Day 14 - Sligo to Donegal

October 06, 2025

Cast a cold eye on life, on death. Horseman, pass by!" - WB Yeats

After breakfast we took a short walk around Sligo. It's a river town, like just about every town we have stayed in. It’s fixed up nicely with flowers and with plenty of shops to go in and out of. We did find an interesting plaque about a father and son by the name of O'Higgins. The father was born in Sligo, but ended up in South America and was the Viceroy of Peru and Governor of Chile. His son was born in Chile and was the first president of Chile.

Our first official stop was at the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, the largest neolithic cemetery site in Europe. The official OPW site has 35 different burial tombs. However there are around 70 more in private fields around the site. The original tombs date back 5000+ years, but there is evidence of reuse of the tombs over time. Some of the tombs have been excavated and bones and various artifacts of that time were found. Eventually in the 1800s, there was a period of time where the tombs were dismantled by farmers clearing their fields. The site contains a mixture of different styles of tombs: Passage, Portal, Wedge, and Court tombs.

The size and structure of the site, and many tombs in the surrounding area, show how the people at that time must have viewed death, making a great effort in burying their dead.

Randy and Rebecca looking for the next tomb.

We then headed back into Sligo to visit the Sligo Abbey, which isn't an abbey at all, but a Franciscan Friory. Sligo Abbey is now called an abbey instead of friary because the friary is still active in another location and people were getting confused…just like you are now!

Sligo has a pretty typical town history. Some Viking presence due to the river access, then a friary founded, then a town built up around it by the Anglo-Normans. This Priory was built in 1252, and operated for about 500 years. It's history is pretty typical. Periods of use followed by persecution and abandonment, followed by return. The ruins have a well preserved cloister with some intricate carvings.

Ceiling of the bell tower.

As we headed out of town, we stopped at a local famine memorial. Just about every town in Ireland has some sort of famine memorial, which is understandable given how the famine affected the entire country. Most cemeteries also have a famine plot, an area where the poor who perished were buried in a mass grave. We also visited the famine memorial and plot in Donegal, our stop for the night.

Children’s graves

A pot that can feed 800 does little
good if there is no food to put in it.

The drive between Sligo and Donegal is quite short and we only made one stop, Drumcliffe Church, the final resting place of the famous Irish poet and Nobel winner, WB Yeats. Yeats was born in Dublin, but spent childhood holidays in County Sligo, and wished to be buried there on his death. In addition to his literary life, he was active politically and involved in Irish Independence efforts, as well as serving as a senator after Ireland won its independence. He died in France 1939, and finally his body was moved in 1948.

Church where Yeats is buried
has a warm and inviting interior.

We explored Donegal Castle after checking in to our hotel. Half is in ruins and the other part has been reconstructed. It was owned by the O’Donnell family who claim their descendants go back to 500 AD.