Really? Because That's What Words Do

Last night, as we were leaving McGinley’s, a drunken friend at the door complained bitterly about the heat of the day. Before we left this morning, Eugene warned us that it was going to be another “scorcher.” What the Irish mean by this is that it is the absolutely perfect day by anyone else in the entire world’s definition: 75 degrees, sunny with a breeze and zero humidity, just lovely. We drove north and east of Letterkenny today to Inishowen. 

Our first stop was at Grianan of Aileach, a 6^th century ring fort, believed to have been built on the site of an earlier ring fort—archeological findings from which suggest it was built around the time of Christ. It is about 24 meters diameter and consists of three terraces linked by steps. From the top, there is a panoramic view looking over the counties Donegal, Tyrone and Londonderry and Lough Swilly. This was my favorite stop of the day, in part because it reminded me of ruins we have visited in Mexico and Guatemala; there’s something about the ancient structures trapping stories within them that makes me want to lean in and listen even though no one remains. 

We tried to stop at the Inch Wildlife Reserve a lot and if anyone else ever finds it, let us know. We followed every sign and arrow, doubled back, doubled back again before we decided we were basically in it and didn’t know it but couldn’t find parking. I’m going to imagine there were ducks and swans, egrets and magpies, since we’ve seen a lot of ducks and swans, egrets and magpies here. We can’t get it exactly right every time, so we doubled back to the road one more time and moved on towards Buncrana.

We stopped there to walk through the town and in and out of shops. Chris was finally able to find an electronics store where he could buy the type of cord he needed to plug his phone into the car, and now I’m not sure how we’ll spend all of our free time, because--while it hasn’t made the blog--we have looked for this cord every day in every town. It was a shopping triumph that made the rest of the day better because it allowed us sorely needed music in the car. Beyond town, we stopped at Fort Dunree to explore. Lough Swilly has long been a site of importance in Ireland’s history and is said to be where the Norse and Anglo-Normans first entered Ireland. Dunree was originally built as a Napoleonic fort but was used during World War II to protect Ireland’s neutrality. It’s a steep climb to the top but worth the view of Lough Swilly and the countryside leading from it. 

We were so close to the most northern tip of Ireland that we decided to carry on until we reached Malin Head. On the way, Chris recalled the most spectacular drives of his life—the Amalfi Coast, the Blue Ridge Highway, the road between Denver and Breckenridge, racing along the Rhine--and he added the Inishowen 100 Coastal Route to the list. Spectacular is a good word. 

We stopped in Carndonagh on the way because it is home to “the famous St. Patrick’s cross” which is a 7^th century carving representing one of the very earliest Christian crosses outside of mainland Europe. It seems like that would warrant some fanfare, but it’s at the side of the road with a wooden campground shelter over it and doesn’t trigger choirs of angels.  Malin Head, however, is breathtakingly beautiful, and it must have been difficult for those souls who left Ireland for America and Australia to see it fade from their vision as their boats departed. I’m reminded of the Toothpastefor Dinner cartoon on my bulletin board at school in which one person says “There are no words to describe it” and the person he’s talking to says, “Really? Because that’s what words do” but, somehow, words and even the pictures we took aren’t enough to capture the intensity of the sight. It’s so remote, but you really must see it for yourselves…