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Donegal Travel Blogs

Background: Celtic tribes arrived on the island between 600-150 B.C. Invasions by Norsemen that began in the late 8th century were finally ended when King Brian BORU defeated the Danes in 1014. English invasions began in the 12th century and set off more than seven centuries of Anglo-Irish struggle marked by fierce rebellions and harsh repressions. A failed 1916 Easter Monday Rebellion touched off several years of guerrilla warfare that in 1921 resulted in independence from the UK for 26 southern counties; six northern (Ulster) counties remained part of the United Kingdom. In 1948 Ireland withdrew from the British Commonwealth; it joined the European Community in 1973. Irish governments have sought the peaceful unification of Ireland and have cooperated with Britain against terrorist groups. A peace settlement for Northern Ireland, known as the Good Friday Agreement and approved in 1998, is being implemented with some difficulties.

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By trex
November 13th 2008

4 Days and 3 Nights Around Ireland

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

I love Autumn!

So with Cheryl here and all, we decided we would do the fastest tour of Ireland ever. To any travelers thinking of seeing as much as Ireland as possible in a short amount of time, this would be the way to go. Day 1: We started out the morning in Galway, exploring a bit of town and being extremely frustrated that our favorite bagel and coffee shop was not open (Cher became instantly obsessed with the 2nd best Chai Lattes in the world). Our first stop was the Blarney Castle, so with all three of us piled into our beast of [View Full Entry]

map of Ireland so you can follow our journey

By lornamick
September 12th 2008

Border Hens farewell weekend

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

All the hens

The beginning of the farewell drinkies.......and no better place than the gorgeous setting of Gweedore!! [View Full Entry]

By The Baron
August 6th 2008

Tuesday, August 5

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

Donegal Town
The area known as "The Diamond" in the town center

We experienced a very typical wet Irish day today. It was raining from the time we stepped out of the cottage in the morning until the time we returned (past midnight). A lot of that was nothing more than a mist, but it was just a very wet day. But when you're in a place that gets as much rain as Ireland, there's no way you can let that deter you from seeing what you want to see. We set this day aside as our time to see some of County Donegal (the northernmost county in the Republic Of Ireland). Donegal [View Full Entry]

By Finn magill
July 23rd 2008

Donegal Rocks

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

The subject heading says it all. I embarked on a Donegalese adventure on monday morning after a great weekend in Sligo. Sunday was kind of an archaelogical tour of County Sligo as I traveled around and saw all the touristy sites that is on every Irish tour company itinerary. We saw a waterfall, the tomb of W.B. Yeats, the tomb of Turlough O'Carolan the legendary 18th century blind harpist from County Meath. The coolest thing we saw was this site filled with 5000 year old (now this is pre-Celtic) stone rings which is believed to be ancient burial sites. The massive [View Full Entry]

By Mark Jag
June 25th 2008

one last time

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

Wow, what a trip. the good thing is, it doesn't feel old or tired yet. the scenery is so nice in the north west of ireland I kinda wish we'd come here a couple days ago, so to spend more time Justin's burger was indeed quite large.... He wrote that he wasn't allowed to get near the edge of the cliffs of moher.... hmmmm...... I suppose what he means is, he only was able to get six inches away, and lean over the edge and look down, and was not able to hang from the edge like he wanted to... oh [View Full Entry]

By Mark Jag
June 25th 2008

The last blog...

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

A view of Donegal Bay

Here we are in Donegal, Ireland, ancestral home of James Greer... We took the ferry from Holyhead, Wales to Dublin on Friday and spent the night in a very nice hotel. Saturday we took a bus tour down to Cork and Blarney Castle. Seeing the castle and kissing the Blarney Stone (I did; Dad declined) were pretty cool, but the tour itself... not so much. We decided no more tours for us; we're doing the rest of the sightseeing on our own. Sunday we chilled out for a while, planned the rest of the trip, and went to see Indiana Jones, [View Full Entry]

By Brian Brook
April 24th 2008

Ireland

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

Galway street market

Hey folks, thanks for your interest. I got to Ireland, Friday 4.18.08 and left Sunday 4.27.08 (yesterday), rented a car and basically went 3 different places: First Galway town in the west (including the rural Connemara area to the northwest of there), then heading eastward I happened to stop in a town called Bundoran, in County Donegal, where there was decent surf and nice folks. The last part of my trip was briefly passing through Belfast and Dublin. Initially I came to Ireland in hopes to see Bruce Molsky play - a favorite musician of mine (amazing at fiddle, banjo and [View Full Entry]

By Kacz
March 16th 2008

Bring me an Ulster Fry!

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

Ulster Fry
mmmmmm......

With St. Patrick's day being tomorrow, doesn't Ireland seem like an appropriate place to write about this week? I spent 2 weeks visiting my friends in Northern Ireland back in 2001, and only spent a few days in the actual Republic of Ireland. In just a few short days, I did learn a few interesting tidbits of Irish culture. Irish cuisine overall is nothing to scream at, and yes, it is pretty bland and boring. Corned beef and cabbage, sausages, and crisps pretty much round out the Irish diet, and you won't find a Taco Bell on the entire island. However, [View Full Entry]

By Randa
January 30th 2008

The Best of the West

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

The West Coast

As my time on this island draws to a close, I have been jamming in as much sightseeing as possible. With only one weekend night to spare, I was insistent on heading to see the best of the West. Taking stock of local opinion, Adam and I headed to Donegal, long famous for its amazing scenery and a region about which the Irish frequently boast. Donegal town itself, only a few hours west of Belfast, is not the major drawcard of the region. Although it's a very pleasent town, it's the nearby coastal scenery that's breath-taking. A short drive from Donegal [View Full Entry]

By Gilesy
January 22nd 2008

Mountains and Peat Bogs

Europe » Ireland » County Donegal » Donegal

Slieve League

I've just spent the weekend in County Donegal in a cute little town called Malenbeg. We headed over on Friday night and had a lot of fun finding our hostel at 10pm at night as it's almost as far west in the county as you can go on a one way road. After waking in the morning to find that we had a pretty good view over the ocean we headed back east for about and hour to the Slieve League which are the highest sea cliffs in Europe (according to the trusty lonely planet guide). We spent a spectacular morning [View Full Entry]

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