May 9th

County Donegal is such a treasure trove of great places to see and photograph, we saw only about half of the worthy subjects on this trip, I knew we could not linger in Dunlewy. So we packed up again and headed west. We had a few interesting places to see along the way. 

First was the Kilclooney Dolmen, a very ancient tomb, actually a cluster of tombs. On the walk up to see it we encountered these two fellas who wanted their noses rubbed.

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_8507391   Further west along the road is Assaranca waterfall so of course we had to stop and take a picture. 

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We also came through the village of Ardara and stopped in at a shop selling hand woven Irish tweed. County Donegal has long been the center of Irish tweed and as recently as the 1980's there were hundreds of weavers turning out hand woven cloth and garments. Their children had better opportunities in other fields so the craft was dying. But improvements in design and marketing (mainly the internet) allowed them to sell directly to their customers so the younger generation is picking it up again. We visited, and bought from, three shops on this trip so I will report on all three now. The first was Triona Tweed Center in Ardara and it was the most "professional" looking showroom of the three. We spoke with the owner/foundress who comes from a long line of weavers. She is now passing the craft on to her daughters. They also have a store in Donegal town.

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Next we have Cyndi Graham. We first met Cyndi in 2016 when my sister Kathleen asked to stop in her shop to see if she had sweaters. She had no sweaters but she was so welcoming and generous with her time it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. She had found the loom in her uncle's shed and restored it herself. After eight years and one pandemic we were not sure if she would still be there but, oh yes! She and her sister sell everything they can make. Cyndi weaves the fabric and her sister sews the garments. 

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The third was Studio Donegal in Kilcar. Their showroom  was also impressive and they have three full time weavers working on the premises every weekday. To really see how this craft is done this would be the best of the three places to visit.

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Getting back on our timeline we proceeded to the village of Carrick where we would stay three nights. There are several "A list" subjects along this part of the coast so we wanted plenty of time. After dropping our luggage we drove down to Muckross Head to have a look around. It is one of several peninsulas that stick out into the Atlantic so it might make a good sunset picture. 

_8507519 The sun did not make an appearance but something else did. Rollie spotted a pod of dolphins just offshore. They appeared to be herding a school of fish.

_8507536 _8507549 _8507583 _8507713 Muckross Head forms one of these deep narrow bays with a crescent beach at the end. This is a favorite design of mother nature all over the north coast of Ireland. We would see more of them before we left.

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We then settled into our quarters in Carrick for the next three days. Lots to see along this stretch of coast.