Sights in County Donegal
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Diamond Obelisk
In 1474 Red Hugh O'Donnell and his wife, Nuala O'Brien, founded Donegal's Franciscan friary by the shore south of town. It was accidentally blown up in 1601 by Rory O'Donnell while laying siege to an English garrison, and little remains. Four of its friars, fearing that the arrival of the English meant the end of Celtic culture, chronicled the whole of known Celtic history and mythology from 40 years before the Flood to AD 1618 in The Annals of the Four Masters – still one of the most important sources of early Irish history. The obelisk(1937), in the Diamond, commemorates the work, copies of which are displayed in the National Library in Dublin.
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Ards Forest Park
Anyone looking to stretch their legs will love this forested park, which is criss-crossed by marked nature trails varying in length from 2km to 13km. It covers the northern shore of the Ards Peninsula and some of the best walks lead to its clean beaches. The woodlands are home to several native species, including ash, birch and sessile oak. Introduced species, both broadleaf and conifer, also proliferate, and you may even encounter foxes, hedgehogs and otters. In 1930 the southern part of the peninsula was taken over by Capuchin monks; the grounds of their friary are open to the public. It's 5km southeast of Dunfanaghy off the N56; daily closing times are posted at the en…
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Old Courthouse
The 18th-century Old Courthouse is home to an excellent heritage centre with creepily lifelike recreations that use actors’ faces projected onto waxworks. In this manner, Manus O’Donnell tells the story of Donegal’s Gaelic chieftains and several bona-fide trials are re-enacted in the austere courtroom (including that of Napper Tandy, John ‘half-hanged’ McNaughten and the Lord Leitrim murder). A guard will take you down to the prison cells, accompanied by sounds of banging doors and ominous footsteps, to be locked up for sheep-stealing or the like.
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Donegal Castle
Guarding a picturesque bend of the River Eske, Donegal Castle remains an imperious monument to both Irish and English might. Built by the O'Donnells in 1474, it served as the seat of their formidable power until 1607, when the English decided to be rid of pesky Irish chieftains once and for all. Rory O'Donnell was no pushover, though, torching his own castle before fleeing to France in the infamous Flight of the Earls. Their defeat paved the way for the Plantation of Ulster by thousands of newly arrived Scots and English Protestants, creating the divisions that still afflict the island to this day.
The castle was rebuilt in 1623 by Sir Basil Brooke, along with the adjacen…
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Doe Castle
The interior of the early 16th-century DoeCastle isn’t open to the public, but locals open the gates each day, allowing you to wander through the grounds. The castle was the stronghold of the Scottish MacSweeney family until it fell into English hands in the 17th century. The castle is picturesquely sited on a low promontory with water on three sides and a moat hewn out of the rock on the landward side. The best view is from the Carrigart–Creeslough road. It’s signposted 16km from Dunfanaghy on the Carrigart road.
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Father McDyer's Folk Village
A museum with a mission, this folk centre was established by the forward-thinking Father James McDyer in 1967 to freeze-frame traditional folk life for posterity. It's housed in a huddle of replicated thatched cottages of the 18th and 19th centuries, with genuine period fittings. The shebeen (illicit drinking place) sells unusual local wines (made from ingredients such as seaweed and fuchsias) alongside marmalade and whiskey truffles. Admission includes a tour. It's 3km west of the village, by the beach.
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Maritime & Heritage Centre
This heritage centre provides a good overview of the town's history, and is set in the factory of Donegal Carpets, whose carpets adorn the White House and Buckingham Palace. You can sometimes see its hand-knotting loom (the world's longest of its kind) at work. The fun wheelhouse simulator lets you 'steer' a fishing trawler into the harbour. There's a good cafe/craft shop on-site.
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Glenveagh National Park
Lakes shimmer like dew in the mountainous valley of Glenveagh National Park. Alternating between great knuckles of rock, green-gold swaths of bog and scatterings of oak and birch forest, the 16,500 sq km protected area is magnificent walking country. Its wealth of wildlife includes the golden eagle, which was hunted to extinction here in the 19th century but was reintroduced in 2000.
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Glenveagh Castle
This delightfully showy castle was modelled in miniature on Scotland's Balmoral Castle. Henry McIlhenny made it a characterful home with liberal reminders of his passion for hunting deer. In fact you'll be hard pressed to find a single room without a representation – or taxidermied remains – of a stag.
Access is by guided tour only. Tours last 30 minutes and take in a series of flamboyantly decorated rooms that remain as if McIlhenny has just stepped out. The most eye-catching, including the tartan-and-antler- covered music room and the pink candy-striped room demanded by Greta Garbo whenever she stayed here, are in the round tower.
The exotic gardens are similarly sp…
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Donegal County Museum
The Donegal County Museum is housed in Letterkenny’s 19th-century workhouse, built to provide Famine relief. Temporary exhibits feature on the ground floor. Upstairs, the permanent collection is worth a peek for its 8000-strong artefacts from prehistoric times on.
