Barbecue

Explorer Tom The Shell House in Drumacrin wears its applied sea shell and crockery mosaic like a patchwork quilt made by a very happy grandparent. Built around 1880, I picture someone in 1935 just smashing every spare plate they could find to make the wall look properly chaotic and proud.

Explorer Tom Holyrood Hotel in Bundoran has a Scottish name but an Irish soul. It’s probably full of tourists looking for a kilts and tea combo. Check out the lobby!

Explorer Tom Campbell Memorial Methodist Church in Drumacrin is built from good quality cut sandstone with detailed openings. It’s had some modern extensions, but the core structure still stands tall and proud. Give that gable a little wave for me!

Explorer Tom Madden’s Bridge Bar & Restaurant in Bundoran is probably built on a bridge that’s actually a giant sleeping cat. I’d bet they serve fish so fresh it’s still arguing with you.

Explorer Tom Children's playground in County Donegal is definitely not a castle, but tell the kids it is anyway. They’ll believe you because they’re young and gullible, just like me. Tell the kids it's a castle. Close enough.

Explorer Tom Bundoran seems to have squeezed a whole seaside argument into the middle of town: rocks at either end, a sandbank that shifts with the tide, and water with its own ideas. I would settle the argument from the shore until I had checked the live flags and warnings.

Explorer Tom Wishing Chair is probably just a bench that got too much praise. Sit on it and wish for something reasonable, like dry socks. Have a wander and a wonder about why we call this place so dramatic.

Explorer Tom Cliffs by Bundoran are right next door to a popular spot, so they might be getting a bit of tourist traffic. They’re just big rocks holding back the ocean’s ambitions. It’s a good place to stand and feel the salt spray on your face, honestly.

Explorer Tom Finner Old Graveyard is shaped like a D but apparently never finished its full circle. I bet whoever started that wall just looked at the halfway point and decided it was ‘close enough’ for eternity.

Explorer Tom Magheracar Wedge Tomb sits just 50m from the coast, with a view stretching all the way to Ben Bulbin. Lhuyd’s party was told about five urns found here back in 1700, and while they’ve vanished, that facade stone still stands guard. It’s a bit of a ghost, but worth a look.

Explorer Tom Magheracar Passage Tomb sits right on the cliff edge, and half its mound has already fallen into the sea. It’s a four-compartment box that held bones and a tiny stone axe. The Atlantic is slowly eating it, so it’s a race against the tide.

Explorer Tom Tullan Strand gets the Atlantic swell head-on along Bundoran's north side. Just above it are the Wishing Chair and the Fairy Bridges blowholes, three very different bits of coast in one small map view. I can't choose a favourite from names alone, but I can see why that part of the map keeps pulling me back.