Ireland

Donegal: Counting sheep made easy

In the hills of Donegal: lots of green and lots of sheep - all the animals are marked with color.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Fabiano - stock.adobe.com)

Ireland fulfills many clichés - and that's a good thing. Flocks of sheep, green countryside, enchanting castles, fine whiskey and even the infamous rain accompany you on a trip through the Donegal region in the northwest of the island.

Here in the northwest of Ireland, the most photographed stars are definitely the sheep. Please stop for a moment and take a photo - this is exactly the motif you want: sheep with a cliff in the background. If the sun comes out for a moment - and if the "liquid sunshine" takes a short break, then everything is perfect anyway. And then our bus driver slams on the brakes. There are around eight million photo opportunities, i.e. sheep, on the island - quite impressive with a population of "only" five million people.

And the fluffy balls of wool also clearly feel at home on the cliffs of Slieve League. The steeply sloping coastline and the often crystal-clear waters of the Atlantic are impressive on a boat trip. Lonely beaches in small bays would actually invite you to relax - unfortunately often too dangerous due to falling rocks, as boatman Kevin tells us. It's safer to chug on by boat. That's probably what some sheep think from time to time.

INFO

GENERAL:
www.ireland.com
www.govisitdonegal.com
www.wild-atlantic-way.de

GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK:
www.nationalparks.ie/glenveagh

WHISKEY DISTILLERY:
www.sliabhliagdistillers.com

TWEED FACTORY:
www.trionadesign.com

MUSEUM:
www.doaghfaminevillage.com

OFFER:
7 days THE NORTH OF IRELAND
Unknown provinces Ulster & Donegal

• Incl. flight, hotel, half board, entrance fees and sightseeing, tour guide
• 2295,- Euro p. p.
• Info and details:
  Tel.: [phone]
  info@rai ffeisen-reisen.at
  In all Raiffeisen and GEO travel agencies throughout Austria

As Kevin continues, it can happen that occasionally one of the animals gets into "mountain trouble" and can neither go forwards nor backwards on the cliffs. If this is discovered in time, the rescue team will come to the rescue. If there is no other way, they have to be roped down towards the sea and then the boat takes them back to the safe harbor and ashore.

In the castle garden of Glenveagh Castle, located in the middle of the 16,000-hectare national park of the same name, we are greeted by "Head Gardener" Séan Ó Gaoithín. With his chest swelling with pride, he tells us all about it - or rather from the flower box.

King Charles was also impressed by Glenveagh Castle and its gardens.

(Bild: Getty Images/2016 Getty Images)

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Irina Schmidt - stock.adobe.com)

(Bild: GARETH WRAY)

The small castle with its idyllic garden dates back to the 1870s. In 2016, there was a high-ranking visitor here: King Charles - then still Prince - strolled enthusiastically through the park and visibly felt at home talking shop with gardener Seán.

Ceramics from Gmunden in the Irish castle
You can also visit the interior of the castle. Very amusing for us Austrians: if you look closely, you will notice the table setting in the dining room. The service with the green stag comes from Gmunden in Upper Austria - not Salzburg, as you can read on the information board. But at least it's Austria and not Australia.

But somehow you keep stumbling across sheep here - even if it's only at the nearest tweed factory. The looms clatter at Triona in Ardara. The finest tweed in all its varieties is produced and processed here. The run on it is huge - and not just since actress Sarah Jessica Parker wore one of the coats in "Sex and the City - And Just Like That".

Sarah Jessica Parker wears Irish-made tweed in "Sex and the City".

(Bild: GARETH WRAY)

(Bild: Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin)

Although, this publicity certainly didn't do any harm and it didn't come about by chance. Parker and her husband Matthew Broderick have owned a vacation home in the region for years and are frequent and welcome guests here. The checkered piece, which costs around 600 euros, has therefore sold like hot cakes, but is still available (also online) - just in case some "SatC" fans want to feel like Carrie Bradshaw.

Irish whiskey

(Bild: Elisabeth Salvador)

Not a Cosmopolitan - as in the cult series - but something a little more high-proof is available at the Ardara Distillery. Whiskey and gin are produced here. Unbelievable, but in 1982 there were only two whiskey distilleries in the whole of Ireland. Now there are over fifty again. A tasting of the smoky "water of life" - the original meaning of the word whiskey - is then called "Slainte" (cheers)!

If you look a little too deeply into your glass, you can count sheep on the way home afterwards. There are plenty of them on the Emerald Isle - now that's a hackneyed phrase.