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June 26, 2018
We began our day a little early due to a necessary trip to the Cara Pharmacy on Main Street in Killybegs. The chemist was great and it only took a few minutes to address our needs. If I need a chemist again this is where I will go.
We made a brief stop into Mrs. B’s Coffee House where we were served wonderful coffee and the food looked amazing. We also stopped into McGinley’s because Fionnuala (6) liked my hat so much that she wanted a Donegal hat too. The women in the shop were very, very nice to us (particularly Fionnuala). Way to go Main Street Killbegs! All three businesses were wonderful (not to mention the great phone shop as well).
Thankfully even with the stop in Killybegs we were still on schedule for what we had hoped to do today. Back in the car we made for Narin. We arrived in the car park for Narin Strand (another Blue Flag beach) at 10:45, used the restrooms and started toward Inishkeel.
I have wanted to visit Inishkeel for years but was never sure when to expect low tide. Fortunately I found an annoucnement from last year when the local parish had organized a July walk for 10:45 so we made that our target. As we got close to the island we saw that the water had not receeded all the way. We also couldn’t tell if the tide was coming in or going out!
Sarah assessed the situation and we decided to go for it. We rolled up our pants legs and waded through the shallow water before re-shoeing. We self-imposed a 15 minute time limit since we weren’t sure if the tide was coming in or out.
Wading across to Inishkeel island
Looking back from the shore of Inishkeel to Nairn Strand
As soon as we reached the shore it was obvious which way to go.
As we walked to our right the two churches appeared quickly.
The two churches of Inishkeel
We reached the monastic site in no time and began exploring. The monastery was founded in the 6th century, but the two churches that remain are from the 13th century (St. Mary’s) and the 14th century (St. Connell’s). We visited the two churches and I had just found the two standing cross slabs when our time expired. I didn’t find St. Conal’s Bed, the recumbent cross slabs or the Holy Well but now we can visit again.
When you reach the Inishkeel monastic site you are greeted by another, superior sign about the bull.
St. Connell’s Church, Inishkeel
The interior and altar of St. Connell’s Church
The north gable of St. Connell’s Church. You can see the numbers from when it was reconstructed (possibly in 1967 when the altar was reconstructed?).
St. Connell’s Church
As you can see it had been some time since the grass had been moved here.
St. Mary’s Church, Inishkeel
Looking through the door of St. Mary’s Church, Inishkeel
The exterior of St. Mary’s Church
The interior of St. Mary’s
The cross slab know as the “Swan Cross”
The Swan Cross is carved on both sides and likely dates to either the 8th or 9th century.
A few feet away is this cross slab. It is only carved on one side and is thought to be the shaft of a High Cross dating to the 11th or 12th century.
When we returned to our crossing point we found all of the water gone! It was 11:15 AM, it turns out we had lots of time (I believe you have about 1 hour if you cross as soon as you can).
Crossing the beach below the monastic site
Low tide at Inishkeel Island where it connects with Narin Strand
Returning to Narin from Inishkeel
As we settled on Narin Strand and enjoyed the 19° overcast morning, a steady stream of people headed for the island. I’m glad that we had it all to ourselves! I also saw that the local parish had organized this year’s pilgrimage walk for 11:30 on July 1.
The parade of people to Inishkeel. This doesn’t include the cars, tractors and pick-ups that we also saw.
After an hour of play time on the beach we stopped in Ardara for a wonderful lunch at Nancy’s. My food was as good as anything I have had on the trip so far. While I have enjoyed every lunch I have eaten here over the past 18 years, the menu has changed a lot. The current chef is focused on using local food now and this is not “pub grub” anymore. My mackerel was amazing. I was very impressed! Nancy’s has worked hard and is now included (as you can see on the menu below) in numerous guidebooks and had an entire coach dining at the same time as us. They also were serving local beers and ciders. I definitely recommend a visit if you are in town.
Playing cards at Nancy’s in Ardara
Nancy’s Menu
After lunch, we stopped in to Eddie Doherty’s to buy a tweed jacket for me. He is the last hand-weaver in Ardara (famed for it’s tweed), but unfortunately I didn’t love any of the jackets that fit and none of them fit me particularly well so we moved on. After a brief stop into Diver’s Centra (the Spar is now closed leaving this as the only grocery option in Ardara) we returned to the house. By this time it was 27°! We were all tired from our day out and decided it was a good time to relax at the house.
Liam’s Highlight of the Day: Wading through the water to get to Inishkeel
Fionnuala’s Highligh of the Day: Narin Strand
Gaeilge Expereince: A few conversations with our guest and the TV.
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