Donegal
Posted on 15 Jun, 2010 by Lynne Walker | Filed under Blog • General
After the Irish 3 Day Orienteering Event, Paul and I took the opportunity to explore the west of Donegal.
The weather was generally dry, bright and windy. There was one miserable wet day so we drove over to Letterkenny (via a good tea room at Glen Veagh National Park), went to the pictures and then the weather cleared.
After the last day of the orienteering we had a drive west from Donegal Town, via Killybegs. This is a large fishing port and had a festival that day. The place was crowded so we did not stop. We continued west to Malin Beg and were stunned at the density of settlement. White painted houses everywhere, many of them new. What do all the people do? At the end of the road there is a flight of steps down to an arc of a sandy bay; we did not descend as it was cloudy, spots of rain and very windy. Coffee was also in short supply and we ended up with a poor quality scone and a can of coke. From Glencolumbkille Paul navigated us via small roads to Ardara and then back to Dungloe.
The next day we went to the Tourist Information Office in Dungloe. Outside the office was man with a large video camera – it turns out that the building is also the court house and they were waiting for the person ‘in the dock’ to appear. We collected some useful information and had a chat with the lady there. That afternoon we went west from Dungloe and had a walk along the sandy beach and out to the headland. Still very windy.
Ard’s Forest Park
After visiting Letterkenny we drove north and stopped off at Ard’s Forest Park for a run. It took a bit of finding as the (not very accurate) map had marked it on the south side of the peninsula while the car parking was on the north. It cost €4 for entry and after speaking to a woman who was driving out we decided to go for it. We were very glad we had as it was very pleasant. Paul went for a long run, taking in a beach as well. He managed without a map – it was a shame that they did not have the usual map booklets available. I went for a shorter run, advertised as 4km which turned out to be just over 3km. It was on tracks and paths so quite gentle on my knee. As the run had been short I then ran out along the boardwalks towards the sand dunes at the estuary mouth. A lovely extension and this got the distance up to a total of 5km.
On the way home we decided to visit a restaurant we saw advertised in one of the tourist board leaflets. If we had not had the leaflet we would not have even spotted it. The place looked unoccupied until you looked a bit further right and saw a couple of people sitting inside. We went in and had a very good pizza and dessert.
Arranmore
I wanted to visit Arranmore Island (various spellings of it available), just north of Dungloe. This entailed a ferry ride from Burtonport – Western Ferries have something to learn from these guys about how to load a ferry!
On the island there were various potential circuits but no maps available for all of them. We had taken the leaflet with the ferry times and a sketch map and that showed a few walks. The day was bright but quite windy. We walked northwest from the pier, heading for the lighthouse. After about an hour we came to the loch where there is a monument to the people who were cleared off the land and went to Beaver Island, Lake Michigan. The cliffs on the north coast were quite spectacular and we spent some time there as there was a sheep and lamb marooned on an inaccessible ledge. The farmer must be used to this happening as there was also a system of blue polyprop ropes descending the cliffs.
We did not go to the lighthouse as we wanted to see the rest of the island. We cut across by the middle roads and then took the road along the south and east coasts. This meant a further distance than my knee liked and I was sore by the end of it. No coffee shops again so we had an ice cream; the ferry arrived – not to timetable, just like Western – so we took it back.
Tollymore
Our exploration of Donegal ended as we had to be near Lisburn on the Friday evening. It was a damp morning which turned to rain so we had a wet tent to take down. Paul was running the Mourne Way half marathon on the Saturday while I was assessing for orienteering at Tullymore Centre. This centre has just had a new building put up and it is stunning. There are large meeting rooms available, 20 twin bedded rooms, a rolling pool, stores facilities etc. It is also on an orienteering map so ideal for the UKCC L1CCO assessments. The day was long but again the sun shone and made the task easier.
Another good Irish adventure had finished – an easy journey home on the fast ferry to Stranraer and then drive up the coast to arrive home by 6pm.
I am a level 4 orienteering coach and a qualified Assessor & Coach Educator. I have been orienteering for xx years and have coached on many foreign tours.