DUNGLOE TO DERRY

SUNDAY MORNING IN DUNGLOE CHURCH CAR PARK

MOUNT ERRIGAL IN GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK

MUSICIANS AT GLENVEAGH CASTLE

ROBERT, OUR HOST AT ARAS OWEN HOSTEL

BEACON & FORT AT CULMORE POINT

PEACE BRIDGE IN DERRY

FREE DERRY WALL

MALIN HEAD

WALL MURALS IN DERRY'S BOGSIDE AREA

Of course, staying the night in a church car park on a Saturday night is inevitably going to lead to a rude awakening. Fortunately, we were ahead of the throng, but when they did come the car park was packed. Religious lot these Irish! We had popped our heads around the doors to the church the previous evening and it was huge inside, and it needed to be.

After a bit of local shopping (Dungloe had an Aldi, a Lidl and a sort of Co-op) we departed without having learned who would be crowned Mary. That ceremony would be held in the evening, hosted by famous Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell himself.

We were leaving the Wild Atlantic Way for a while and heading for Glenveagh National Park in central Donegal. A huge conical mountain came into our field of view as we approached the park. This intimidating monolith was Errigal Mountain. Although very steep, it was climbable from the east. However, the rain and fierce wind dissuaded us from leaving the car to attempt such a thing. As we drove deeper into the park we discovered that it had a castle (yes, really) so we decided to take the two and a half mile walk to that instead. Even then, we got a drenching half way there. The castle was actually a stately home built in the Scottish Baronial style by, John Adair, an Irishman who had made his fortune in America. From 1938 it was owned by Henry McIlhenny who in 1979 gave it to the Irish State so that the National Park could be created. A particularly noteworthy feature is its magnificent gardens which are still being developed.

Continuing our drive, we reached Letterkenny to rejoin the Wild Atlantic Way heading north towards the Inishowen Peninsula. Shortly after Buncrana we arrived at Dunree Head. Amid fears of a Napoleonic invasion, Fort Dunree was built here in 1813 to protect the approaches to Lough Swilly. Huge guns were added in 1895 and Lough Swilly became the marshalling area of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. Admiral Jellicoe's fleet was anchored here prior to the Battle of Jutland in WW1. The fort was handed over to Ireland in 1938 and decommissioned after WW2. In 1986 it was opened to the public as a museum.

It was time to consider finding somewhere to stay the night and as we were passing through Ballyliffen I spotted a sign for Aras Owen Hostel. There were no cars to be seen on the drive and initially I thought the hostel was closed until a gentleman waved at me through the window. He introduced himself as Robert and invited Rubi and me to view a choice of two rooms. These he offered at a rate that suited our pocket, so Rubi chose the room with the picture window and the beautiful northward-facing view. The hostel had kitchen facilities enabling us to make our evening meal and breakfast. The kitchen, our room and indeed the whole house were spotlessly clean and Robert was a wonderfully friendly and helpful host. When we left the next morning we both had the feeling that we might like to return there sometime.

I suppose that it was inevitable that our northward quest would eventually take us to the most northerly point of mainland Ireland, Malin Head. It was a popular spot, with many visitors, a bit like Land's End in some ways, but rather more attractive in my view. We were lucky to have good clear weather and we could even see Scotland in the distance. We spent a while walking along the cliffs and taking pictures before deciding it was time to move on.

It was downhill from here on, in the sense that having reached the most northerly point, we can now only go south, even though the Wild Atlantic Way signs still indicated (N) for north. I guess it would get rather confusing if they made the signs too literal.

As we drove down to Stroove we enjoyed the spectacular view of Magilligan Point whilst eating a late lunch. Then we drove down to the beach at Inishowen Head. Finally we followed the east coast of the peninsula to Muff. Just beyond there we found the single tower of Culmore Fort on the bank of Lough Foyle. We agreed that this would be an excellent place to car camp.

We were close to the border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, so when we refuelled the car in Muff next morning we were given the choice of paying in Euros or Sterling. As we drove south to Londonderry (or Derry as preferred by nationalists) the only indication that we had left the Republic was that the speed limits were in mph instead of kph.

We found a free car park on the west bank of the River Foyle and from there walked across the Peace Bridge into the city. We wanted to learn more about 'the troubles' that beset Londonderry from the late 60's through to the 90's, so headed to Rossville Street in the Bogside area. There we saw the murals and memorials that now serve as a reminder to many events, both historic and tragic. We spent some time in the Museum of Free Derry, which has been erected adjacent to the site of the Bloody Sunday massacre where British Paratroopers killed 14 innocent protesters.

Londonderry is also referred to as the Walled City, having a complete city wall, built between 1613 and 1618 as defences for early English and Scottish settlers. After a substantial lunch in the Richmond Shopping Centre we went to Bank Place and climbed the steps up to the top of the 1.5km long wall, then walked anticlockwise around it to enjoy the views it offered over the city. There are 24 ancient cannon on the wall in a good state of preservation, some of which were used in anger during two 17th century seizes.

As we walked back to the car we both agreed that our perception of the Irish 'troubles' had changed and that, whilst nationalistic and religious motivations played a significant part, at the core was a fight for human rights.