Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [419]
Arnold’s Hotel ( 074-913 6208; www.arnoldshotel.com; Main St; s €55-85, d €130; Apr-Oct; ) Open since 1922, this 30-room hotel is run with tangible pride by the third generation of the Arnold family. Public areas with tartan carpeting are strewn with deep-red velour armchairs. Some front guestrooms have window seats where you can curl up with a book or simply gaze out over Sheep Haven Bay. Fine Irish food is served in the elegant bar (mains €16 to €30).
Shandon Hotel Spa & Wellness ( 074-913 6137; www.shandonhotel.com; Sheep Haven Bay, Dunfanaghy; d €184-244; Easter-Oct; ) Harried parents will love this 1950s hotel. You can drop off the kids at the free supervised playroom, and indulge at its award-winning spa or work out in the gym. Family-friendly facilities also include kids’ and adults’ swimming pools, a tennis court, minigolf, and laundry facilities. Most of the 70 spacious rooms have a spectacular vantage of Marble Hill Beach and all have in-room fridges. Dinner is available in the hotel restaurant (three-course menu €39). Backpackers can enquire about cheaper annex rooms available on a room-only basis. Follow the signposts off the N56 along 3km of winding country lanes.
Eating
Muck ‘n’ Muffins ( 074-913 6780; Main Sq; sandwiches & snacks €3-9.50; 9.30am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun, to 9pm Jul & Aug) A 19th-century rough-stone grain store now houses this waterfront cafe and craft shop. Even on rainy winter days, it’s packed with locals tucking into healthy sandwiches, quiches and hot specials, tempting cakes and, of course, muffins.
Cove ( 074-913 6300; Rockhill, Port-na-Blagh; lunch menu €21, dinner mains €17.50-24; lunch Sun, dinner Tue-Sun, closed Jan–mid-Mar) Owners Siobhan Sweeney and Peter Byrne are perfectionists who tend to every detail in Cove’s art-filled dining room and on your plate. The seafood-skewed cuisine is inventive and deceptively simple with subtle Asian influences. After dinner, retire to the elegant lounge upstairs. It’s on the main road in Port-na-Blagh.
Mill Restaurant & Guesthouse ( 074-913 6985; www.themillrestaurant.com; Figart, Dunfanaghy; 3-course menu €43.50; dinner Tue-Sun mid-Mar–mid-Dec; ) An exquisite country setting and perfectly composed meals make dining here a treat. It occupies an old flax mill that was for many years the home of renowned watercolour artist Frank Eggington. It also has six high-class guestrooms (single/double €70/100). It’s just south of the town on the Falcarragh road.
Drinking
Molly’s Bar ( 074-910 0739; Main St) Be sure to at least peek inside the cherry-red Molly’s Bar, a wonderfully old-fashioned pub with proper snugs. It also hosts regular live music (traditional, jazz, blues and more) and events including quiz nights.
Getting There & Away
Feda O’Donnell ( 074-954 8114) buses from Crolly (€7, 40 minutes) to Galway (€20, five hours) stop in Dunfanaghy square twice daily Monday to Saturday and three times on Friday and Sunday.
John McGinley ( 074-913 5201) buses to Dublin stop in Dunfanaghy (€20, 4¾ hours).
The Lough Swilly ( 074-912 2863) bus from Dungloe stops in Dunfanaghy once daily Monday to Friday (€11.40, two hours) en route to Letterkenny and Derry.
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EASTERN DONEGAL
LETTERKENNY
pop 17,586
You’d swear the Celtic Tiger was still prowling the traffic-snarled streets of Letterkenny (Leitir Ceanainn). Donegal’s largest town continues to grow rapidly and is tracking towards city status. Huge new retail parks have recently opened on the town’s fringe, and the traditional town centre is enjoying a cultural upswing with its theatre, pubs, clubs and stylish eateries all buzzing with students