This morning started sunny and warm. Despite that, we headed across the street to the Donegal County Museum. As a participant in Tbex, (the conference I am attending) four of us were given a personal tour by one of the curators, Caroline. She described the museum’s mission as “guardians of Donegal’s history and culture.”
The tour was fascinating and thorough as she explained everything from archeology to “the troubles” to famous citizens, products, and sites. Whenever one of us asked a question, Caroline usually prefaced her answer with the phrase “it’s complicated.” As she told us about the Protestant vs Catholic question and the division between Ireland and Northern Ireland we all grasped what she meant. As she said, “there is no black and white, lots of intermarriage across religions, don’t assume a name indicates someone’s religion.” She also went on to say that the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland was established by Ireland as a way to earn money on trade—it was neither political nor religion based, simply a need for money that drove the border. But then, it’s complicated. As we were leaving Caroline loaded us up with books about the area – my favorite being photographs of traditional Donegal shopfronts and signage.
After the museum we walked down the block to Mac’s Deli. The place was packed with local office workers, road crews, and others from the area. The staff, as all Irish people seem to be, were super friendly and helpful and went out of their way to talk with us and get us anything we needed. It was great to eat a salad, something that doesn’t appear on most menus in this area.
Three of us, Phoenyx, Paula and I, then took an excursion to Grianan of Ailigh. It’s a circular fort whose origins date to around 1700 BC. When we left Letterkenny the sun was shining brightly. The closer we got to our destination, the cloudier it became. Just as we arrived, the sky opened, and it began to pour. We sat in the taxi for a few minutes, then decided to brave the rain. We should have waited a few more minutes because the sky then cleared and returned to full sun.
The fort is a round fortification, interesting but not unique. However, the scenery surrounding it was glorious. Perched on the top of a hill, there were 360-degree views of the countryside. I didn’t climb to the top of the fort; just looking at the wet, narrow, and steep stone stairs convinced me climbing them would be a terrible idea. However, there was a path that circled the fort. In every direction the views were breathtakingly beautiful. I took way too many photos.
Returning to Letterkenny, Phoenyx and I walked around town for a while. We poked around several shops, had a Macha, then walked to Cathedral Square. Unfortunately, the cathedral is being painted so we couldn’t enter it. School was just letting out and there were kids everywhere. It must be a central location for schools as we saw a variety of different uniforms.
We walked back to our Airbnb for a short rest and met our third roommate, Linda, who hails from Melbourne, Australia. After contacting some of our new friends, we met up with a group of Tbexer’s at a local brew pub for dinner. It was a very congenial group, with everyone swapping travel stories. I am with my tribe!