The highest point of the mountain is Croagh Ballaghdown, standing 1692 feet over the sea, its altitude seeming much greater than it really is, on account of the steep escarpment down to the water. The tourist may now keep along the ridge of the mountain to join the main route at Glengesh barrack, and descend by the Glengesh pass into Ardara, or he may take the headlong path that drops into the wild Granny Glen to Maghery, where a few cottages are nestling under the shadow of the mountain. In the immediate neighbourhood are half-adozen caves, three of which run in narrow passages, like corridors in a catacomb, some hundreds of yards right into the bowels of the mountain. The most interesting of these "Coves," as they are here called, is the Cooach-an-Darchadass, (the Darkcave,) which may be entered only at low-water. The visitor may easily find a guide among the Maghery people, and he should not forget to provide a torch or candle, without which much of the interest of his visit would be lost. From Maghery to Ardara, his path lies at the base of the mountain, down whose steep side leaps many a brawling mountain torrent. There is a splendid waterfall, called Asherancally, about half-a-mile from Maghery, which deserves a special visit, should the tourist happen to be in this neighbourhood during rainy weather. His road is now along the base of the mountain to Brackey, where he joins the main route, at a short distance from Ardara. evening and he may fairly note down "Many the wonders I this day have seen; The ocean with its vastness, its blue green, It is now Its ships, its rocks, its caves, its hopes, its fears,— Must think of what will be, and what has been."* CARRICK TO ARDARA. The tourist who proceeds by the direct route from Carrick to Ardara, takes the road that runs parallel with the Glen river for some distance, and then leaves it to follow up the course of the Crove river. After a long stretch of bleak Highland moor, relieved, however, by some bold elevations on the right, and glimpses of the sea, with the island of Aranmore in the distance, on the left, the watershed (1000 feet) is reached, when all at once he finds himself right above the most striking glen, perhaps, he has anywhere seen. A spiral road brings him down the quick descent into the valley of Glengesh, or Glengeask, having Croaghalery on the left, rising some 1200 feet steeply from the road, and on the right Glengesh hill, standing 1652 feet over the sea level. *Keats. To his brother George. At about two miles down the Glen the road emerges from these mountain walls, and, a little farther on, joining the road from Killybegs, turns sharply and pursues its way through a pretty valley overlooked by steep hills to ARDARA, "which has an extremely pretty situation at the wooded base of steeply escarped hills."* It is a good centre from whence to explore the magnificent coast scenery of Slieveatooey. It is also a good centre for the lover of sport-there being good grouse-shooting and good fishing in the neighbourhood. Close to the town are a shooting lodge, at present rented by the Earl of Gosford, and Woodhill, a neglected residence belonging to the Rev. Mr Tredenick. There is also a Danish fort above the northern extremity of the town. From Ardara the road follows up the valley of the Owentucker river, an interesting drive affording a rich variety of Highland views. Towards the end of the third mile, from a high point of the road, there is a striking view of Glenties and its background of mountains ; a view which has been finely expressed by Mr Falkner in a painting exhibited by him in the Dublin Exhibition of 1864. At the end of the fourth mile, the road approaches the bank of the Owenea, a river that derives its name and source * Murray. from Lough Ea, a tarn some six miles away among the mountains, and crossing the stream a little higher up passes into GLENTIES, “a small town, the situation of which, at the numerous converging glens, is its best point. It has a grand-looking Union-house, which adds much to the distant beauty of the place," as does also the Catholic chapel-a spacious building occupying a commanding position above the town. Glenties is one of the four towns in the county of Donegal, in which Quarter Sessions are held, and is also a central police station. It is the centre of the barony of Boylagh, of which Lewis remarked thirty years ago, that it was remarkable for its "woollen stockings of excellent quality."† This department of Irish manufacture, which had wofully declined during the past five-and-twenty years, has lately received a fresh impulse. The tourist who takes an interest in the manufactural produce of the country, should pay a visit to the well-appointed warehouse of the firm of D. & H. MacDevitt, where he will see various specimens-some of them very beautiful— of the hand-knit hose produced in the district. Excellent grouse shooting is to be had in the neighbourhood, and good fishing also on the river and lakes. "The angler in the river (Owenea) will have + Topograph. Dict. Art. Donegal. * Murray. sport, if he is on at the time of a spate, but as it rises. and falls very quickly, it will be hardly worth his while to go there on a chance."* The Marquis of Conyngham is the owner of Glenties, and is spoken of in fair terms in the neighbourhood. The antiquary will find, in a field adjoining the road, close to the town, one of those pillar-stones, "which evidently owe their upright position, not to accident, but to the design and labour of an ancient people."+ This specimen is more slender and graceful than most examples of pillar-stone, though it stands only six feet over the surface of the ground. About half-amile from the town, crowning a hill, called from the circumstance the Castle, are the remains of what, it is almost certain, was one of those stone Cathairs or Duns, belonging to the Pagan period, the ruins of which are found so common along the southern and western coasts of Ireland. The visitor ought to note the fact, that the thick wall enclosing the very extensive farm, at the head of which the "Castle" stood, is built of stones taken from the fort in the memory of people still living. Enough remains to enable him to trace the circular wall enclosing about an acre of the crest of the hill; the rest he must supply from what he knows of works + Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Antiquities. * Murray. K |