"Where it all started" County Donegal by RPW

County Donegal in North West Ireland is a beautiful place that rambles along from town to town, I have the honour to have had grand parents from that area and have visited it on few occasions now, finding out more about the area all the time. As someone that was born in Glasgow it is fairly common to have a connection with this area, its reckoned that in the Glasgow area almost one third of the people have direct descendants from Donegal. It's a fairly large area though and my family came from Donegal Town, indeed I now have family back there as my sister is now married to a local man and staying in the town now.

The Diamond - Donegal Town

As I stated earlier I have a sister that now stays in Donegal Town, her house is no more than a few hundred yards from the town square or to give it its proper name "The Diamond". This is the centre of Donegal Town, the buses stop off here and you can in turn catch one to just about anywhere in Ireland, there is also a taxi rank. The diamond is surrounded by everything that you would need, hotels, shops, restaurants, bars, cafes, bookmakers ( both types !) and from here the bay area, castle and abbey ruins are easily accessed.

Railway Heritage Centre

I often used to hear stories of my relations travelling back and forward from Glasgow to Donegal Town and wondered if they maybe exagerated slightly on the conditions they had to endure, I say this as I am quite a seasoned traveller and often find the last part, basically from Derry in N. Ireland, on to Donegal Town as being a wee bit of a trek. There is no longer a train service to Donegal Town but there is a museum that shows the old carriages and some excellent videos of the old services running - now I believe my relatives !!
This museum/heritage centre is good fun, you can easily spend a couple of hours here and its in a nice safe location for parking, there is a small admission charge.

• Pros:I am biased, but it's just a great place to visit
• Cons:Nothing as yet
• In a nutshell:Give it a go