Donegal: It is not necessary to compare and contrast the sheer awesome natural beauty of this ruggedly stunning Atlantic county — the northern most county in Ireland – with anywhere else because like all such things it is subjective and often illusory. Suffice to say at the outset if it’s spectacular scenery you want you’ve come to the right place.
“Inearly morning twilight, raw and still, Damp vapors brooding on the barren hill.”
William Allingham (1824-1889), a паtive of Ballyshannon “the ford at the mouth of the hillside,” may have been inadvertently describing his final resting place, the Church of Ireland in the parish of Kilbarron, when he wrote the opening lines of his evocative poem “The Eviction.”
Nowadays in the early morning twilight the church is set halo-like by banks of floodlights on the crest of the hill to dominate and draw the community and the curious.
Headstones and ramparts are repeated in endless shadows from every angle, and from a distance on the banks of the River Ere it casts a long sparkling mirage that changes with every ripple.
As the opalescent haze lifts over Ballyshannon, which for many is the gateway to the county, the half light of morning reveals first and foremost the green and gold of Donegal.
Not the fields or fall leaves but the tribal colors of the county footballers who are for the first time in 108 years the All Ireland Champions and proud owners of the Sam Maguire Cup.
Flags, bunting, streamers, wall paintings and banners of every size and shape are literally everywhere from church spires to tiny islands in the middle of mountain lakes.
Their victory, last September, against all the odds is quite simply the main topic of conversation county wide and has engendered a renewed pride in a county blighted by immigration and unemployment but blessed by beauty and hospitality.
For the uninitiated the winning of the All Ireland is equal to the Superbowl and the triumphant homecoming like Mardi Gras.
An estimated 80,000 people lined the streets of towns like Bundoran and Ballyshannon to welcome the sporting heroes home.
Donegal’s manager Brian McEniff, a man of considerable football and business acumen, only thought he was busy prior to the championship. Since it he and the players have had a hectic schedule of social engagements all over the country proudly showing off “Sam” on each and every occasion. “I never thought I’d see the day when I didn’t want the Sam Maguire,” he jokes when asked about yet another photo opportunity.
Long before you see any signs for the largest fishing port in Ireland you know it’s getting near simply by the heavy smell of fish carried for miles on the Atlantic breeze.
It is an instant, intoxicating euphemism for childhood memories of high-masted bright-colored boats and oil skins. Of the cacophony of screaming seagulls piercing the thick air over the noise of puffing engines, whining winches and that wet slap of fish boxes hitting a quayside awash with perilous fishscales and floods of preserving sea water.
Killybegs is a town bustling with business and that business is twofold, fish and hospitality. They do both very well.
Small, almost toy-like trawlers that ply Donegal Bay slip under the massive bow of the biggest ship in the biggest port, Western Endeavor, as it unloads one of its smaller catches of 600 tons of mackerels caught in the North Sea off the coast of Norway.
On this occasion she was at sea for only three days and trawled twice before being forced to return to port because of a torn net. Frequently the crew of thirteen can be at sea for three to five weeks during the mackerel season, which runs from October to March.
Alongside her is a Japanese vessel loading hundreds of tons of frozen and packed fish from the many processing plants dotted around the town.
Overlooking and surrounding this classic industrial seascape are the hills of Donegal with their hostelries that provide a welcome as warm as the soup served to chilled fishermen in the Pier Bar.
Visitors from all over the world, Germans in their BMW’s, Australians with wide-brimmed hats, and Italians with huge rucksacks are all a common sight on the byways of Donegal, which contrary to reports are frequently in better condition than the streets of Manhattan and a hell of a lot less crowded.
They say the best way to spot a good Chinese restaurant is to see where Chinese themselves eat. By that obtuse yardstick Donegal is the place picked by many of the inhabitants of Ireland’s 31 other counties.
