Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [431]
Northwest Busways ( 074-938 2619) run connecting services from Carndonagh to Malin Head from Tuesday to Saturday.
Carndonagh
pop 1923
Carndonagh (Cardomhnach), surrounded by hills on three sides, is a busy commercial centre serving the local farming community. It’s not a choice locale in these parts, but convenient for gathering information and provisions.
The locally run Inishowen tourism office ( 074-937 4933; www.visitinishowen.com; Chapel St; 9.30am-5pm Mon-Thu, 9.30am-4.30pm Fri year-round plus 11am-3pm Jun-Aug), southwest of the Diamond, also sells fishing licences. There are banks and an ATM on the Diamond; the post office is in the shopping centre halfway down Bridge St towards the Donagh Cross.
SIGHTS
Once an important ecclesiastical centre, Carndonagh has several early Christian stone monuments. The delightful 7th-century Donagh Cross stands under a shelter by an Anglican church at the Ballyliffin end of town. It’s carved with a darling short-bodied, big-eyed figure of Jesus, smiling impishly. Flanking the cross are two small pillars, one showing a man, possibly Goliath, with a sword and shield, the other, David and his harp. In the graveyard there’s a pillar with a carved marigold on a stem and nearby a crucifixion scene.
SLEEPING & EATING
Ashdale House ( 074-937 4017; www.ashdalehouse.net; s/d with bathroom €51/70, without €49/66; Mar-Nov; ) Carndonagh’s best B&B is set on a working sheep farm, with other cute creatures including donkeys. A friendly family of seven share the lemon-yellow manor-style house with a clutch of stylish guestrooms. It’s 1km out of town on the road towards Malin.
Simpson’s ( 074-937 4499; Bridge St; mains €10.50-24; food served 12.30-9.30pm Mon-Sat, noon-9pm Sun) Dining options are few in Carndonagh – the solid surf, turf and international dishes at this busy bar, all made fresh on the premises, are your best bet.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
A Lough Swilly ( 074-912 2863) bus leaves Buncrana for Carndonagh (€5.40, 45 minutes) twice from Monday to Friday, once on Saturday.
Ballyliffin & Clonmany
pop 700
These two quaint villages and their surrounds have plenty to occupy visitors for a day or two. Both have post offices but no banks.
About 1km north of Ballyliffin (Baile Lifin) is the lovely, sandy expanse of Pollan Strand, but the crashing breakers make it unsafe for swimming. A walk north along the dunes brings you to Doagh Island (now part of the mainland), where the matchbox ruin of 16th-century Carrickbraghey Castle (Carraic Brachaide) is continually battered by the ocean. Also here is the enthusiastically thrown-together Doagh Famine Village ( 074-937 8078; www.doaghfaminevillage.com; Doagh Island; adult/child €7/5; 10am-5.30pm Easter-late Sep & Christmas period), set in a reconstructed village of thatched cottages. Call ahead to book its tour, packed with entertaining titbits about a disappearing way of life, and insightful comparisons with famine-stricken countries today. In the lead-up to Christmas a cute ‘Santa Village’ sets up here.
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WALK: GLENEVIN WATERFALL & RAGHTIN MORE
For tremendous panoramas, you can combine a visit to picturesque Glenevin Waterfall with a steady climb to the wild quartzite summit of Raghtin More (502m). Allow four hours for this 11km route.
From the waterfall, there are two options. Either locate a faint path that climbs steeply out of the eastern side of the gorge, around 10m back from the waterfall. Clamber up the steep peaty slope and cross a 50m section of heather to join a track. Alternatively, if the slope seems too steep for your liking, retrace your route downstream and take the first right at a junction of paths. This path climbs more gently over a lower part of the gorge wall, and will lead you to the same track.
Wherever you join the track, turn right and follow it as it climbs gradually southwest. Firm ground soon gives way to marshy terrain, and at times the track is more like a corridor of reeds and spongy mosses. The western edge of the track generally offers the firmest ground. Continue past