Donegal—the bay, the music, and the castle

Driving north from Galway to Donegal was as hair-raising as all of the rest of the driving. There was no good way to tell my Irish guide, Siri, to keep us on the highways and off the back roads.

We aimed to take a boat tour of the Slieve League cliffs on the way to Donegal, they are supposedly even more amazing than the Cliffs of Moher, but it was too cloudy and foggy when we got there.

It was still cloudy when we got to Donegal, so we took a short tour of Donegal Bay. It was just touristy enough to be amusing. There was not a whole lot to see, but our tour guide sang some silly songs, and told some even sillier jokes for the ride back to the dock.

Our hostess at the guest house aimed us toward The Reel Inn for a good dose of traditional music. We went after dinner for the 3 nights we were there. Not all of it was traditional (we heard some John Prine and Bruce Springsteen), but it was certainly easier to hear the music than in sports-crazy Galway. One night these 3 young ladies appeared with some traditional Irish dance. The lady on the left looks a whole lot like my cousin Kathleen O'Brien!

I did not take many photos of the town itself, but I did take quite a few of the castle, right in the middle of town. Lots of new construction everywhere, and then, when you least expect it, a castle from the 15th century.