Kerry and Derry people, Jackeans, Lee-siders, even Belfast city slickers all vacation in the county from Mallin Head, the northernmost tip of Ireland, to Bundoran, a little Las Vegas that practically touches Sligo in the south.
The irony is that in spite of so many visitors Donegal really is the place to go to get away from it all. It is easy to find an empty beach, an open road, mountains to climb, crystal clear river to fish in (and drink from) and at the same time, if desired, have a multi-cultural experience as the Irish do what they do best, entertain the world.
In the “Gaeltacht” areas of Donegal the cultural, linguistic and social traditions of Ireland are preserved and promoted. Irish is very much the spoken language but visitors need not worry for all the inhabitants are at least bilingual.
No language is necessary however to enjoy a unique Irish experience, “a sessiun” by a turf fire in a tomb-like bar filled to the door with dancers, singers and musicians performing with a love and passion for their craft that lights their eyes, forces an involuntary tapping of the foot and precipitates unrivaled enjoyment by all who partake. Many a time in Ran-nafast or Teelin (Gaeltacht areas) the dancers and musicians have their ceili (Irish dance) in the middle of the road or under the stars and harbor lights.
During the summer months, when over 19,000 students come to the Gaeltacht for a month at a time, there is still daylight at 10:30 pm and with no TV or radio (because they are in English) they dance and sing and craic at the crossroads in a manner that would not have looked out of
place a hundred years ago.
Quaint it may seem but it also generates jobs, tourism and money in some of the poorer parts of the county.
Donegal’s unspoiled natural environment was one of the main factors in attracting one of Fortune magazine’s top 100 companies, Abbott Healthcare, to locate its factory just outside Donegal town. Headquartered in Chicago, they employ 46,000 people worldwide and had sales of almost $7 billion last year.
Their factory, only yards off the main road, is so stylish and harmonious with the environs that it is hard to believe there are 450 people working in it and easy to see why it is frequently mistaken for a luxury hotel.
In Buncrana further north another major employer from the United States, Fruit Of The Loom, is rapidly becoming a household name in Ireland with a huge investment and expansion program over the last few years.
Not content with being tops at football, hospitability and scenery, Donegal’s musical sons and daughters are top of the pops all over the world. In 1609 the O’Donnells left the port of Rathmullin for Spain to seek help to fight for their castle. They never returned and their departure is known as the Flight of the Earls.
Today there is still an O’Donnell who is much better known than Red Hugh was in his day.
International singing star Daniel O’Donnell already at the age of thirty has written an autobiography Follow Your Dream.
With half a dozen chart-topping albums already his worldwide popularity from the U.S. to Australia is ever increasing.
Having such “smooth” image and being so successful, he readily admits to having fallen foul of street gangs in Dublin and the ever present Irish character the “Begrudger” who can’t stand to see anyone do well.
In his native Kincasslagh and in fact among Donegal people in general, there is however a real pride in their native son who has done so well and is an ambassador for his county.
Speaking after a two-and-a-half-hour session of signing several hundred copies of his book in a Belfast store, during which he displayed infinite patience and a remarkable memory for faces and names, he says in a tone that mirrors his sentiments, “I am always surprised at the reaction to what I do…it is hard to understand.”
He also reveals that he is to become a hosteler in Kincasslagh early next year and that he has tours of Australia and the U.S. planned in the near future.
Other natives of this remarkable county include more world-famous musicians, Enya and Clannad, as well as international soccerplayer and all-round gentleman Packie Bonner; Neil Blaney, a colorful, outspoken but respected nationalist politician; and Paddy “The Cope” Gallagher, the man who introduced the co-op system to the county.
Truly a unique area, Donegal, even on a wet weekend in winter, has a raw beauty that captivates and draws natives and visitors back time and time again.
It has a season for every day of the week and a place for everyone to find peace of mind. It is hard not to be intoxicated.
As the song says, “There’s no place else on earth just like the homes of Donegal.”
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the March April 1993 issue of Irish America. ♦
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