Donegal and Achill Island

Tuesday, September 25^th

A Windy Day

We woke to a grey and windy morning and discussed what we would do for the day. After a leisurely breakfast and a coffee we drove to Carrigart to do some shopping. From there we went on to Dunfanaghy. Lyn holidayed there when she was 18!

Horn Head panorama

We drove up to Horn Head along a narrow winding road. The views were spectacular but the wind was so strong that I had a lot of difficulty holding the camera steady. Back in Dunfanaghy we stopped for a sandwich and a cuppa before travelling on to Marblehill Beach. By this time Button was desperate for a play on the sand and she chased the ball for a while. The brother of an old school friend Lyn hasn’t seen for about 40 years owns some holiday parks there and we tried to contact him so that Lyn could regain contact with her friend Georgina.

Selfie on Marblehill Beach

Lyn and Button on Marblehill Beach

Back at Rosguill the wind was as strong as ever but we enjoyed our evening meal and a bottle of wine.

Wednesday, September 26^th

Two Castles and a National Park

We woke to find no power from the hook-up. On investigation I found that it was just our power point so I moved the cable to one adjacent. Phew! It wasn’t quite as windy but there was a fine drizzle in the air and it was rather misty. We decided to make for Glenveagh National Park which was not too long a drive in these poor conditions.

Wild Atlantic Way viewpoint at Rosguill Peninsula

We started out driving round the Rosguill Peninsula. We stopped to look at the view at one of the Wild Atlantic Way viewpoints at the tip of the peninsula. Then continued through Downings village and out towards our destination. On the way we stopped at another Wild Atlantic Way viewpoint, Doe Castle. The castle dates from the 15^th century and was the stronghold of the Mac Sweeney’s. Legend has it that Aileen Mac Sweeney threw herself to her death from the castle after her father murdered her lover, the son of a bitter rival.

Doe Castle

View from Wild Atlantic Way

We travelled on to Glenveagh National Park and, after calling at the visitor centre, took Button for a walk round the nature trail. We took a shuttle bus to Glenveagh Castle but had to leave Button in Mirabel. We followed the garden trail and admired the interesting array of plants and trees on view. After an essential stop for cakes and tea (!) we continued our walk round. We were delighted with the gardens and the view along the Lough. It was a very worthwhile visit.

Avenue of trained Rowan trees at Glenveigh

Glanveigh Victorian Pleasure Grounds

Glenveigh Castle and kitchen garden

Looking up through the trees to the head of the Lough

Glenveigh Lough

Thursday, September 27^th

From Donegal to Mayo

We prepared Mirabel for our journey south and were able to leave by 9:30. The weather was unpleasant with driving drizzle which persisted throughout most of the long drive. We stopped for a break at Mullaghmore, recommended by our friends Pamela and David. The weather wasn’t nice enough to go on the excellent beach but we were able to walk Button around the harbour and grab a sandwich and a cuppa before resuming our trip.

Mullaghmore harbour

Lobster pots at Mullaghmore

We finally arrived at Achill Island at about 4 p.m. and set up camp at the smart new Seal Caves site. The site in Dugort is just a short walk from the beach and is below the peak of Slievemore (686 mtrs). The weather had now improved considerably so we were able to take Button for a romp on the beach. She was really excited at being released from her “prison” in Mirabel and charged about after her ball. We had a drink in the nearby Strand Hotel before returning to Mirabel for our evening meal.

Mirabel at Dugort

On the beach at Dugort

Slievemore at dusk

Friday, September 28^th

Achill Island

After breakfast we drove the length of Achill Island to Keem Bay. We approached along a cliff edge mountain road and looked down onto the lovely beach surrounded by headlands; a perfect horseshoe bay. There were several cars there but it was by no means crowded. There were two food vans, one selling ice creams, waffles and more substantial dishes, the other specialising in sweeties! We walked down to the beach and Button sprang back into puppy mode chasing her ball and digging in the sand. This is a remote and beautiful place. Dolphins and Basking Sharks are often sighted here but we were not lucky enough to see any. Close to Keem Bay the mountain Cruachan rises to 689 meters and sea cliffs drop precipitously into the Atlantic – some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe.

Beautiful Keem Bay

Keem Bay panorama

Old coastguard station at Keem Bay

Driving along the cliff road

Back at the car park we had an ice cream and a cup of tea before heading back towards Keel, the largest settlement on Achill. We stopped off to look at a couple more beaches, none as beautiful as Keem. At Dookinella beach several kite surfers were gathered. They seemed quite sad to find that it was almost flat calm! There is a kite surfing weekend festival happening tomorrow and Sunday. They must be hoping the wind picks up again then.

Waterfall at Dookinella beach

Stony Dookinella beach looking towards Keel

We continued our exploration of the island going to Blacksod Bay and Golden Strand. Button had another wild romp on the beach and has devised a new game with her ball. She digs at it until there is a deep trench and, if she displaces the ball out behind her she picks it up, drops it back in the hole, and starts digging again! I think Button would spend her whole life playing on the beach if she could.
We went for a very nice meal in the evening to the Achill Cliff House Hotel. The seafood chowder was delicious as were all our other courses. We were the only customers in the dining room.

Tame robin at Blacksod Bay

Mirabel in Ireland

Wednesday, September 19^th

Not a good start.

