Donegal in Pictures, Part 1: Where I Am

 

For more than two months, I have been living and working in the gaeltacht of Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore, though that 'w' is barely there).  According to my itinerary, I was only meant to be here for three weeks before moving on.  I've enjoyed myself so much, though, that I've extended my stay until the end of July.  Also, I will return after six weeks in Nepal and spend the autumn here.

I have been so contented to just enjoy living here that I stopped feeling like a tourist and stopped writing a travel blog.  I have had nine weeks or so of wonderful experiences since my last post, getting to know a region and a community and a way of life, which I think are probably best described in the pictures I've taken.  This is the first of several posts I will assemble, each with a sort of theme, mostly places and animals with very few people who are not me.  I have met many wonderful people here, but most of them do not wish to have their faces displayed in a public forum on the internet, and I feel compelled to respect that.

All of the places in this post are in County Donegal unless otherwise noted.

Loch Altan

The rocky beach at the deserted famine village of Port

Tory Island, with the mainland in the distance

Tory

The sea cliffs of Slieve League

The rocks at Bloody Foreland

Reconstructed hill fort Grianán of Aileách

My corner at the local watering hole, Hudi Beag's

***

This past weekend, Cormac and I took a short one-night excursion to County Kerry, in the southwest corner of the country.  The wee coastal town of Portmagee was our departure point for Skellig Michael, a steep, rocky island jutting out of the sea about 9 miles from the mainland.  For several hundred years starting in the sixth century, it was home to a monastery where monks lived in beehive-shaped huts constructed from the stone of the island.  Now it is home to a lighthouse and plenty of gulls, puffins and guillemots.  A second island, Small Skellig, is protected from human interference due to the large bird colonies which nest there every year.

Small Skellig