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3 July 2014

We all woke a little before 8 this morning.  The weather was nice again in the morning, but rain and clouds were expected later in the day.  So, we went to Cill Charthair (Kilcar) to see what was there.  We drove the coast road from An Carraig (Carrick) and were treated to some stunning views, especially of a Ring Fort.  We did some exploring for a Meglaithic Tomb that was on our map near the Pier, but it was really tough driving and we aren’t sure we ever found the location.  We ended up in the village and got out to take it all in.  We popped into the Centra, where my “Maidin mhaith.” was greeted in English.

SIDENOTE: The official name of the village is Cill Charthair, but locally it is spelled Cill Chartha so you will see both spellings.  Cill Charthair is inside the Gaeltacht boundaries, but is not considered an Irish speaking village by most.  About 20% of the residents are native speakers and most of those are adults.  It is interesting to note, that in the shops in Gleann they could speak to me in Irish even though they probably don’t use it as their first language.  Cill Charthair is currently (the last 10 years or so) trying to do more to encourage use of the language.  Hopefully this will result in an increased amount of Irish usage in the area.

 

 

 

After the Centra we went into the Community Centre (Áislann) that had tourist information listed as one of it’s features. It is located just across the river next to the Irish Summer College.

 

 

 

 

 

Everything is signposted bilingually and the language was prominent inside the building.  The Tourist Information desk had lots of flyers, brochures and maps and a very helpful man inside (working on the building).  I began by asking what there was to do in Cill Charthair and explained that we were looking to see whatever the village had to offer.  He suggested the coast road and some other scenic drives.  I inquired about the old church (that the village is named after) because I had seen mention of it on the internet.  He eventually realized which church and then told me about the old church, three holy wells in town (as well as St. Kieran’s Well and the court tombs in Shalwy/Bavan which I was already familiar with).  He gave me directions (though fairly vague) and showed me a mountain pass (on the map!)  that he and the other worker in the building  said was more spectacular than Glengesh.

Unfortunately, none of it is signposted and they didn’t have any maps.  I did pick up a map comparing St. Kieran’s Turas to St. Connell’s Station on Inis Caol (near Narin).  The facility is very nice and includes a computer room, a library, basketball court/indoor football pitch and tons of other classrooms.  The library is fantastic and the kids enjoyed checking it out while I talked to the man in the front.  It has a decent selection of everything (Irish and English).  I think the kids would have stayed all day, but we packed them up to begin exploring with the information that we had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started for the Church first.  St. Cartha built the church about 540 and it is one of the oldest buildings in this part of Donegal.  Like many other early Christian sites, it also has a Turas associated with it that it observed on March 5 each year.  In addition to the church and graveyard there are the three Holy Wells that we learned about at the Tourist Information desk (St Carthach, the Blessed Virgin, and St Conall) located nearby.  I was told that the Holy Wells would be hard to locate because none of the signposts were still up.

We headed up the road (which is one car wide) having been told that we would see the church from the road.  We followed the road a ways until it became only stones and then turned around assuming we had passed it.  We never did see it, but Fionnuala needed a nap so we headed to the house for lunch and a nap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After she woke from her nap, we went to the beach in Gleann (An Trá Beag across from the Folk Village).  By this time is was raining steadily, but not too hard.  The kids had fun playing in the sand and waves anyway.  We stayed on the beach until we were pretty soaked.  We went back to the car, put the kids in dry pants and decided to try and find St. Colmcille‘s Well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ended up walking right past the well and walking a long way up the mountain on the Glen Head Tower Path.  When we decided to turn around, it rained the whole way back.  I said to Sarah as we turned around, “I thought the well was right by the car.”  Turns out it was!  Everyone enjoyed hiking up the mountain anyway until the rain became heavier and cold.  Even then, the kids did well.  By then time we got back to the car, it was time to eat so we headed back to the house.  It was another nice day out!

 

 

 

 

Gaeilge Experience: None in Centra in Cill Chartha, but as we left Cill Chartha village in the morning I heard an adult tell some children to “Mind the road” in Irish!  The library had a fair selection of Irish books.  The signage in Cill Chartha was pretty heavily Irish/bilingual.  Lots of texting in Irish with friends.

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