Our morning started with another whiskey tasting at Sliabh Liag Distillery in Ardara.
It is recorded that Saint Colmcille distilled alcohol as early as 560 AD in the Derryveagh mountains.
Just up the road is the Kilclooney dolmen (in the middle of a farmer’s field)
The 3500 BC portal tomb is thought to be one of, if not the best, examples of a dolmen in Ireland.
At 751m Errigal is the tallest mountain in Donegal county. It is one of the 7 sisters chain and part of a larger mountain range called the Derryveagh mountains.
The sword in the stone is a cute folly along the road into the national park.
In Glenveagh National Park we learned about the reintroduction of the golden eagle into the park. A 3 km path along the lake brought us to Glenveagh Castle, built between 1867-1873 by Captain John George Adair in the Scottish baronial style.
Another very steep trail brought us to a viewpoint over the castle and Lough Veagh
Local legend says the giants of Inishowen are sleeping here in Lough Veagh, but when the sacred sword is removed, they will spring into life and reclaim their ancient lands (could that be the sword in the stone that we saw earlier today??)
The Grianan of Aileach is a circular stone fort at the top of a small hill. Likely constructed in the late 8th or early 9th C AD, the fort was restored in the 1870’s.
The fort has been linked to the Tuatha de Dannan, the People or Tribe of the Goddess Danu, who worshipped Dagda, the good god. A mythical race of supernaturally-gifted people in Irish mythology, the Tuatha are said to represent the main deities of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland; the kings, Queens, Heroes, and Warriors. The tribe invaded Ireland before the Celts and built stone forts on top of strategic hills. Aileach might act as a burial monument to Dagda’s dead son.
Just before arriving in Derry (Londonderry) we crossed the border into Northern Ireland. Previously, ‘going across’ was not a big deal at all. After Brexit, the borders between the Republic and the UK are taken a bit more seriously. However, we crossed at a small town with no manned kiosk. When we return to the Republic on our way home, they may wonder how we got here!
In Northern Ireland the speed signs are in miles/hour and the road signs have changed colours. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and does not use Euro, so we have brought a few of our leftover GBP for this portion of the trip!
We had a nice dinner at the Walled City Brewery in Derry. Their beer names were awesome.
Kris tried the Foyster, an Oyster stout, brewed with pulverized oyster shells from Lough Foyle which give it a rich coffee taste and creamy finish.
They claim the recipe for the brewery’s imperial stout was found in a diary from the Siege of Derry in 1689 – it was claimed to cure “toothache, heartache and scurvy”!!
Our hotel is in the ex army barracks at Ebrington Square. It has definitely been updated!
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