that will take you across the top. However, if it is windy, be careful as there are no guard rails and the path goes quite near the edge in many places. Looking north (photo right), the rocky mountains continue up the coast.

Further up the coast is an area called the Rosses, an outcrop of land that is still as wild as it ever was. There are no large towns here, but lots of rural residences, many of which are now being bought and fixed up as holiday homes. It would be a good place “to get away from it all.” The coast here is much flatter and milder. giving a more serene feeling. We were lucky with the weather as you can see which made it all the more beautiful. Unfortunately, because of Donegal’s location, it often gets the brunt of the storms coming in off the Atlantic. But when it is sunny, it’s absolutely stunning.

Inland from the Rosses, we visited Glenveagh National Park of some 35,000 acres and includes the highest mountain in Donegal, Mount Errigal. It is considered by many to be Ireland's finest national park and it certainly is a gorgeous setting. Here we toured the manor house and gardens. The Glenveag h estate was formerly the home of a notorious landlord, John George Adair, despised for his eviction of Irish farmers in 1861. John Adair built the castle in the 1870's. The estate was then owned from 1937 to 1983 by Henry McIlhenny, Philadelphia art historian (of the Tabasco Sauce family) who restored the castle and planted the gardens. He then gave Glenveagh to the Irish nation for a public park.  Below, right is a view of Veagh Lake and the Derryveagh mountains. The manor house is situated on the left side about halfway up the lake. At left is a photo of us in the gardens with the manor house behind and the mountains in the background.

In September 2002 we returned to Donegal for a brief visit, this time making it all the up to Malin Head (right), the northernmost point of Ireland. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating, so we got to drive through a lot of gray, drizzly rain. But Verna braved the rain to walk out for a photo. 

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