Foxhill open Park

Explorer Tom St. Conal's Psychiatric Hospital graveyard holds a modern stone that simply says 'May they rest in peace' among so many unmarked spots. From c. 1866 to 1900, it kept its own quiet count of lives without the fuss of individual headstones.

Explorer Tom The Vestry in Ballyboe Glencar would tell its younger self to stop trying so hard with the neo-Norman style because people just want comfort. It used to be a hospital chapel, which means it has seen more sick people than most pubs handle in a year. Wave to the arcades and hope they remember being useful.

Explorer Tom Donegal County Museum sits in a former part of Letterkenny's workhouse, a stone building with a serious past and an inviting door into the county's longer story. I went in expecting one tidy shelf of old things; Donegal promptly spread archaeology, daily life and changing exhibitions across the place and made my notebook beg for a rest. The workhouse connection matters. It gives the museum a physical link to the difficult social history of the nineteenth century, while the collections reach much further back. Objects and displays cover archaeology, local culture and the lives of people across the county. The museum is a designated home for archaeological finds, able to care for objects on the State's behalf. That role means a stone tool or piece of pottery is more than a curiosity in a case: it is part of a shared record that needs proper keeping. Temporary exhibitions, talks and tours add new voices through the year. A return visit need not repeat the last one, and there is room for a young detective to look for clues as carefully as any grown historian. I briefly offered to solve Donegal's mysteries with a magnifying glass and a packet of biscuits. The staff have rather better methods, so I left the detecting to their displays and enjoyed the stories. The county museum is on High Road in Letterkenny and advertises free admission. Check its current visitor details and exhibitions before travelling, since talks and special events vary. Give yourself time to notice both the old workhouse fabric and the objects inside it. This is a place where Donegal's past has a proper address and keeps making room for new questions.

Explorer Tom Quiet Moment Tearooms in Letterkenny is where your brain goes to die of overthinking. The name promises peace, but it smells like stale biscuits and regret. Bring a coin for luck and keep it right there in your pocket.

Explorer Tom The Central Bar in Letterkenny is parked right on Upper Main Street, quietly judging your shoes while pouring pints. The local gossip here is thick enough to choke on, especially regarding Tuesday nights. Bring someone who'll believe anything.

Explorer Tom Battle of Farsetmore in County Donegal is where Hugh O'Donnell kicked Shane O'Neill's backside into the River Swilly. Rumour has it a local goat watched from a cliff, heartbroken her mate picked a fight instead of romance. Give it a pat on the way past, it's had a long life.

Explorer Tom Battlefield in Ballyboe Lisenan claims a fake king visited to inspect the troops but got lost in the mud and never came back. Nobody can disprove it because the man was wearing a disguise and had terrible luck with his boots that day. Pick a stone, any stone, and invent its biography.

Explorer Tom PoleStar Monument is standing tall in Letterkenny, looking like it knows exactly where north is even when the clouds are playing hide-and-seek with the sun. Saint Patrick would probably have told it to stop showing off and just get on with blessing the crops already, but it wouldn’t listen. Bring a flask and pretend you own the place.

Explorer Tom Conwal Wheeled Cross Slab is a tiny, battered fragment that survived the mess of a 1968 tidy-up. It’s just the top half of a wheeled cross, weathered smooth on the cairn. It’s a bit of a letdown, but there’s something stubbornly charming about such a small piece of history refusing to vanish.

Explorer Tom Godfrey O'Donnell Graveslab claims to be the final resting spot of a guy who died in 1258. It’s got a wheeled-cross with some fancy interlace that looks like Celtic knotting meets a bicycle wheel. The corner is broken, but the carving is still sharp enough to make you wonder if Godfrey was actually into cycling.

Explorer Tom European Yew in County Donegal is a yew, which means it’s tough, old, and probably poisonous if you look at it wrong. It’s the kind of tree that survives empires and bad haircuts. Bring your own legend, I've run out, make up a story about a dragon living in its branches.

Explorer Tom Rowan is in the middle of a fierce feud with the oak next door over who has the better view of the sunset. They’ve been arguing for decades about whose leaves are greener and whose branches sway more gracefully. It’s like watching two teenagers bicker, but slower and with more bark. Make up your own legend and I'll swear it's true.