We looped back to
Derry and took the road to Letterkenny and back up to the northern
coast to the Rosguill peninsula where everywhere had multiple place
names, reaching Downings (or Downies or Na Dunaibh in Gaelic) and took
the stunning narrow road around the clifftops, signposted as part
of the WAW. Eventually we spotted a small sign pointing up another
narrow lane towards Melmore Head, to reach Rosguill Holiday Park and
got a pitch overlooking empty sandy beaches. We decided to stay put for
a couple of days as
the weather was sunny and calm. We walked to the nearby Tranarossan Bay
following a signed track which vanished just past the youth hostel in a
field of scrapped cars and farm junk. In this part of Ireland it
appears there are no marked coastal footpaths.
Glenveagh Castle
After our lazy day we drove through attractive farm and moorland
to Glenveagh National Park where the parking and entry to the grounds
was free. We walked alongside the lough to the castle estate and after
wandering around the colourful gardens, took the shuttle bus back the
four kilometres to the visitor centre where we learnt about the
terrible history of land clearances carried out in the nineteenth
century. We had read that it is possible
for motorhomes to stay overnight in the car park. After lunch we
drove a short distance to Glebe House and art gallery. An attractive
Regency house which was the home of the artist Derek Hill, containing
many works of his own and other famous artists as well as some
paintings by the primitive artists who lived on Tory Island off the
north Donegal coast. The house was visited by many famous people whom he
sketched, and it is furnished as it was when handed to the state in
1982. Unfortunately only guided tours are offered which was a pity as
there was so much to see. At the entrance there was a "Free wee
library"
surely the world's smallest, and we were amused by the sign in the
grounds reminding visitors that "Winter weather brings high winds,
heavy rain, ice and snow. Winter weather can occur at any time of the
year in Donegal. Please do not visit this site during bad weather."
Luckily we enjoyed an untypical sunny day.
