To Donegal

Leaving Galway in our motorhome Vtee, we headed back onto the Wild Atlantic Way through the stunning landscape of Connemara National Park. The Park consists of just under 3,000 hectares of mountains, bogs, heaths and woodlands. 

Clifden

While there, we popped into Clifden, the main town in the area. The population of Clifden is around 10,000 so it’s a middle-sized town.

We found its stone buildings pretty, and it is full of traditional Irish pubs and quirky shops. It’s quite an attractive and vibrant place.

It’s also very close to Derrigimlagh, a huge bog which is classified as one of the most magnificent wetland environments in Europe. It is comprised of a series of small ponds and peat, rich in flora and fauna. 

Leigh at Derrigimlagh bog with peat drying into fuel

You could see where the peat had been cut out of the ground and put into piles to dry as turf. Once dry, its ready to burn as fuel. 

This bog has a rich history, dating back over 6,000 years. But it also has a modern history, as it was where Marconi achieved the first successful commercial wireless transmission of morse code across the Atlantic. Marconi used peat from here to fuel his wireless station.

It is also famous as the place where Alcock and Brown crash landed at the end of the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic in 1919.

In the middle of the National Park we visited beautiful Kylemore Abbey which is set in some stunning grounds.

Kylemore Abbey

We walked through the grounds to the restored abbey and Gothic church, both of which are in front of a lovely lake. The beautiful building that is now an abbey, was once a family home. It was gifted to the Sisters of the Benedictine Order in 1920.

Today, it is still a functioning abbey, where the Sisters live, work, and pray.

Moving on from there and still on the Wild Atlantic Way, our drive took us around Killary Harbour. It is a rather isolated place, but very beautiful with its harbour and boats, and pretty house set against the green hills.

Killary Harbour

The Harbour is actually a fjord and is extremely deep. It is now actively used for shellfish farming, and mussels and clams from here go to the local markets on a regular basis.

We drove onwards reaching Westport, with its pretty town and an even prettier harbour.

Not long after that, we reached the rugged Ballina Bay and Ballina village. Driving into the village centre, we spotted a man thatching his roof – not something we regularly see, so we found it very interesting.

Roof thatching in Ballina

Staying with the Atlantic Way, we then headed down some skinny roads to find a place called the Beach Bar at Aughris Bay. We had heard that, while not a campsite, it didn’t mind hosting campervans for the night, and had electric hook-up facilities and toilets etc for that purpose.

We eventually found it, right on the beach and behind some houses, and around the side of an old barn – and what a gorgeous location.

It had a white stone cottage-like pub with a thatched roof and flowers in the window box, right on the beach.

The tiny campground is behind and beside it, and the pub and grounds were so lovely, we decided it was to be our stop for the night.

The Beach Bar campsite at Aughris Bay

After a relaxing afternoon there, we had a tasty meal in the pub. The next morning, we heard people in the front yard singing – singing beautifully in fact!

We tracked down the voices finding it to be the local choir who were having their season break-up event there at the pub. Boy they sounded good.

After sitting and listening to them for a while, we went for a wee wander on the beach.

Marg at the Aughris Bay pub campsite

The beach was very stony but a wonderfully peaceful place to stop. 

We would have liked to stay longer, but the pub was setting up for a wedding and very soon it would be totally crowded out, so we though it time to move on.

Before we did, the friendly pub dog came to say hello bringing her own squeaky ball to play with.

Aughris Bay campsite pooch sitting in the shade under Vtee

When she got tired, she sat down under Vtee to rest before popping out again to play – sooo cute!

Leaving there, we drove through Sligo which had some lovely stone buildings and very colourful houses beside the river.

Driving out of Sligo, we came to and stopped, in Drumcliffe which had an interesting original round tower right beside the road. Our reason for stopping in Drumcliffe was to visit the Drumcliffe Parish church where Ireland’s most famous poet W. B. Yeats is buried. He is in a pretty graveyard beside the church.

This part of the countryside is dominated by an unusual looking hill or cliff called Benbulben, which we had a quick look at as we drove past.

Tide's out in pretty Mullaghmore

Moving along, we stopped at Mullaghmore, a holiday town on the coast. It has huge harbour walls that you could walk around. The tide was out and all the little boats were sitting in the mud waiting for the water to come back.

We have now seen many seaside places and harbours on this trip. But for some reason, we always seem to be visiting them when the tide is out!!!

Moving on, we drove through more seaside villages, eventually reaching Donegal.

Donegal is in the Ulster Provence of Ireland, and sits on the Eske River. It is a pretty town with a huge and nicely decorated roundabout that marks the town centre.

Donegal Methodist Church

After driving around the roundabout several times, we finally found parking behind some shops, and had a lovely walk through this wee town.

We visited some of the historic sites there, including Donegal Castle, a 15th century Franciscan Priory, and the ancient Methodist church. We also had a good walk around the stone-built shops and houses that make up this pretty town.

We liked Donegal but had to move on, with our next stop being Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

This is part of a bigger blog on our travels around England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium and Luxembourg. The first blog is called "Off to do the UK in a motorhome".