We packed Mirabel yesterday ready to leave early and were able to get away by 6 a.m. The journey went smoothly. We stopped a couple of times for breakfast and a cuppa and enjoyed the sunshine and the central Wales scenery. We arrived at Fishguard just after noon and I went into the travel centre to check in. We had had a text from Jennifer to say that the ferry was delayed in Rosslare because of high winds, but while talking to the staff we heard that the 1:15 ferry that we were due to catch was cancelled! We had to hang about in Fishguard until the next ferry – at 23:45!

Walking above Fishguard

We had some lunch then took Button for a walk up on the hillside above the port. In the evening we walked to the nearby pub/restaurant where we had booked a table for dinner. When we arrived we were told that they had “a problem” in the kitchen and were unable to provide any hot food. We were disappointed and a little annoyed as we had been given vouchers for food that were only exchangeable at this one pub. We didn’t want salad so went across the road to a pretty unwelcoming fish and chip restaurant. After our meal we walked back to Mirabel to wait for the ferry.

I tried to book a cabin for the crossing but they were sold out so we would have to try and doze in the seat. At about 9:30 p.m. they opened the check in. Only two staff were around, no-one to control the queues, so it was a total free for all to get checked in. I was, by this time, feeling both frustrated and angry with how poorly Stena Line had organised things. We finally boarded at about 00:20 and the ship sailed at 00:45.

We were able to get reclining seats so dozed for a couple of hours.

When we arrived at Rosslare and went back down to Mirabel we found that the driver of the car in front of us hadn’t put on his handbrake and his car had rolled back into Mirabel and rubbed up and down on the bumper the whole journey. Thankfully not much damage done but one more annoyance!

Thursday, September 20^th

Dublin at last

We got going in Ireland at 5:25 and drove for about ¾ hour before taking a short break for a cup of tea. After a further ½ hour driving we both felt very tired so stopped again for a coffee to keep us awake. The traffic into Dublin was very slow and heavy so we didn’t arrive at Jennifer and John until 8:45. We got the usual warm and friendly welcome and sat down to breakfast with a sense of relief that the horrendous journey was over. We went for a short sleep to try and recharge our batteries.

The afternoon was very wet so we stayed in and caught up on our friends’ news.

Friday, September 21^st

Touring south of Dublin

As the weather had improved considerably, John suggested a trip out so we went down to Powerscourt. I was very impressed with the waterfall there. It is the highest waterfall in Ireland at 121m tall. We had an ice cream sitting in the glorious sunshine, though it was still very windy.

Powerscourt Waterfall

Waterfall mist

We drove on to “The Meeting of the Waters” near Avoca. This is where Thomas Moore, Ireland’s “Robert Burns”, wrote the poem of the same name. It is a pleasant spot where the Avonmore and Avonbeg rivers merge.

Button, Lyn, Jennifer and John at Meeting of the Waters

Avonmore and Avonbeg

We continued on to the Avoca Weavers site where we had a snack meal in the tearoom and a short tour of the weaving shed. There were many beautiful woven goods on display, but they were very expensive!

John drove us back to Dublin to get ready for our evening meal at the Dropping Well pub/restaurant. The meal was excellent!

Saturday, September 22^nd

At Longford

After breakfast we said our goodbyes to Jennifer and John and drove to see Pamela, another college friend of Lyn’s at Longford. Pamela and her son David made us very welcome and after lunch we went into Longford town for a walk at The Mall Walk, a public park.

David, Pamela, Button and George (and Mirabel) at Longford

In the evening we went out for another nice pub meal. Lyn and Pamela had a lot of catching up to do as they hadn’t seen each other for many years. I got on very well with David and enjoyed chatting with him.

Sunday, September 23^rd

On to Donegal

Mirabel at Rosguill

We spent the morning with Pamela and David and left after lunch to drive to Donegal. The journey went fairly well until we were very close to our destination when the SatNav took us down a tiny country road which came to a no through road sign after a few miles. I got out the map and decided we would be best to retrace our route to the main road to find an alternative but a friendly driver appeared from the other direction and told us that it was quite passable to continue on. We got through with no trouble. The road was being prepared for laying new water mains and, apart from a few unsurfaced sections, was perfectly ok. We arrived at the Rosguill Holiday Park at 6:30 and set up camp. The site is immediately next to a beautiful beach with magnificent views. I watched the moon rise over the hills in the east. We slept well that night.

Donegal Moonrise

Reflection of full moon

 Monday, September 24^th

Relaxing at Rosguill

We had several heavy rain showers overnight but by 11 a.m. it had brightened up and we were able to take Button for her morning walk along the superb, and deserted, beach. Button had a great time chasing the ball, paddling and digging in the sand.

Button and her ball

Gortnalaghoge Bay at Rosguill

Sand, Rocks and Clouds

When we got back to Mirabel it was quite warm enough out of the wind to sit outside and admire the view over a cup of coffee. Lyn took Button for another shorter walk on the beach while I wrote this blog entry.

In the evening we had a beef balti (cook in sauce) with rice. We were disappointed to find that our gas cylinder had run out. We didn’t expect this as usually they last over a week and we had spent much of the last 6 days at friends houses. I hope we don’t have a fault somewhere.