Our Day Trip to Fort Dunree and Glenevin Waterfall

What a difference a week can make. 

Saturday arrived with the most atrocious weather ever. 

It was raining and quite windy, the complete opposite of the glorious weather we had last week.

Undeterred by the weather we had already planned our day out to Fort Dunree ( you can check out the official website here ) so we went with it dressed up in hats and scarves because after all you can have as much fun in the rain even with small children. 

Our Inbetweener was called away last minute to a hurling event so there was just the four of us with my sister.

On the way we past through Burt and stopped off at The Grianan of Aileach Stone Fort.

The ancient fort which dates back to circa 1000 AD is built high on a hilltop on the site of a prehistoric burial mound from the Neolithic period ( around 3000 BC) and provides breathtaking views of Lough Swilly, Lough Foyle and Inch Island. 

It also commands views of three counties Donegal, Derry and Tyrone on a clear day.

On the drive up to it I said jokingly to Mr P that we were mad to be out on a day like this and that there wouldn't be anyone else about but how wrong was I? There was two bus loads of tourists from America and Spain as well as three other cars and a camper van from France. 

The smell of cooked bacon wafting from the camper van reminded me of a great trip we had in a camper van when our Inbetweener was a year old. 

Great memories and here we were once again creating more great memories to look back on.

It is a step back in time and a wonderful place to visit. I think it's amazing that this structure has survived the times and is still standing strong today.

The pictures taken here a tad dull given the weather but what a great excuse to go back and visit again. The wind was so strong that it caught the Little Fella's breathe a few times but he enjoyed it all the same.

We headed on to Fort Dunree along the Inishowen 100 Coastal Drive taking in the scenery along the way through Fahan, Buncrana and Amazing Grace Country.

The famous and well loved song Amazing Grace was penned by a slave trader named John Newton. After a violent storm in the Atlantic Ocean crippled his ship he found refuge in Lough Swilly, years later he wrote the song to mark his spiritual journey which began after his narrow escape from death. This is why the drive around part of the Lough is called 'Amazing Grace Country'.

Fort Dunree is situated on the rocky shores of Lough Swilly and is a slice of history on our doorstep.

Apart from the scenery there is a military museum with plenty of interesting war items on show. The guns are impressive and certainly one for the boys. Mr P loves this kind of thing and if you are a history lover like me you would certainly enjoy it.

There are lots of walks around the now abandoned and run down camp but you can get a sense of what the soldiers had to endure.

After we had a walk around we then had a much needed hot chocolate to warm us up again in the little coffee shop, not something you would expect to be drinking in June but with Donegal weather you just never know what to expect. 

I was shocked to see that we had been there for around four hours and it felt like we had only just arrived - a sure sign that we were enjoying ourselves.

I really enjoyed our time here and we have planned to go back on a sunny day to spend more time exploring and taking in the scenery because Fort Dunree is definitely worth more than one visit.

When we were having our hot chocolate Mr P was reading a visitors guide to the local area and saw that there was a waterfall not too far away in Clonmany.

We left Fort Dunree and headed off in search of yet another waterfall but because there was so much rain we were excited to see what it would be like after our visit last month to Assarancagh (see here) on a similar wet day.

Glenevin Waterfall is just outside the lovely village of Clonmany. The fresh mountain water descends from a height of 30 feet and was quite an impressive sight.

The walkway up to it was lovely and so well maintained. A great spot for a picnic during the summer holidays.

Funnily enough on our way back down from the waterfall the rain stopped and the sun came out. It was about six hours too late but it didn't matter at that stage of the day.

A much deserved and very late spot of lunch was had in a great little pub called The Rusty Nail. The food here is second to none and it was child friendly with very helpful staff.

I even had a glass of wine seeing as Mr P was driving.

So once again we had a great day out being a tourist on our own 

doorstep, lots of fun and great company.

Can't wait for next month.