Thursday, May 25^th’s drive to Derry/Londonderry was interesting.  When you look at the map of Ireland, you can see that the very northwest corner of the island is part of the Republic of Ireland, even though it’s in the north.  As we drove along, we crossed over the border multiple times – in this area the border follows a small stream, which twists and turns. 

Derry (as called by the Republican followers) or Londonderry (as called by the British followers) is right on the border.  I believe this is the only Irish city where the historical walls are still intact.  Our city tour led us along the top of the walls.

Our hotel for Thursday and Friday is a renovated castle, Lough Eske Castle Resort. It’s a lakeside baronial castle outside of Donegal town, once the ancestral home of the O’Donnell Clan. “Eske” is Irish for “fish”, so we’re settling in at Fish Lake!

Friday’s day trip took us to the market town of Belleek where Belleek hand-painted porcelain has been made since 1858. Because Jay was raised in his family’s ceramic business the factory tour brought back touching memories for him.

We also had a brief visit to Donegal Town. I was fascinated by this huge loom:

So far we’ve been able to avoid major purchases. But we’ve each bought hats…

After purchasing my hat in Donegal town, I was approached by a woman on the street who liked my hat — in fact, she recognized it as one her 91-year-old mother had made! She took my picture and sent it to her Mom, who probably had a good laugh.

In our next post, we’ll move from our Lough Eske Castle and move to Ashford Castle. Stay tuned!