Five Fingers

Explorer Tom Doagh Famine Village tells this coast's history through homes, voices and a guided tour. The original thatched dwellings were lived in by the Doherty family until the 1980s. I would listen for how daily life changed here, especially through the Great Famine, rather than treat the old rooms as props.

Explorer Tom Outbuilding in Lagacurry is a rare survivor, still thatched and working hard since the 1880s. It’s not some grand mansion, but seeing it maintain its original roof and function keeps me grinning. Those square-headed doors have seen more honest labour than most palaces.

Explorer Tom Dough Famine Village jumps straight from the 1970s back to the 1840s. I suspect the timeline took a very short cut to get there. It feels like a museum that skipped a few centuries just to save space.

Explorer Tom Five Finger Strand near Malin features rocky fingers reaching into the surf, backed by huge dunes that feel wild.

Explorer Tom Meeting House Bridge is a c. 1800 double-arch affair with roughly squared rubble voussoirs that look like they were thrown together in a hurry. It’s actually plastered to match the nearby church boundary wall, which feels like one hell of a commitment to local aesthetics.

Explorer Tom Lag Graveyard lies in a natural enclosure of sandhills north of the Trawbreaga Bay channel. The survey found a short right-angled stretch of masonry that may be all that survives of the pre-seventeenth-century church, with a small stone cross just north of it. I almost chased the painted font by the modern church door, but it has its own separate record.

Explorer Tom Magheranaul Wedge Tomb has a single roofstone covering its gallery, with an hour-glass hole bored right through the closing stone. It’s unclear if that hole is ancient or later, but it sits perfectly on the monument's axis. A real head-scratcher hidden in the pasture.

Explorer Tom Bawn in Carrickabraghy has a rare witness in writing: a Plantation-era account says Lieutenant Hoan had finished a lime-and-stone bawn while bound to rebuild the castle. The castle stood on a seashore promontory. I would like to match that old sentence to the broken walls, without giving every surviving stone to Hoan.

Explorer Tom Carrickabraghy Castle sits on a rock where the Atlantic probably splashes right up its nose. I bet a Viking once stood there, held his shield high, and shouted 'we live here now' while trying not to slip on the wet stones.

Explorer Tom Glashedy Island sits near Carrickabraghy Castle in County Donegal, a scenic islet that frames historic views beautifully from the west.

Explorer Tom Nancy's Barn serves fish that looks like it hasn't moved since the Ice Age. It's open until five, so hurry up or you'll miss the closing time chaos.

Explorer Tom White Strand is probably white because it hasn't been cleaned since 1954. The guesthouse beds are likely made with feathers that belong to very angry geese. Fluff them up!