Friday September 2nd

Today we headed west out of Northern Ireland into County Donegal.

 

Our first stop was to be ancient circular fort called Grianan of Aileach. No one knows much about its origin. Again it was on top of a hill. You get a wonderful 360° view of the surrounding landscape. We were very lucky as Charles spied a small sign directing us to this site. When we got there, we met up with 5 young people from the area that had camped at the fort over night. They were quite funny. They had arrived after dark and had to set up in the rain as well. When awoken this morning at 8 am by tourist they decided to pack up. One of the fellows had lost his shoes. Charles climbed to the top inside the fort. The view must have been even better from there.

 

Now it was on to the Inishowen Peninsula. At an info centre we got a detailed map of the area. This was very helpful as we took the scenic route around the peninsula. The route is called Inishowen 100 because the route is about100 miles in length. The roads on the route were basically 1 lane wide with traffic going both ways. It could get very interesting when meeting large vehicles. Once we rounded a corner only to meet an oncoming county bus. Luckily we were able to pull over enough to let it by.

 

Our first stop was at Dunree Head Military Museum. The fort here was built by the English along with 5 others on Lough Swilly in case Napoleon invaded. There is a similar fort across the Lough. Again not a shot was fired in anger from this fort. It was only used as a training fort. The guns were fired once a year until 1961. It was a good museum. We were able to eat a picnic lunch before the rain moved in.

 

Heading north we went through the Gap of Mamore. The views were amazing from the top of the gap. There is a holy well and religious shrines at the gap. There have been pilgrimages to this spot for centuries. The rain started as we continued along the Inishowen 100. It was hard to take pictures with the pouring rain but we did manage. After finding and checking in to our B&B we headed north to Malin Head. This is the most northerly point in all of Ireland. The wind was blowing and the rain was coming down while we were there. We did not spend long here before heading back to our lodgings.

 

We have settled in for the night. We think it has stopped raining. Hoping the weather improves for tomorrow as we are going to Tory Island. We don't take the car. It will be more enjoyable if it is not raining.