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 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 while you watch the locals pretend they know what's happening. Toast it with a cup of tea and move on to the next.

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 Silver Birch in County Donegal is showing off its white skin like a movie star. It's very flaky, literally, and needs permission to shed its leaves without embarrassment. Tell it to keep those peels coming for the birds.

Explorer Tom Battle at Doon Rock, Kilmacrennan in County Donegal is where Sir Cahir O'Doherty finally lost his battle against a rock. Legend says a very confused goat actually ruled this patch for three minutes before getting kicked out. Bring someone who'll believe anything.

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. Stick around for the light changing, it's a show.

Explorer Tom Stackarnagh Abbey Graveyard has a gatepost detail I keep coming back to: a reused window fragment carved with a fish biting the end of a moulding, with a rough unicorn above it. The survey says the stone probably came from the church's ruined south window. I can enjoy the odd pair without inventing what the medieval carver meant.