Our ramble this evening is down towards Nanbrackalan lake, along the Donegal/ Fermanagh border. I don’t know the exact meaning of the lake’s strange name, but ‘breac’ is the Irish word for trout, so maybe ‘Lough na breac álainn’ - lake of the lovely trout? The usual gamut of autumn colour was on display, punctuated here and there with clusters of sulpher tuft fungi & the ubiquitous mini-geranium, herb robert, prettying up the deadwood and the scutch grasses. Herb Robert - Ruithéal rí is its Irish name - has associations with the cure of bleeding and blood disorders, in people and cattle. Its red stems and bright pink colour are a jolly sprinkle of disco to the muted November palate. Further joy was sparked by watching two happy doggies take a quick bath!
#donegal #rambles #wildflowers #folklore #studyabroadireland

Today’s ramble is an unusual one- we are in the Swiss city of St. Gallen to visit the Cathedral of St. Gall ( Gaul) and to view the beautiful Irish manuscripts held in the Abbey Library. Gall was born in Ireland around 550, and travelled to Europe from the Bangor monastery in County Down, to Switzerland, where he build a church and established a religious community. He is often depicted with a friendly bear who helped him gather wood.
The cathedral is spectacularly beautiful ( we lit the candles for our dear departed) but the wonderful, nerdy part was seeing the St. Gall Priscian manuscript. The pages have over 3000 glosses written in old Irish, - there is even some Ogham scribbled in the margins. Rare texts like this allow scholars to study the oldest version of the Irish language, we are so lucky to have access to the notes and doodles ( one gloss just says ‘I’m cold!) in these texts, and we hit maximum nerd-level in the library. It is fascinating to see the impact of Irish scholarship on the early Christian church, and we can highly recommend a visit to this beautiful Swiss city if you’re ever in the neighborhood.
Tomorrow we’ll be back to the back roads of Donegal, but I hope you’ll enjoy seeing this beautiful book, and the images of Gall, his church and his city.
#rambles #irishlanguage #stgallen St.Gallen,Switzerland St. Gallen Cathedral

Today’s ramble is down another lovely botharín in Gortnasillagh, near Glenties, County Donegal. The name has been anglicized from ‘Gort na Saileach’, which means the field of Willow trees. The Latin word for willow is Salix, the Irish is similar - Sáile, - which gives rise to those references you’ve heard like Yeats’ poem ‘The Salley Gardens’ - and for those of you old enough to remember - the dreaded ‘Salley Rod’ ( a fine limber whippish stick of willow used to scutch the shins of bould wains.) Willow loves the Donegal blanket bog, and as you’ll see from the photos, this is bog territory, complete with bog lake, mosses, heathers, lichens, wildflowers, bog cotton & a windy road with grass down the middle. Our faithful ramblers, Robinson and Higgins, enjoyed this beautiful ramble in November twilight.
Enjoy #ireland #donegal #rambles #gortnasillagh #glenties #irishbog

Anyone who goes to the Rosses is very familiar with the iconic face of An Earagail, Errigal - the highest peak in the Derryveagh Mountains. Its beautiful quartzite and limestone face dominates the scenery west of Dunlewey. Errigal rises out of an ochery blanket bog, putting its best face towards the Atlantic. It is associated with the mythology of Balor and the Formorians, and its name ~ definitely as Gaeilge but there’s a few different translations in various archives- including ‘Silver Mountain”, ‘Place of Prayer’,Bright Mountain ~ it turns pink in a Donegal sunset, and it’s also a relatively easy climb, with incredible views of its six sister mountains and the Poison Glen. We took a little ramble along the boglands, glimpses of Dunlewey church down in the valley, lovely colours of Samhain (November) all around, beautiful. Enjoy!
#donegal #rambles #ireland

Wintery roads in the Knader, Ballyshannon Co.Donegal ~ lovely pops of colour from the early gorse, Samhain spider-webs complete with rain drop baubles, views across to the Dartry Mountains, as long as you have the wellies and the scarf you’ll be grand!
#donegal #knader #rambles

Tullan Strand, Bundoran is this evening’s ramble, supplying wonderful waves and a stunning sunset. Doggie and I had a walk and a quick swim in one of the most beautiful beaches in Donegal. Enjoy!
#bundoran #ramble #ireland #wildatlanticway #surfing #studyabroadireland

A little froggie joined us for part of today’s ramble, in a boggy bit of mountain near Pettigo. We followed his hop back into his pond ~ and left him sitting safely on his rock, magnificent in his oily, tiny camouflage. We love the paw v tiny frog photo, just for contrast, but fyi froggie was never in danger he was way too fast and clever for us!
#donegal #bog #frogs #rambles

A very Octoberish ramble today, exploring a network of old roads around Knader forest. The Irish word for a road is ‘bóthar’ - (bo-har) and a little road is a bótharín - bo-har-een) which was further anglicized to ‘Boreen’. The meaning comes from bó - the word for cow, - the bothar is the cow-path. There are bótharíní i ngach áit- everywhere in Donegal, and if you wander down them you’ll be rewarded with birdsong, berries, wildflowers and heathers, mosses, midges, ferns, rushes, gorse, thistles, frogs and the odd red deer. The light is changing now, getting lower in the increasingly darker skies, the doggies, who can see better than their walker, don’t mind this at all. Enjoy!
#donegal #ramble #ireland

Today’s wee ramble is around Cashelard, and if you follow in our footsteps you’ll share our experience of following an old road up over the mountain to see what’s there, and being mesmerized as a sparkling azure lake appears (Lough Unshin), fringed by all sorts of autumn-coloured trees and shrubs. The water, so blue from a distance, is, up close, a rich peaty hue, splashing gently against its boggy crucible. And look at the skies! So for any Ballyshannon people missing home, this ramble’s for you.
#ballyshannon #Cashelard #donegal #goldenlabrador #ramble #ireland

The Berries of Higginstown
Our ramble today is down a road in the townland of Ballymunterhiggins ~ in Irish Baile Muintir O’hUigín - or Higginstown, just a few miles outside Ballyshannon. Although the walk was relatively short, a profusion of berries demanded attention- the brambles are weighed down with pulpy, inky blackberries, the dog rose berries are flashy burnt orange, the hawthorn berries are a bright fire-brigade red, and the snow berries live up to their name well- the wild flowers still make a bid for attention but as the Autumn takes over, the berries are winning. Fun facts - dog roses are so called because they were believed to be a cure for dog bites, and snow berries, while sounding and looking innocent, are toxic to humans. Our thanks to Collie, who alerted us to this beautiful little walk - enjoy the -donegal ramble folks!
#Ireland- #donegal #higginstown #berries #rambles