Fanad Peninsula, Co. Donegal
I chose “cute Irish countryside” aesthetic for our accommodation, Graham’s Thatched Cottage. The oldest parts of the house date back to the early 1700s, and it was gradually added onto and modified during the following two centuries. Today’s sitting room would have originally housed the farm animals. Current owner Robert inherited it from his grandfather and painstakingly restored it to a liveable condition, including rethatching the roof, replacing windows as needed, laying repurposed floor tiles and cleaning the natural oak and bog oak roof trusses.
Situated on the outskirts of Kerrykeel, it was an ideal base from which to explore the north half of the county. The cottage was cosy and Rita had free space to roam, we woke up to the sound of cows and took evening walks along the quiet single-lane road. It had all the amenities we needed, providing the preferred level of comfort whilst maintaining the magical feeling of having gone back in time.
While I was attending the wedding, Rita spent a couple of nights at Academy Dog Training and Boarding Kennels. Tania only keeps at most 8-10 dogs so she can give them each the attention they need, and indeed when I dropped off and collected Rita, all the dogs seemed very settled. Her former post office house, settled amongst the Donegal hills, has plenty of outdoor space for the dogs to run and play together. A bonus for us was that Tania holds dog agility classes, and we were invited to join her Sunday afternoon class. It was a great opportunity to run Rita on unfamiliar equipment and have another pair of eyes watching us train. Tania really helped with effective suggestions and smart tips. I couldn’t believe my eyes when a blackbird made off with our bag of treats - luckily it dropped them before getting too far. Alongside agility, she runs scent work, fly-ball and man-trailing, so there is something for all tastes.
The Great Pollet Sea Arch is Ireland’s largest, and worth visiting. After parking, we followed the signposts along the quiet road and then onto the fenced pathway leading down to the beach. Only at the last moment, did we turn the corner and see the majestic arch. There’s a stile to get onto the beach which I had to lift Rita over. Fortunately for us the, the tide was low so we could get pretty close to the arch for some great photos.
At the northern tip of the peninsula is Fanad Head Lighthouse. This is a ticketed attraction, which includes a guided tour. I learned a lot from our guide, Iseult. The lighthouse keepers would rotate among all the lighthouses of Ireland, with stays on the most remote rocky islands limited to 6 months. They even have their own library, sharing books between the lighthouses. Iseult told the story of the SS Laurentic, which in 1908 was carrying gold to Canada as an appreciation for its efforts in the war. Upon making an unplanned detour to Buncrana to disembark a passenger who had fallen unwell. Unfortunately, it hit German mines, destroying the ship. Not all the gold bars were recovered, so the spot is understandably popular with divers.
A display showed the evolution of the lightbulbs used in the lighthouse, and we learned that Fanad moved to LED lights just two years ago. Did you know every lighthouse in the world has a unique light signal? We climbed up the tower (Rita stayed at the bottom) to see the light and our guide pointed out the two main rocks are that Fanad warns ships about – the Limeburner Rock and the Swilly Rocks.
