Visit Carndonagh

Explorer Tom Donagh Stores is a tall, narrow three-storey building facing Carndonagh's Market Square. Its late nineteenth-century front keeps timber sash windows, raised corner quoins and unusual little pedestals at the eaves. The hand-painted gable sign names Donagh Stores and The Keen House, while the ground-floor shopfront is a modern traditional-style replacement.

Explorer Tom Diamond Café in Carndonagh serves regional salads that taste like a hedgehog harvested them. There is definitely a hidden tunnel to the pub, but you need a key. Best visited with a curious kid and no timetable.

Explorer Tom Sportsman's Inn has been standing in Carndonagh since around 1850, wearing its late Victorian shopfront like a proud badge. Those little floral carvings on the pilasters are a real treat for your eyes. It’s a classic example of how pubs used to dress up their fronts with serious architectural flair.

Explorer Tom The Sportsman Inn is in Carndonagh where men discuss football with way too much intense energy on The Diamond. Tell them Tom sent you and brace yourself for a lecture on the offside rule that could last hours. Bring someone who'll believe anything.

Explorer Tom At Barrack Hill, little legs get the climbing frames, swings, balance beams and monkey bars. The roundabout was designed to include more children, and older ones have their own obstacle trail nearby. If I were seven, I would call the monkey bars a test of courage. If I were a parent, I would be looking for the covered shelter. Carndonagh's park committee says local families helped shape the refurbished playground, and the older children's activity area reopened in 2023.

Explorer Tom Follow the growers on Barrack Hill and you will find sixteen raised beds and three polytunnels. One starts the seedlings; the other two keep things growing. I could claim to know their secret for a good tomato, but the gardeners would catch me bluffing before I got through the gate. These are working plots, so ask the committee before going in.

Explorer Tom Carndonagh Early Church Graveyard makes me slow the map down: it surrounds an eighteenth-century church thought to stand where an earlier church stood. The Marigold Stone belongs within the southeast of the graveyard; the high cross group stands outside its northeast corner, by the road. Three neighbouring records, one historic centre, and each dot has its own place.