Coming back to Glenties
By Hugh dougherty
The town of Glenties is situated at the picturesque convergence of two glens to the south-western end of Donegal. Which would, of course, explain the gaelic origin of its name: Na Gleanntaigh, meaning “The Glens”.
I’ve known Glenties for some 40 years, having spent many summers there in my late childhood and early teens. But today there’s a new sparkle and confidence about a town, which has picked-up awards in the annual Tidy Towns competition.
There’s the colourful Main Street, with its brightly-painted buildings, including the quality Highlands Hotel, which speaks of a town developing tastefully. Approaching from the scenic and wild Ballybofey main road, your arrival on Main Street is like the discovery of an oasis on the shoulder of the Blue Stack Mountains. This is a place where you can relax and feel at home.
And there’s plenty to do and see, for just a 15 minutes drive away to the west are the beauties of Narin Strand at Portnoo, where the Atlantic rollers kiss the clean sand, and where a superb line of hills leads your eye northwards towards the Gweebarra river estuary and The Rosses.
To the east, there’s the beauty of Lough Finn, nestling at the foot of Aghla Mountain, and just six miles along the road is Ardara, home to the Donegal woollen industry.
But, in the town itself, you’ll find interest enough in the excellent St. Connnell’s Museum. This is a true community venture that’s run very professionally, and where you can view a Famine cooking pot, used to give relief locally during the dark days of the Great Hunger. You’ll also find a display on St. Connell (the local patron saint himself), and a superb room dedicated to the late-lamented Co. Donegal Railways line, which linked Glenties with Stranorlar from 1895 to 1952.
There’s also a display on Patrick MacGill, the towns celebrated “Navvy Poet”, who wrote while labouring in Scotland, and who is recalled each year in mid-August during the Patrick MacGill Festival, when his works, life and times are studied by academics and lovers of his writings alike.
Don’t be surprised if Glenties looks familiar to you, for the town and its scenic surroundings have starred often in recent years on the large and small screen, providing the backdrop to the film Dancing at Lunaghsa and the TV drama series The Hanging Gale.
If you like fishing, then the well-stocked Owenea River and fishery are for you, while the surrounding roads are a paradise for walkers and cyclists. The paths can take you off into the fastness and silence of the bog, to find that unique peace of the Donegal landscape.
Glenties is also in the Donegal Gaeltacht, so don’t be surprised to hear the language being spoken in the course of everyday business. There’s plenty of traditional music to enjoy in the pubs in the evenings, especially during the annual Harvest Festival, when the town celebrates its good times and the return of emigrants back home.
Back down that sparkling Main Street, halfway between the Marian Shrine and the Garda Station’s ornate lamp, there’s a plaque dedicated to the memory of Patrick MacGill. Among his many poems is one called Going Home, which ends with these fine words:
“T’is far I am beyond the seas, but yearning voices call, Will you not come back to Glenties, and to your wave-washed Donegal?”
I know the answer to that. I’ll be back in Glenties to visit all that’s best in this Donegal gem.
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