6 July 2014
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| Ready for Donegal Town |
Today was Sunday, so we didn't rush to get out of the house. The children played outside for a while after breakfast and we gradually packed up the car. Our mission for the day --
Donegal Town. We made a brief stop in
An Charraig and assembled our picnic, our children and then headed down the coast.
On our way to Donegal the views were so spectacular that we stopped in
Largy to appreciate the view!
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| Road signs in An Charriag |
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| The view from Largy: Drumanoo Head with St. John's Point in the background |
We arrived in Donegal at 11 AM and headed directly to
Donegal Castle. We were happily surprised when we were only charged for the adults (
€8) and not for the children. This tower house castle was built in 1474 by Red Hugh O'Donnell and was renovated in 1614 by Sir Basil Brooke.
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| Donegal Castle |
It has some nice furnishings and the wooden staircases that would have been in the castle are there (unlike most castles) including some tapestries and Persian rugs. The children had a fantastic time. It is a nice castle, but anyone on a tour of the entire island has likely seen many better. For us though, it was a nice day out.
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| Basil Brooke's addition to the castle |
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| Donegal Friary |
After about an hour at the Castle, we headed to see the Abbey. Donegal Friary was founded in 1474 by Red Hugh O'Donnell (the same man who built the Castle) and rebuilt by the 2nd
Red Hugh O'Donnell in 1588. Originally this Friary would have had the same layout as
Claregalway Abbey (as they are both Franciscan) although it takes some imagination to picture it. Much of the complex was destroyed when it was used as a fort in 1601. The Abbey (as it is known in Donegal) is most famous as the site where work on
The Annals of the Four Masters began. The Annals were a history of Ireland from Noah's flood up to present times (the 1600s).
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| Facing the cloister with the Chapel to the left |
Once again the children loved being able to climb around and play in the buildings. Liam excitedly called it "a castle". I really enjoy visiting this place. There isn't really much to it, but it's located at the end of the pier (just keep walking past the Tourist Office) and is usually peaceful in addition to having some nice views of the Bay.
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| Liam investigates |
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| The whole story in Irish |
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| The view through the Choir window out to Donegal Bay |
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| The Chapel of Donegal Friary |
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| The door to the Choir must have been built for little people! |
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| The gable of the Chapel |
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| Inside the Choir |
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| St. Ciaran's Holy Well is only signposted in Irish |
When we were finished here, we needed some groceries, so we crossed the street and went into
Aldi. We were not very impressed and ended up leaving without buying anything (it was more like a Costco than a typical grocery store). The children said that they were hungry so we ventured over to
the Blueberry Cafe, but it was locked up tight (at 2 PM). We returned to the car intending to stop at
Supervalu and
Shine's Takeway in Killybegs. We were able to get what we needed at Supervalu and headed to Shine's only to discover that they didn't open until 4. So, we went back to the house for some frozen fries.
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| St. Ciaran statue at the well |
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| St. Ciaran's Well near Kilcar. In the right-hand corner you can see an early Christian Cross. |
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| The stone mounds in St. Ciaran's Turas |
After everyone had had their fill we headed back out. We had two goals, both in the same location.
St. Ciarán's Holy Well and the Shalwy Court Tomb. The Well was easy. It's signposted off the Killybegs road and is only a few feet from the passing cars. It is also the site of a Pilgrimage (Turas) on March 5th each year. Next to the Holy Well is an early Christian Cross Slab (6th or 7th Century).
St.
Ciarán is also said to have built a hermitage here which I assume is the church in the stations and also the reason that stations are performed here. In a picture below you can see the stone mounds that are in the center of the Turas map (also below).
From the mounds if you look down the valley toward the sea you can see the remains of the church. It is a roofless rectangular building. Local tradition holds that Kilcar used to be known as Kilkieran (Ciarán's Church). While we were looking for the Court Tomb, two other cars stopped to get water from the well (one man told his child it was for his "wee wart"). It was nice to see that it is regularly used.
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| St. Ciaran's Church, Shalwy Court Tomb, Croaghbeg Court Tomb |
After extended searching Sarah spotted the tomb from afar, but we decided against making the trek all the way down in the wet, boggy field. As you can see from the photograph, this tomb is still is good condition. There are two other Court Tombs (all between 4-5000 years old) in this valley as well, one closer to the well is in poor condition and another (Croaghbeg) that is usually inaccessible due the often marshy conditions. In the photo, Ciaran's Church can be seen in the foreground with the Shalwy Court Tomb behind. If you magnify the photo you can see the Croaghbeg Court Tomb in line with the other two sites.
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| The beach at Muckross Head |
We took the coast road back to Cill Charthaigh, and were glad that we did! The scenery was breathtaking, especially Muckross Head. The coast road on the east of Cill Charthaigh is a much easier drive than the one west of town.
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| The view from Muckross Head |
We then returned home and began our meal and bedtime rituals. It certainly was another wonderful day. Sarah and I are both already sad that we are leaving in only a few days!
Gaeilge Experience: Not in the Gaeltacht for most of the day, so just signs, CDs, TV, radio and talking with the family.
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