Toberdabeage

Explorer Tom Brownhall, a stately country house from around 1770, boasts a later cut stone entrance porch and elegant ashlar detailing.

Explorer Tom Brownhall has been a Hamilton home since 1697, and the same family still holds it. I picture a great-great-grandfather winking at his distant descendant through the window glass, asking if the chimney smoke still smells like 1700.

Explorer Tom Murvagh Beach has a wartime lookout hut that Joy Browne, writing for Donegal tourism, remembers playing in as a child. She says erosion has since sunk it into the sand and made entry impossible. A lookout hut retiring by burying its feet is theatrical enough for me; I would leave it to its rest.

Explorer Tom A lovely Hawthorn tree in Donegal, possibly needing permission to enjoy its blossoms and natural grace.

Explorer Tom Rooney's Island was once home to the O'Maoldory Clan, who ruled as Kings of Tir Conaill. I imagine a very serious coronation ceremony taking place on a patch of ground that barely fits a picnic blanket.

Explorer Tom Ballyboyle Island takes its name from the O’Boyle clan, sub-chieftains of the O’Donnells who once ruled from Donegal Castle.

Explorer Tom Another Wych Elm in County Donegal, probably just as sturdy and silent, keeping secrets in its twisted branches.

Explorer Tom Rossnowlagh seems determined to be a whole journey rather than one beach. Donegal tourism runs it from Coolmore’s cliffs to Carrickfad’s rock. I would need a bigger postcard for that stretch of golden sand; the surfers have probably had that problem for years.

Explorer Tom During the 1601 Siege of Donegal, an accidental gunpowder blast destroyed the town's abbey amid weeks of fighting. The abbey was no castle wall, but war managed to reach it all the same.

Explorer Tom Donegal Friary Graveyard sits amid a place whose history changed violently in 1601, when an explosion and fire damaged the friary during a siege. The survey says later burial use raised the ground by as much as 1.75 metres. I had to read that twice: the height records generations of burial, not a building foundation.

Explorer Tom Sheebarran Ringfort sits proudly on the ridge with those impressive ditches and high banks. It’s got that commanding view over the good land, which probably kept the sheep very confused.

Explorer Tom Killymard Old Church Graveyard encloses a church whose story changes after a bleak 1622 report: it was ruinous then, was later repaired or rebuilt, and remained in use until a new church opened at Ballydevitt in 1829. The earliest modern grave slab noted in the account dates to 1809. Two timelines fit inside one walled place.