Belleek and Donegal

Greeted by another peaceful, sunny morning here at Kilclean Farm plus a delicious bacon and egg breakfast cooked by our gracious host, John.

Well fed, we set off on another day of exploration with John driving so that we could soak up the passing views.

Belleek has always been a place I have wanted to visit. The town itself is quite beautiful and striking another Market Day there was quite a lot to attract our attention.

The visitor centre at the pottery exceeded my expectations. The displays of the current Belleek lines was spectacular and the attached museum was really well put together and very interesting. Johnny bought me a beautiful pair of Belleek ear studs. Every earring is made by hand and the little things are exquisitely delicate. I had difficulty choosing the colour but settled on yellow to go with The Jacket. Note to self - might need something else to go with the earrings.

The Black Cat Cove looked like an inviting place to lunch and it certainly didn't disappoint. My salmon, John's Donegal cod and Johnny's roast turkey were all given the thumbs up. That vision of slipping on and off the Hong Kong Ding! Dings! is slowly slipping away.

Leaving Belleek we took the coastal route to Donegal via

Rossnowlagh. Another scenic route with something interesting to see around every bend in the road, and there were plenty of those.

Donegal is another photographer's delight and Donegal Castle is one of the best preserved castles I have seen.

Donegal translates as Fort of the Foreigner possibly coming from a Viking fortress in the area destroyed in 1159. However, due to hundreds of years of development, no archaeological evidence of this early fortress has been found. The elder Sir Hugh O’Donnell, wealthy chief of the O’Donnell clan, built the castle in 1474. The castle was regarded as one of the finest Gaelic castles in Ireland

All areas accessible to the public and excellent information provided for a self tour. Hard to imagine life in a building such as this some 500 years ago.