Derry Diary #12
9 July 2004
Co. Donegal
Overcast, occasional rain.

Today I will be breif-er

Sometimes when you live in a city you forget what the country looks like. (Except if you live in the country and work in a city.) Today all of us lumbered into a mini-bus and headed for the wilds of County Donegal and rural Ireland and the Irish language.

Jackie and Thomas - our guides

In our discussion this evening it was hard to pin point the day and the sights, sounds, foods and craic we had. Beyond the touristy but lovely town of Donegal was the fishing village of Killybegs with its trawlers and small fishing boats in from the Atlantic Ocean with their catch of herring, and prawns and black halibut. Beautiful under the leaden skies.

From there we wound through small country lanes and quiet neatly kept homes and farms to the cliffs of Bunglas, the highest sea cliffs in Europe. There we were 10 of us and Jackie and Thomas standing on a cliff at the edge of the world staring straight out to sea towards New York and the new world.

Bunglas Cliffs

This picture really doesn't do the cliffs justice. They drop for a thousand feet into the North Atlantic. You can see for miles and miles and miles. If you look close at the picture in the upper left part is the top of the cliff shrouded in clouds. Within five minutes of this picture, it rained.

Fortified with 'pub grub' in Kilcar, and watching a Harry Potter film while eating our sandwiches, we headed off for Gleann Cholm Cille a small area on the sea coast which represents 3 centuries of Irish history.The village was a brainchild of Fr. James Mc Dyer in 1951. He formed one of the first co-ops with the locals in a very depressed economy to re-create a village based on Irish history. Everyone pitched in and the Gelncolmcille was born and still exists today. Pretty cool.

From there it was up along the coast through the spectacular Glengesh Pass which opened up the bog lands of northern Donegal before us. Most beautiful scenery I have ever seen on this island.

Our kids were stunned also with the beauty and when they return home in another week, the folks at home can see these magnificent places. In a newsletter it is very difficult to convey the experience of seeing God's work in practice in this land. I am almost glad it wasn't completely sunny today because the shades of green were more vibrant as well as blended one into another.

We ate at a chipper in Dunfanaghy. I had a breakfast while the rest had evening food. That's just the way it is ok?

Tomorrow is Mass at St. Eugene's Cathedral then the long-awaited international fun day.

More later,

paul and Cal