Monday, May 6

This was to be mostly a travel day, going into the Republic of Ireland with a long stop in Derry. Again the weather was dreary.

Derry is right on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. It bills itself as the only remaining walled town in Ireland. One can do a pretty good self guided tour by walking the top of the wall and reading the signs. 

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_8506145 As soon as I took this picture a field trip bus pulled up.

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But of course we could not come through Derry without paying a call to five of our best friends.

_8506124 (2) And then the true reason for this must stop in Derry came to light. In the picture below Jeanne Marie is asking this gentleman where to find  Derry Girls souvenirs. 

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Then we drove into the Republic and up to Fanad Head where we had accommodations at The Tea Stop House, owned by a delightful couple, Gary and Anita. We were their first guests this year. 

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 As soon as we got settled we went out to check out the lighthouse. On the way we encountered these cows apparently waiting for their supper. Or perhaps they are the official greeting committee.

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Here's a first look at the lighthouse.

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We all agreed that it was worth photographing so I came back for a sunset shot. 
The weather gods finally smiled on me and gave me some decent light.   _8506280

Before I closed up for the evening I moved over to what I expected would be my composition for the next morning.

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If only this great sky will hold until then. 

Tuesday May 7th

I was back at the lighthouse for sunrise and the sky was great! 

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Before we left Fanad Head I wanted to take a look at the Great Pollet Sea Arch. Pretty cool.

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A good mornings work but we had to move on. We had a couple of castles to check out.

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The one above is Doe Castle and it is a typical Norman keep with the typical outer wall, built at the edge of the tide zone which made a natural moat. We had access to the courtyard and the lower level of the keep.

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The second is Glenveagh Castle which was never a real castle. It was a manor house built in the 1800s to look like a castle. We toured the full interior, the grounds, and the gardens.

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About 5 PM we rolled into the village of Dunlewy, which sits astride the base of Mt. Errigal, the tallest mountain in Donegal. Our B&B was right at the base of the mountain and this was the view from the front door.

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In the background is the most misnamed place in Ireland. Originally it was called An Gleann Neamhe, The Heavenly Glen but an Anglo cartographer misread the Gaelic and wrote it down as An Gleann Neimhe, The Poisson Glen. Once the maps were printed that way it could not be changed. When I refer to it in this blog I think it will just be "The Glen". I had high hopes for some images here if the light would cooperate. Below is a shot of Mt Errigal from across Dunlewy Lough. Our B&B is at the base of the mountain, just above that larger tree on the right. 

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We would see what the light gods would grant for tomorrow.