County Donegal

This county is huge and comprises most of NW Ireland. We had never associated Ireland with beaches and sand, but Donegal is loaded with them. This was the first of many (and it wasn’t nearly as pretty as some I’ll share with you later) but as you can see, it was huge -

On our way to our first major destination…

… the Slieve League cliffs -

The day turned dreary soon after we arrived, but closer up shots still looked nice -

The highest point is almost 2,000 feet above the water (nearly 3 times the height of the Cliffs of Moher), so you know that we had to hike along them…

… of course!

Maybe it was the dreary weather, but we just didn’t find them as picturesque as Cliffs of Moher or the Kerry Cliffs, although this shot was nice -

Moving on, we found another waterfall (imagine that!). This is Assaranca Waterfall as we saw it…

… and then using a tripod and a special filter -

So that was our first day of driving north in Donegal. Our second day dawned beautifully clear, and we forged on, to tackle as much of the coast as we could cram into one day.

That was an unnamed tower that just happened to be perfectly sited, on our way to - Crohy Head Sea Arch -

We couldn’t get any closer or better views due to private property, but we did catch sight of what we initially thought was a dog running down a hill -

Yep. that’s the biggest rabbit/hare we’ve ever seen! I wish I had something other than those rocks to give it scale.

Moving away from the coast, we passed Mount Errigal and the Church of the Sacred Heart…

… near Dunlewey Lough…

… on our way to visit the fifth (out of 6) National Park - Glenveagh -

… where there is a castle, a lough, some hills and beautiful gardens.

Next up was Horn Head, but I thought the views leading there…

… were better than the actual point -

Are you still with me?? A few more stops… Fanad Head Lighthouse -

… and then some gorgeous beaches… Ballymastocker Bay -

… and my favorite - Tra Na Rossan -

No, we didn’t hop to the Caribbean. We’re still in Ireland ;)