Seven Things: On the road with a selection of Donegal's scenic drives

Lough Finn and the Finn Valley

Driving from Ballybofey to Fintown and Lough Finn, on to Glenties and back through the Glen of Glenties and Edeninfagh really makes you feel like you are in the very heart of Donegal.

From Ballybofey’s Main Street, take the turn for Jackson’s Hotel and follow this route out of town. Keep an eye out for signs for Cloghan and Fintown, and enjoy the views of the north face of the Bluestacks and the river Finn that characterises so much of central and east Donegal.

Features such as rural pubs, village halls and gate houses are reminders that this was once an important transport route through Donegal, going back to a time when much travel was on foot or by donkey and cart.

The Finn has a long heritage as an important salmon fishery and if you are lucky, you will get to see the salmon leaping up the falls at the Cloghan as they make their annual trip back to their spawning grounds.

Onwards to Fintown, and you might even spot the old train chugging along the shore of Lough Finn, a throwback to a different time when the now defunct railway opened up this part of the county to visitors, and provided an emigration corridor for young people taking up work on farms in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Continue on to Glenties, and make the return to Ballybofey via the Glen of Glenties and Edinenfagh. This area is rich in tradition, particularly in Donegal fiddle music. And of course, Glenties is long associated with Brian Friel and is recognised as the real life setting of his fictional town of Ballybeg.