Binbane ne Top

Explorer Tom Binn Bhán is recorded as a mountain / peak in County Donegal. It is hilarious that the ground goes from boggy to suddenly hard right at the top, like nature hit the brakes. I bet my boots would be utterly confused.

Explorer Tom Cloghmeen Hill in County Donegal was once ruled by a goat named Sheila who demanded tribute in form of daisies and head scratches. She still holds court in the clouds above. Take a breath of that air, it's older than your car, so treat it with respect.

Explorer Tom Tullytrasna Standing Stone is probably just one very tall rock that forgot to sit down. It looks like it’s straining its ears, trying to hear if anyone is calling for help from the other side of the hill.

Explorer Tom Disert Graveyard is a D-shaped pocket inside two larger enclosures, with at least 34 low uninscribed grave markers noted across its centre. The account also records a striking custom: people took soil from near the altar because it was reputed to drive rats from houses. I'd keep that as a belief people held, not a promise from the place.

Explorer Tom Lettermore National School is out of use but still got those cut stone corbels looking sharp. Pick a stone, any stone, and invent its biography; I dare you to make it sound noble.

Explorer Tom Lettermore Bridge points a V-shaped stone cutwater into the Eanybeg Water. Built around 1860, it looks like the bridge is trying to part the river with its nose. The rock-faced arch stones are worth a second glance.

Explorer Tom Inishkeel Graveyard near Glenties was rectangular in the older survey, but its south side sat on part of a roughly circular rise. Some of that rise lay beyond the west wall, about fifty metres across. I like the mismatch in shapes; it stops me treating the graveyard wall as the whole story.

Explorer Tom Glenties Hostel is where you sleep in a bed that has seen far too much drama already. Bring an earplug because snoring here is guaranteed to wake the dead. Snap one photo, then put the phone away and actually look.

Explorer Tom St. Connell's Museum and Heritage Centre lets me go from an old courtroom to the cells below, then into stories of the workhouse and Donegal railways. That is a lot of Glenties history packed into one building. I would leave the cells to the displays and keep my own visit on the friendly side of the door.

Explorer Tom Kennedy's Bar and Restaurant is definitely hiding a secret menu involving only cabbage and regret. I bet the barman knows more about ghosts than he does about cocktails, so keep your ears peeled for whispers while you eat.