Eric and I have been looking forward to our walking holiday in Donegal, Ireland ever since I began working with Tailor-Made Tours last year. Having worked on the route notes and info packages for all of their Ireland tours, I was drawn to their Donegal Way itinerary for two reasons. It’s a combination of two lesser-known routes, the Bluestack Way and the Sli Cholmcille, and it’s in a region of Ireland that I know virtually nothing about.
Turns out, Donegal is as extraordinarily beautiful as the rest of Ireland and those “in the know” have been vacationing here for years. Follow along as we explore the mountains and coast of Donegal on foot.
The Bus to Donegal
Most people begin the Donegal Way tour from Dublin, but we go rogue and add a week on Clare Island beforehand. Which makes getting to the starting point of our tour in Donegal Town a bit more complicated. Our day begins with a ferry from the island and a shuttle to Westport, where we hang out at the SuperValu cafe and walk the streets of Westport for 2 hours while waiting for the bus to Charlestown.
Our bus ride is going well until we hit construction, which delays us 15min. I feel slightly panicked when I realize this means we will miss our connection from Charleston to Donegal until we look at the app and it shows that our second bus has also been delayed. We’re lucky this time, but I can see how public transit causes people stress, especially in rural places where large transit stations don’t exist.
Will it arrive on time? Will I make my connection? Where can I hang out with my luggage between connections? Where will I pee? That last one is actually a valid concern. I thought we would have enough time between bus connections, but that isn’t the case today. Eric nearly gets left in Sligo when he takes a potty break. When I see the driver start up the bus, with no Eric in sight, I’m wondering what’s more important at this point — the luggage or the husband. Thankfully Eric arrives and I’m saved from this moral quandary.
Despite the near panic and discomfort of holding my bladder, I enjoy the bus ride to Donegal. This is beautiful countryside, passing the distinctive Benbulben and entering Co. Donegal through the coastal towns of Bundoran and Ballyshannon.
Arriving in Donegal Town, we walk to the Railway Lodge, our home for the next 3 nights. We are greeted at the door by our host Sheila, who is grinning from ear to ear and apologizing for the large bandage covering her nose. She tells us she just had a surgery the day before and “it looks worse than it feels.” The lodge, like its owner, is buttery sunshine and the warmth of hot tea and scones, you just can’t help but fall into the comfort of this place.
Dinner tonight is at Olde Castle Bar and it’s everything you want in an Irish pub restaurant. Lively atmosphere, the smell of old wood and stone, hearty stews and good Guinness. And to my delight, they serve Dingle Gin!
Exploring Donegal Town
At breakfast this morning we visit with Sheila and our fellow guest Paul from Switzerland. Paul is a repeat guest and when I ask him what brings him back, he says he likes that it is familiar. After years of traveling, he finds comfort in places that he has already visited and knows well. Donegal Ireland is such a place for him. Like us, he loves to walk and prefers traveling by public transportation instead of renting a car. He and Sheila share stories of what it used to be like traveling in Ireland by bus and train and how much it has improved in the last few years.
After breakfast, we walk the River Bank Loop which is a beautiful little 1.4mi walk that begins in town. We follow the river through a shady forest of mixed trees (birch, Scott pine, lime, hazel), passing fairy doors and houses, then circling around past farmland and returning to town.
We explore the ruins and cemetery of Donegal Abbey, a Franciscan friary founded in 1474 by Red Hugh O’Donnell and his mother Nuala O’Connor. Only a few walls remain but it’s a beautiful site where the river opens out into Donegal Bay.
Donegal Town is bustling today with lots of visitors, so we count ourselves lucky when we snag a table for lunch at the popular Blueberry Tea Room. It’s a cozy space with quirky decor and a hearty lunch menu, plus an excellent selection of desserts.
I fancy a bit of shopping so we visit Hanna Hats and the St Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop, where I buy a bright green and orange Ireland scarf. We then stop in at the Mustard Seed for tea and snacks.
This is a community tea room that operates solely on donations and acts as a gathering space for the Anglican Church parishioners as well as anyone who walks through their door. There are quite a few people when we enter and they all seem delighted to see us, welcoming us with conversation and cheery smiles. Eileen sits herself down at our table and proceeds to tell us almost all of her life story in less than 15 minutes. If you want good conversation and a place to feel welcome, the Mustard Seed is a true gem!
Bluestack Way, Section 1
We walk the first section of the Bluestack Way today, and it’s an eye-opening introduction to hiking in Donegal. The day begins with full sun, followed by a quick downpour, then sun and hail stones – all within the first hour of our walk.
We don’t mind the light rain and hail, however, as it keeps us cool and gives us beautiful photos as we pass through fields of gorse and old cottages.