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Grianán of Aileách
This amphitheatre-like stone fort encircles the top of Grianán Hill like a halo and offers eye-popping views of the surrounding loughs. On clear days you can see as far as Derry. Its mini-arena can resemble a circus whenever a tour bus rolls up and spills its load inside the 4m-thick walls.
The fort may have existed at least 2000 years ago, but it's thought that the site itself goes back to pre-Celtic times as a temple to the god Dagda. Between the 5th and 12th centuries it was the seat of the O'Neills, before being demolished by Murtogh O'Brien, king of Munster. Most of what you see now is a reconstruction built between 1874 and 1878.
The fort is 18km south of Buncrana ne…
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Heritage Centre
The Heritage Centre, which was once a workhouse, tells the powerful tale of ‘Wee Hannah’ and her passage through the institution, and also hosts various temporary exhibitions and workshops. On some mornings the place is overrun with busloads of school children.
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Doagh Famine Village
The Doagh Famine Village is set in a reconstructed village of thatched cottages. Call ahead to book its tour, packed with entertaining titbits about a disappearing way of life, and insightful comparisons with famine-stricken countries today.
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Dunfanaghy Gallery
The Dunfanaghy Gallery started life as a fever hospital. The gallery has several rooms, which showcase paintings old and new, historic photos printed from original glass plates, hand-woven tweeds, pottery, jewellery and books.
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St Connell’s Museum & Heritage Centre
St Connell’s Museum & Heritage Centre, beside the old courthouse at the western end of town, has a ragbag of local artefacts. Call for (very limited) opening hours during the rest of the year.
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Studio Donegal
Beside Kilcar's community centre tweeds are spun and loomed by hand at Studio Donegal. Visitors are often invited upstairs to see spinners and weavers in action.
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Fort Dunree Military Museum
The Fort Dunree military museum sits on a rocky outcrop in a 19th-century fort. It’s a beautiful spot. If the guns don’t impress you, the scenery and birdlife will.
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O'Doherty's Keep
At the northern end of the seafront, the early 18th-century, six-arched Castle Bridge leads to this tower house built by the O'Dohertys, the local chiefs, in 1430. It was burned by the English and then rebuilt for their own use.
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Ned's Point Fort
Walking 500m further from the keep (turn left and stick to the shoreline) brings you to Ned's Point Fort (1812), built by the British and now under siege from graffiti artists.
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Horn Head
The towering headland of Horn Head has some of Donegal's most spectacular coastal scenery and plenty of birdlife. Its dramatic quartzite cliffs, covered with bog and heather, rear over 180m high, and the view from their tops is heart-pounding.
The road circles the headland; the best approach by bike or car is in a clockwise direction from the Falcarragh end of Dunfanaghy. On a fine day, you'll encounter tremendous views of Tory, Inishbofin, Inishdooey and tiny Inishbeg islands to the west; Sheep Haven Bay and the Rosguill Peninsula to the east; Malin Head to the northeast; and the coast of Scotland beyond. Take care in bad weather as the route can be perilous.
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Dunfanaghy Workhouse
This grim building was the local workhouse, built to keep and employ the destitute. Conditions were excessively harsh. Men, women, children and the sick were segregated and their lives were dominated by gruelling work. It was soon inundated with starving people as the Famine took grip. Two years after it opened in 1845, it accommodated some 600 people – double the number originally planned.
The workhouse, west of the centre, is now a heritage centre, which tells the powerful tale of 'Wee Hannah' and her passage through the institution, and also hosts various temporary exhibitions and workshops. On some mornings the place is overrun with busloads of school children.
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Doe Castle
Although the interior of the early 16th-century Doe Castle isn't open to the public, you can wander through the grounds. The castle was the stronghold of the Scottish MacSweeney family until it fell into English hands in the 17th century. The castle is picturesquely sited on a low promontory with water on three sides, and a moat hewn out of the rock on the landward side. The best view is from the Carrigart–Creeslough road. It's signposted 16km from Dunfanaghy on the Carrigart road.
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Buncrana Castle
At the side of the keep is the manorlike Buncrana Castle, built in 1718 by John Vaughan, who also constructed the bridge. Wolfe Tone was imprisoned here following the unsuccessful French invasion in 1798.
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Beaches
The wide, sandy and virtually empty Killahoey Beach leads right into the heart of Dunfanaghy village. Marble Hill Beach, about 3km east of town in Port-na-Blagh, is more secluded but usually crammed in summer. Reaching Dunfanaghy's loveliest spot, Tramore Beach, requires hiking 20 minutes through the grassy dunes immediately south of the village.
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Ardara Heritage Centre
Set in the old town courthouse, this centre traces the story of Donegal tweed from sheep shearing to dye production and weaving. A weaver is present to demonstrate how a loom works and explain the stitches used in traditional garments.
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