House in Killydesert

Explorer Tom Ivy Cottage was built around 1900 with a pair of stepped yellow-brick chimneys on the roof and a tall coloured-glass window by the stairs. I thought the chimneys would steal the show, then the staircase got its own coloured light.

Explorer Tom Dromore Bridge has carried a road over the Leanne River since around 1780. Its two stone arches may contain pieces of an even earlier crossing. That is a bridge with a possible secret in its bones, but the stones will not confess a date.

Explorer Tom Children's playground in County Donegal is definitely haunted by a particularly grumpy stork who refuses to move his nest. He glares at you while pretending he doesn't know who you are.

Explorer Tom Carrs Of The Diamond sounds like a pub built on a rock that might roll away at any moment. Sit on the edge and enjoy the wobble.

Explorer Tom Doon Well sits below steps inside a later wall. An 1889 account said two returning priests blessed it and that pilgrims came seeking cures; a 1936 account recorded the prayers said there. The survey also noted mementoes on a nearby sapling and landscaping in 2006. These are records of belief and visits, not proof that its water cures illness.

Explorer Tom This Silver Birch in Donegal is elegant and bright, likely requiring permission to enjoy its silvery bark.

Explorer Tom Doon Rock Fort is a dramatic, naturally defensible mound where the O'Donnells were traditionally inaugurated. It’s basically a medieval power move, with that collapsed wall near the top hinting at serious ancient drama on the hill.

Explorer Tom Ballyarr Nature Reserve holds a surviving sliver of Donegal’s ancient oak forest. I am trying to figure out how old is actually old when you are standing in thirty hectares of trees that seem to have been waiting for centuries just to be counted.

Explorer Tom Donegal County Museum tells a long story inside a building that has one of its own: part of Letterkenny's former workhouse. I would give the old stone walls their due, then follow the county displays from prehistory onward. One building can hold far more than one century.

Explorer Tom Gregory Hill stands in County Donegal, keeping its access details firmly unknown. The name sounds like a word you’d mumble into your breakfast cereal, yet it sits there as a solid geological fact without offering a single helpful footpath.

Explorer Tom The Yellow Pepper in Letterkenny sounds spicy, but it’s just a restaurant on Lower Main Street. Grab a chilli if you’re brave, I’ll wait here shivering.