Ireland Trip - Day 11 (July 23): Donegal

We woke to a beautiful Donegal morning, and decided we’d take it easy for the day. We had a nice breakfast in Ard Na Breatha’s restaurant – a very nice room, with lots of windows letting in the morning sun. I chose cereal and toast; mom had pancakes. We then drove down into the town centre (it’s only a couple of kilometers, could easily be walked by those more energetic than we were feeling that morning), and parked by the tourism center. We walked up past the town diamond, and visited Donegal Castle. This was a particularly meaningful place for us, as the region was once the home of our ancestors, the O’Boyle family. After touring the castle we walked around the town diamond, stopping in a few shops as we went.

Donegal Castle




Donegal Town

If you ever plan on doing some serious shopping in Ireland, I highly recommend Magee’s (at least the Donegal location). I first went to the men’s section, looking for a tweed jacket for my husband. While I was browsing, an older gentleman came over and asked if I needed any assistance. We talked about the different styles and fabrics available, and I told him that while I liked what was available there, there were a few other details I was looking for (leather buttons, elbow patches, etc.). He gave me the card of the store manager, including his email address, and told me that all I needed to do was send a message detailing what I’d like, and they could have it made for me. He also pulled out a bag of fabric scraps, and found a few samples of the colors I had been looking at – he then attached a card with the color numbers on it, so I could ask for exactly the right one. He was incredibly patient and helpful, and just delightful.

After looking through the men’s section, we wandered over to the ladies’. I was definitely in trouble – the jackets are simply stunning. I picked out about 8 that I wanted, but finally settled on a stunning cream, green and blue plaid (which happened to be on sale), and wrote down the color numbers for a couple of other choices (they’ll go on my Christmas wish list). While I was shrugging jackets on and off, my mom was browsing through the racks, and found some very nice summer wear, including a couple outfits that would be appropriate for a wedding we’d be attending in August. She tried on a couple of choices, and found one she really liked. After we had paid for our items, we were headed back out of the store when the gentleman from the men’s department passed us – he insisted on seeing our purchases, and gave me a big hug before we left.

After Magee’s, we drove just a few kilometers to the Donegal Craft Centre. We first had lunch at Aroma – a very cute little café there. I had a mediterranean salad and brown bread; mom had some very good lasagna. For dessert we shared a piece of Tunisian orange cake – scrumptious! We then browsed the stores at the craft centre – there is a painter, and a jeweler, and a woman who weaves the most stunning scarves of silk and seaweed, and a number of other artists as well.

We headed back into the town centre, where we visited Four Masters and purchased some books, stopped at the post office, and browsed a bit more. We then went back up to Ard Na Breatha for a short while before going into town again to listen to some live music at the Reel Inn. While we were there, a troupe of four sisters came in and did some dancing – the youngest was 7 or 8, the oldest 17, and a lot of fun to watch. The music was enjoyable, but as my mother is not a night owl, we left after about an hour and headed back to the guesthouse.