Castles and cliffs: a travel expert’s journey through Donegal

One of my favourite locations in Ireland’s wild northwest: Glenveagh Castle in County Donegal, a grand 19th-century home in stately natural surroundings. Glenveagh was created 150 years ago by Captain John Adair, an Irishman who made his fortune on land speculation in America. Back in Ireland he was determined to create a home that outshone Queen Victoria’s Balmoral.

You can explore inside Glenveagh Castle – which has been kept with all its original furnishings, showing the comfortable lifestyle of the series of wealthy owners. The castle hosted many celebrity guests over the years, including Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne.

It was later gifted to the people of Ireland. The formal and well-manicured gardens are free to visit all through the year, and offer splendid views of Lough Veagh. The castle is now the heart of Ireland’s northernmost national park, and provides a base for hikes through biodiverse landscapes.

I took a walk with Clare Bromley, the head guide, and head of education and learning for Ireland’s National Parks and Wildlife Service.

“People have always played a part here,” she says. “There’s a lovely rich social and cultural history here with the castle and gardens, but the contrast to that is the spectacular, wild landscape.”

Nature has been generous to County Donegal – especially along the coast, with the Atlantic a constant companion. To learn about the communities that have taken root here, and to take a journey through the past, follow the signs for Glencolmcille Folk Village. Perched on a hillside above Glen Bay beach, it comprises a cluster of thatched cottages, known as a clachan. Each cottage depicts a different aspect of daily life through the centuries: how the people of northwest Ireland lived, worked, cooked, slept and stayed warm, with peat fires.

Despite the hardships of daily life, they developed rich cultural traditions. This excellent social enterprise is also known as Father McDyer’s Folk Village Museum, after the priest who came up with the concept – and led the community effort building and furnishing the first three cottages in just three months in 1967.

The manager, Margaret Rose Cunningham, says: “A lot of people connect with their ancestors when they come here. It doesn’t matter where they’re from: everyone started off in a hands-on way." Time to take to the water on a trip I’ve been wanting to do for as long as I can remember: to Sliabh Liag Cliffs. The voyage with Paddy Byrne begins at the tiny port of Teelin. The boat sails close to the shore along the way to some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe, towering almost 2,000 feet above the ocean. You are confronted by the power of the restless earth, with tectonic shifts twisting and distorting the rocks over millions of years.

This being the North Atlantic, the water can get lively. If you prefer, you can view the cliffs from dry land, with a particularly good viewing platform. As they say in these parts, the next parish over is Boston, Massachusetts. You can also see a vast stone marker reading EIRE – the Irish word for the nation. There are a dozen of these in County Donegal, and they hark back to the second world war, when they were created as a navigation aid for American pilots – and also warned airmen that they were flying over a neutral country.

The Banagh Peninsula, where these wonders await, is threaded with some of Europe’s most spectacular – and empty – roads. One follows the path carved by a glacier for your amazement: the Glengesh Pass.

My target was Lough Eske, with Donegal’s Blue Stack Mountains providing a breathtaking backdrop. It is best viewed from Harvey’s Point Hotel, which has a terrace overlooking the water. The award-winning hotel is popular with people who are keen on hiking, fishing and cycling (don’t try them all at once).

To find the town that gives the county its name, follow the River Eske from the Lough to the sea. Donegal Town produces some of the world’s most sought-after headgear: at Hanna Hats – the last surviving original hat manufacturer in Ireland.

In 1921, the founder, David Hanna, cycled more than 100 miles from Belfast to Donegal to become a tailor’s apprentice. Three years later, he discovered he had a flair for headwear made from tweed – and established Hanna Hats.

Today, each hat is made using the same natural fabrics and personal touch: an artisan heritage to create hats worn by American presidents and Hollywood stars. And it is all open to the public, as general manager Eleanor Hanna says: “It’s fantastic to be able to come here to the factory. You can see the staff making the products, you can see the beautiful tweeds and the passion that goes into it here.”

The town is well worth a first outing for your new hat: take a stroll along Meetinghouse Street, see the castle and call in at the railway museum – marking an age when trains connected Ireland. There are narrow lanes and, where the river meets the ocean, a ruined abbey that remains atmospheric and intriguing. But in the centre of town, there’s no shortage of life: McCafferty’s pub offers traditional live music seven days a week. You might have spotted Irish pubs popping up around the world – but as manager, Thomas Murphy, says there’s nothing like the real thing: “You can only have an Irish pub in Ireland in my opinion. It’s done right in this country. It’s in our blood really.”

This stretch of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way takes you from a stately home saved for the nation via dramatic landscapes and sea cliffs to a town steeped in tradition. For a connection with the past, come to Donegal in the near future.

Best of the northwest – along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way

Find out more about the Wild Atlantic Way and the unique adventures it offers, and start planning your own Ireland escape.

Thanks to the Common Travel Area, British visitors do not need a passport or a visa to travel to the island of Ireland (though check with your travel provider for any ID requirements).