‘Why Donegal?’ is a question we have been asked many times. Let’s use today’s casual ramble as an answer. It’s a typical summer’s day - blue sky to the right, big threatening black ogre-cloud to the right. Hard to know which way it will go - sun cream or umbrella. We find a sign for Killaghtee Cross, it’s pointing us towards rusty gates with a loop of blue fish rope flopping redundantly, so it looks like we’ve hit opening time. We follow a gloriously overgrown track,with dappled sun beaming through the branches, cabbage white butterflies are darting from leaf to leaf in a crazy dance-off with other buzzy things, there’s a silence made of humming and ruffling of leaves, occasionally interrupted with a gull squawk. We come to an old church ruin, it’s really a wall and a window, harboring grave slabs from bygone eras. But it’s the tombstones we are here to see- poking up through the long grass like witch’s teeth. This rambler had an inelegant tumble on the way, the irregular ground is camouflaged by vindictive nettles, delighted to reward your gentle intrusion with a sharp chemical burn. But it’s worth it, for there in the corner is the Killaghtee Cross, it’s about 1500 years old, and under bright sun, the carved Maltese pattern is very clear, as is the triquetra knot beneath it. It is beautiful. This is why Donegal. Every ramble will yield nature at her wildest, combined with myth, folklore, history and tradition. You just need to know where to look.
#donegal #killaghtee #ireland #rambles

Today’s ramble is probably familiar to many, we wandered down by the old marble church in Dún Luiche. It’s another of those places that ticks every cultural box - the valley is named after Lugh, grandson of the Giant Balor- the backdrop is the ethereal Poisoned Glen, the church itself was built as a Taj-Mahal like monument by lady Jane Russell fo her late husband- he’s buried underneath it ( Love or hate??) Errigal, Donegal’s highest peak rises above it, and a magnificent lake stretches out in front. And the weather was fine. So as good as it gets!
#rambles #donegal

​Tory island is one of the most spectacular places in Ireland, and if you have not yet visited, boost it immediately to the top of your to-do list. It lurks off the coast of Donegal, daring you to take it on. The ferry there is a forty-minute roller coaster, but you’ll find your land legs walking east to the magical end of the island, where the ghost of Balor haunts the caves and the sea stacks. Everything out here is giant-sized - the pebbles are boulders, the sheer and steep walls of the island yield to the incessant pounding of the wild waves. Yawning gashes swallow the ground and create magical doors to the Atlantic. There are few people here to disturb your rambles, but you’ll be warmly greeted at Tory’s pierside hotel when you’re done, with a well earned pint. The ferries run every day, the locals couldn’t be friendlier, and the whole island has an otherworldly beauty impossible to convey in any photograph, but we’ll try. Enjoy.
#toryisland #donegal #instituteofstudyabroadireland #studyabroadireland #rambles
 

Where does a Donegal rambler go, to find scenery and trails to compete with the North West? Wales is the answer! Lovely few days around the border, along Offa’s Dyke Path. Delighted to finally visit Tintern Abbey, and must say, what a welcome the doggies got everywhere we went. Diolch yn fawr iawn!
#wales #offasdyke #instituteofstudyabroadireland #studyabroadireland #rambles