Along the way we see a Brachan Pot, which was restored and placed near Lough Eske to commemorate those who died during the Great Famine and to thank those who donated to help feed survivors. I’m fascinated to learn that the Choctaw Indian Nation was one of those supporters. How beautiful that a nation of people still in the midst of their own suffering thought to help strangers across an ocean.
Another highlight of today’s walk is Lough Eske, a serene lake surrounded by rolling hills and the Bluestack Mountains. I’m disappointed that there are no benches or rocks to sit and eat our lunch by the lake, but we make it work. This is why we always pack a waterproof picnic blanket.
After the lake, there’s a steep walk up, passing a wooded area and a village, and then the real views open up. We are now in the Bluestack Mountains and it’s absolutely stunning!
It’s April, so the hills are still shades of brown and dark purple instead of the vivid green that most people associate with Ireland. Bright blue skies contrast with the stark landscape and I max out my Google Photo storage trying to capture every angle of the light.
While we’re enjoying the views, we unfortunately have to rush because we’ve miscalculated how long the walk would take us today. We’re supposed to meet a taxi at 5:00 which will return us to our B&B, so we spend the last hour trail running to get there on time.
The sun is relentless at this point and our feet are throbbing after walking on hard surfaces for 13 miles. We exit the Way earlier than our route notes suggest and cut through a road in order to make up time. Arriving at our pickup point with 20 minutes to spare, we have now walked 15 miles and we collapse on a stone wall and greet our taxi driver with heartfelt gratitude as she drives us back to Donegal.
Sheila makes sure we’ve survived our first day on the Bluestack before sending us upstairs for a hot cuppa and a nap. That evening Eric picks up pizza at Napoli Express, where the owner schools him on all things Guinness. He learns that Guinness is incredibly popular in Nigeria and that Gravediggers in Dublin has the best Guinness in Ireland (his opinion).
Railway Lodge Hospitality
It’s a full house at breakfast today. We visit with a couple from Oregon who are driving the entire northern coastline. Paul from Switzerland tells us he has walked 200km so far on this trip and he is just now “feeling his legs.” An older bloke, who is enjoying his retirement as a driver for Rabbies tour agency, winks at me as he says “I love this job, it keeps me away from my wife.” His smile is full of mischief, I bet his guests love him!
Our host Sheila easily converses with all of us, keeping the conversation flowing. I can see why her place is so popular and why her guests often return again and again. This is not a stuffy B&B where guests sit quietly at breakfast. Sheila runs The Railway Lodge like an old-fashioned boarding house, where guests are encouraged to interact and linger.
Bluestack Way, Section 2
Marie picks us up to drive us to our starting point for the 2nd section of the Bluestack Way. Besides running a chauffeur service with her husband, Marie leads day tours throughout Donegal County and especially loves helping people conduct genealogy research. By the time we reach our destination, my brain is overloaded with the names of her ancestors, her husband’s ancestors, and every family that has ever resided near Donegal Town.
Our walk begins with a peaceful oasis of trees, softly moving water, the ever-present whining of hungry lambs, and a graveyard. This section of the Bluestack Way circles around Disert Graveyard, which is aptly named since disert means “a place of solitude.”
Besides being a beautiful spot, the graveyard has some interesting history and traditions. There’s a megalith here and it is believed that your back pain will be relieved if you walk through the megalith and clockwise around it three times while reciting the Our Father and Hail Mary. I think it has more to do with the fact that walking up the hill to get here is good movement for stretching tight muscles, but who am I to argue with tradition?
I will admit to feeling quite relaxed after visiting Disert. It’s impossible not to with the sun shining down and the wind moving through the grass as we continue through the lonely landscape with not a soul in sight.
We reach an abandoned cottage which has been greedily reclaimed by nature.
I enjoy this last bit of “easy exploration” before the walk gets challenging. Our route notes include an easier alternative at this junction, one that follows a road around the mountain. While tempting, we want to see what’s on top of that mountain, so we continue up, following the Bluestack Way.
Hag Bogs from Hell
Before we even reach the bog I can tell this is going to be hell. The waymarkers lead straight up Cloghmeen Hill with no end in sight and no flat sections to rest cramping calf muscles.
There is no defined trail, this is classic hillwalking where you choose the best footing you can while keeping the endpoint in sight. The waymarkers follow a fence so it’s easy to navigate, until we reach the bogs.
We’ve walked soggy trails before, in mud so thick we thought we’d lose our boots, but I’ve never seen anything like these hag bogs in Donegal. The luminescent moss is our first clue to how wet the ground is beneath us. It’s misleading, looking like a solid surface until you feel cold feet and look down to realize your boots are quickly sinking and your socks are getting wet.
