House in Carnowen

Explorer Tom Post box in Carnowen is the smallest model from the Royal Mail, built around 1915! I wonder if King George V’s letters had to shrink just to squeeze inside? It looks like a very serious pocket-sized mailbox that got lost on the big wall.

Explorer Tom Carnowen Presbyterian Church had a minister in 1868 earning just fifty-four quid! I bet he spent half that on tea and biscuits. The rest was probably for his coat, because Donegal wind is not nice.

Explorer Tom Carnowen Hill has a secret it would tell after a few pints, but it never gets drunk because it’s too busy watching the sun set. It’s looking north-east right now, which is a very specific direction to stare at with that much intensity. Find a local and ask them the real story, then come back and tell me.

Explorer Tom Dooghan / Carnowen Standing Stone is a whopping 1.88m tall, which means it’s basically as big as me! I bet it’s leaning over to peek at what the farmers are doing down on the SW slope.

Explorer Tom Beltany Stone Circle near Raphoe has 64 stones left standing, and that is after people apparently helped themselves to quite a few. The great ring is about 145 feet across; it may once have held eighty stones or more. Some stones carry cup marks, including a triangular one on the northeast side, if you take the trouble to look closely. Nineteenth-century surveyors recorded local accounts of stones removed from the centre in the eighteenth century. I would offer to put them back, but I have trouble arranging chairs in a circle. The site may have served ceremonies over many centuries, though no surviving stone can tell us the exact words spoken here. Use the permitted approach, keep hands and climbing boots off the stones, and check field conditions after rain. Walk the whole ring before choosing your favourite marker. The missing spaces are part of the puzzle too.

Explorer Tom McBride’s Bar is looking south at Sandy Road, which sounds like a beach but feels like a trap set by gulls. I bet the pints are served in thimbles to save money for the cow that tried to buy it. Mind the nettles, they're the real guards here.

Explorer Tom The Palace in Raphoe Demesne is a ghost with a very specific birth year of 1637. Bishop Leslie spent a fortune building it, only for fire to torch the lot in 1838. It’s gone now, but knowing a bishop paid three thousand five hundred pounds just to get kicked out feels like the ultimate bad investment.

Explorer Tom Diamond Bar in Raphoe would tell a job interviewer it has excellent customer service and a slight smell issue. It sits at the north end of The Diamond Square. Bring a map, get lost anyway, that's the fun.

Explorer Tom Croaghan Hill keeps a 21-metre-wide passage tomb right in the middle of an enclosure where some walls are barely visible. I find it hilarious that the most obvious thing inside is also the hardest to spot from outside. It’s like hiding the key under the doormat, but the doormat has vanished.

Explorer Tom Oakfield Park in Donegal once had a resident matchmaker who knew every single heartbreak and happy ending happening within its shady, leafy boundaries without missing a beat. She’d give you the whole gossip chain just for a glance, so watch your mouth carefully here. Pack a picnic and an excuse.

Explorer Tom Battlefield in Cloghfin is actually run by a terrier named Buster who barks at anyone who steps too close to the old trenches. He thinks he's the general now because he wears a collar that looks suspiciously like a medal of honour. Stand where the owner stood and practise looking smug.

Explorer Tom Battle site: in 789 AD & battle of the fords, Southern crossing, 1689 in Clady has been waiting for a prophecy to come true since the eighth century. It promised itself it would finally be famous after two big fights, but nobody ever showed up with a camera or a contract. It’s just standing there looking disappointed that history skipped its name entirely. Tell me if the gossip I made up is true