Delights of Donegal

Aug 29 2008 By Michael O'Flaherty

Feel poetic as you venture along this wondrous stretch of coastline

Early one misty Irish morning a long time ago, I passed by a sign pointing the way to a house called Lissadell.

It was the name that attracted me, poetic and evocative. I also remembered it as a place where the poet WB Yeats had written of two beautiful girls in silk kimonos.

Yeats had spent some time at that lovely old house with two sisters - Constance and Eva Gore-Booth - who were to help shape Irish history, the former becoming a freedom fighter for Irish independence, the latter a poet and supporter of women's rights and social justice.

Iturned off the main road to see the great grey granite house which stands in rolling countryside under the shadow of another subject of Yeats's writing, the mountain Ben Bulben, towering majestically over Sligo Bay.

In 2003 the house was rescued by Constance Cassidy, a Dublin barrister with a sense of history. New life has been breathed into the old house, and one of the highlights of the mansion is the magnificent gallery, which is lined with ionic columns and classical art.

Fantastic gasoliers are suspended in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and cast a serene light into the house.

So, aftermy detour, it was with a lighter heart that I left the place this time and headed back for the delights of Donegal, with its dramatic mountains, lakes, meadows and wondrous coastline.

And all around you is a sense of history.

Visit Donegal Castle, for example, originally built in the 15th century by the O'Donnell clan chieftain, Hugh, on the River Eske in Donegal Town. It was rebuilt in Jacobean style a century later. Donegal is still a secret place, unspoilt by the blot of commercialism.

It is a paradise for anglers and walkers. It has music and song. And it has fine food.

On the sea cliffs of Slieve League, we stood entranced by the vista, and, in a scene which has been enacted for centuries, watched the fishing boats from Killibegs bring home their fresh catch.

We stayed in a quiet corner of Donegal, at Harvey's Point Country Hotel, which stands on the shore of Lough Eske, with the Bluestack mountains providing a stunning backdrop.

Harvey's Point began with a holidaying Swiss, Jody Gysling. He was walking the hills of Donegal when he stumbled across a small cottage. From such a small beginning, the cottage grew into a hotel, which opened in 1989 with 20 bedrooms and two restaurants. A further 42 deluxe rooms arrived in 2005. This is a wonderful place to stay and enjoy the richness of this secret county.

As the popular singer Daniel O'Donnell says: "You could sit for hours here just marvelling at the world around you." We did just that.

Travel facts...

Michael O'Flaherty was a guest of Harvey's Point Country Hotel, near Donegal Town, which currently offers a special rate of (£136) per person per night for dinner, B&B (midweek)

Harvey's Point enquiries: 00353 74 9722208 or visit www.harveyspoint.com Lissadell is open to visitors during spring, summer and autumn and year round for tour groups by appointment.

Contact Angela Leonard on 00 353 7191 63150 from the UK.