Then you look up to see mounds of dirt “hags” covered in dry heather, rising 4-6 ft above ground and surrounded by black gooey mud. Thus commences our first lesson in navigating hag bogs. Through trial and error we learn how to hop from hag to hag, avoiding the dangerously slick mud and the overly-saturated moss.
By the time we reach the top of the hill, we’re exhausted but feel a sense of accomplishment and child-like appreciation for having experienced a new adventure. Marveling at the beautiful views all around us and glowing with pride at having conquered the hags, we confidently begin to descend.
And this is where we make our first mistakes. We put away our route notes, trusting that we know the way, which of course results in us walking down the wrong way before realizing our error. Retracing our steps back up to the waymarkers, we are now on the correct path when I hear Eric yell an expletive behind me. I whip around to see him rolling down the hill and I’m equally filled with horror and absurd laughter. Once I know he’s ok, I let loose and I’m sure the shepherds of Donegal can hear me cackling for miles.
My comeuppance comes towards the end of the walk, when I take one bad step and sink my right boot into the mud all the way up past my sock line. My mother would be saying a rosary after hearing the words that spring forth from my mouth. Eric just grins with smug delight.
Caked in mud and sore to the bone, we arrive in Glenties, one of Ireland’s “tidiest small towns.” It’s a beautiful little town with gorgeous countryside surrounding it, which is why I feel especially sad as we walk down main street and notice most of the businesses have closed down.
Marguerite welcomes us into her B&B, ready with newspapers to dry our boots and a jug of cream for our tea and coffee. Marguerite and her husband have owned the inn for 28 years, she knows a thing or two about good hospitality.
We eat at Jim’s Cafe, which would not be my first choice but options are spotty here in Glenties since so many places closed down after the pandemic. The fish and chips are good, service is friendly and everyone walking in is local.
The next day, we enjoy a leisurely breakfast with a young man from Berlin who is here to surf. He says Ireland is the best kept secret for surfing, especially here in Donegal. We chat with a woman from Connecticut who visits Ireland frequently to visit family. There’s also a German couple who do not seem inclined to socialize and I don’t think it has anything to do with a language barrier. Their loss.
It’s a rest day for us, so we spend it reading, writing, washing clothes and drinking lots of coffee. I stay in my pajamas all day and Eric orders pizza for pickup. Just what we needed after those bogs kicked our ass.
Section 3, Glenties to Ardara
The day begins with a light rain but it looks to be an easy walk today, so no worries. We came prepared for heavy rain and there are no hags in today’s route notes.
There’s a bit of road walking at the beginning but once we arrive at the river it becomes an absolutely stunning walk.
We cross many bridges and stiles.
Following a river surrounded by thick yellow gorse.
Over boggy terrain with a boardwalk to lead us through the soggiest portions.
Just before reaching town we stop at a hut, which serves as a resting place for anglers and hikers. There’s an interesting bench, carved from stone in the shape of a water bottle.
Leaving the river, we pass through farmland as the skies begin to darken, picking up our pace.
Auntie B's Retirement
When we reach Ardara the sky unleashes a full torrent. Luckily we have just stepped into the local SPAR which has coffee and a place to sit. We wait out the worst of the rain and then walk to Auntie B’s. Owner Barbara greets us, efficiently fitting in loads of information into our brief walk through the halls to our room. We learn that she is a survivor of breast cancer, fighting through it all by herself amidst COVID lockdowns, and now she’s retiring and selling her inn. As she states, “I don’t want to die making beds.”
The next morning, Eric gets his first truly full Irish breakfast, including mushrooms and potato cake. I’m content with my rashers and fried egg and toast. Today is a rest day and it’s raining, and Auntie B’s is the perfect place for a lounge day because she has a large living room with comfortable seating.
There are a few guests here, one woman from Scotland and two men from Germany. I listen to the shared stories of struggle these past few years. COVID was difficult here, with two total shutdowns that restricted residents to remain within a small distance. Many long-term businesses closed, never to reopen. Ireland’s policy for accepting Ukrainian refugees has also had a profound impact, as residential apartments and local inns realized they can make more money housing refugees. In small communities which never had much housing to begin with, this results in reducing options for tourists and raising rent prices for locals. Good intentions with complicated consequences — an age-old story.
The rain lessens so we walk into town, stopping for lunch at the Courthouse Restaurant where I savor the most delicious seafood chowder ever! The restaurant is housed in Ardara’s Heritage Center and there is much to learn about this cultural mecca which is famous for its tweed and artisan craft products. There are scenic walks along the river and an excellent distillery, so it’s a good choice for a rest day.
We’ve completed the Bluestack Way but there’s more to see in Donegal. Stick around, we’ll be posting about Walking the Sli Cholmcille soon!
