Our next stop is Westport in county Mayo, which is 185 km from Harveys point. The plan was to stop at Donegal Castle and Rosses Point just outside Sligo.
Before leaving we joined a walk around the Harveys Point Hotel. Our guide was Noel Cunningham who works for the hotel and a celebrity on RTE television, presenting on an afternoon show. He leads the walk when he is available, very proud to talk about his home county Donegal. Noel was great fun and full of energy. The walk lasted about 2 hours, stopping for him to tell his tails and history of the area. This is beautiful Donegal and as Noel explained, it typically rains twice each week. The first time for three days and the second time for four days. I think we got caught in the first rain fall.
Donegal Castle
Only 6 km from our hotel, the castle is in the centre of this busy town. We decided to walk around and then quickly back to the car to avoid the rain that stated to fall again. It was nice to see, but time to get moving to Westport.
Rosses Point
Our new friend Noel recommended our stop at Rosses point. A town on the Atlantic, which is both beautiful and exposed to the weather. It is home to the Sligo Golf Club, founded in 1896 and in the top 100 UK and Ireland golf clubs. When the wind blows, which I suspect it does all the time this must be a brutal course to play.
Westport and Matt Malloys
Westport is a party town, with many restaurants and bars. The most famous bar is Matt Malloys, which is owned and named after its owner (Matt Malloy) who is a member of the Irish band The Chieftains.
Matt bought the bar 34 years ago and turned into an Irish music pub. Musicals turn up with their instruments and join in. Occasionally someone in the audience will break into a traditional song. The Guinness flows and the music plays late into the night. To top the night, Matt turned up in the pub with his wife. Janice managed to get a photo with them to remember the night.
