Water pump in Carrowmore

Explorer Tom Scoil Treasa Naofa Malainn is a neat little time capsule from 1951. It’s a standard Office of Public Works design, but that date plaque with the incised Gaelic script gives it some real character. The natural slate roof and timber sashes are still in great nick, proving simple mid-century school architecture can be surprisingly charming.

Explorer Tom Clonca Church of Ireland Church in Malin is a proper 1827 survivor with that classic Gothic vibe. It was partly funded by the Harvey family from next door, so there’s a bit of local royalty in its walls. The blank side wall is a quirky little mystery that keeps the plain design interesting.

Explorer Tom E. McClean is a great restaurant now, with lunch or dinner worth turning up for. Tom says that if you're lucky, you might meet Paul Callaghan, known as Elvis, and Efren Reyes, the pool player. He's bringing an appetite and keeping an eye out.

Explorer Tom Magheranaul Wedge Tomb has a single roofstone covering its gallery, with an hour-glass hole bored right through the closing stone. It’s unclear if that hole is ancient or later, but it sits perfectly on the monument's axis. A real head-scratcher hidden in the pasture.

Explorer Tom Rickie Doherty calls Carndonagh's Contactcentre.ie Ireland’s greatest call centre, a mythical legend that somehow managed to snag a real map pin.

Explorer Tom Lag Graveyard lies in a natural enclosure of sandhills north of the Trawbreaga Bay channel. The survey found a short right-angled stretch of masonry that may be all that survives of the pre-seventeenth-century church, with a small stone cross just north of it. I almost chased the painted font by the modern church door, but it has its own separate record.

Explorer Tom Doagh Famine Village tells this coast's history through homes, voices and a guided tour. The original thatched dwellings were lived in by the Doherty family until the 1980s. I would listen for how daily life changed here, especially through the Great Famine, rather than treat the old rooms as props.

Explorer Tom Visit Carndonagh in County Donegal is where the builder was really thinking, 'I’ll just put this here and hope nobody notices how random it looks.' It’s a little sign that seems to have wandered in from a different century and got stuck there, looking confused. It’s charming in a clumsy way, like a dog trying to fetch a ball it can’t reach. A good place to forget your phone for ten minutes.

Explorer Tom Former Site of Carndonagh South Pillar Stone marks where a sculpture used to stand flanking a high cross before erosion got the better of it. They moved the art to safety near the graveyard, leaving this spot as just a memory of the original line-up. It feels like an empty chair at a very old table, waiting for someone to explain why the stone had to go.

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.

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 Five Finger Strand in County Donegal thinks the road leading to it is a bit of a pretender, given how often it disappears under sand dunes. It’s just sitting there with its five rocky fingers, judging your driving skills while you try to find where it actually starts. Find a local and ask them the real story, then come back and tell me.