Our Big Adventure

DONEGAL and the FAMINE VILLAGE

Donegal Town, once the chief stronghold of the O’Donnells and where their castle still sits to this day. We tour Donegal Castle, faithfully restored, and Brian is in awe of the vaulted wood ceiling, put together with not one single nail. St Patrick spent time here and there is a cavern where legend has it he spent 40 days and 40 nights fasting. Each year thousands of people come to Lough Derg to spend 3 days and 3 nights fasting and praying. We move further northwest in Donegal and onto it’s peninsula, the most northern point in Ireland. So once again we have travelled this island from it’s most southerly tip in County Kerry, to the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal. Like Maeve’s Mound, we first catch sight of Grianan of Aileach or also known as the Sun Palace of Aileach from a distance. It was once the royal seat of the O’Neills, and a sacred meeting place for the high kings of Ireland. A dry stone fort built around 1700 BC, it perches 344m above the sea with vast panoramic views in all directions. We do visit a famine village that tells the story of the Great Irish Famine and how the population dropped from 8million to 4million through death and emigration. The houses here were part of the actual village and our guide lived here until 1982. IRISH SPOKEN HERE I have failed to mention the fact that the further north you get in The Republic of Ireland the more you are immersed in the Gaeltacht or Irish speaking regions. One television station and at least one radio station is Irish language only, and in many towns one side of the road and directional signs are in Irish. There have been many round-abouts we have circled twice because the first time around we didn’t catch the English side Like the language we heard spoken in Wales, the sing-song sounding Gaeltacht, bears no resemblance to it’s English equivalent. Also on the TV news, weather reports etc., you hear no mention of Northern Ireland, and if you do hear about it, it is called ‘the other Ireland’. Although there is no border as such, they are distinctly two countries.

posted by Brian and Julie @ 8:41:00 PM