Northern Ireland’s western tip at Belleek, where the River Erne rushes west to the Atlantic Ocean just a few miles away, almost separates the County of Donegal from the rest of the Republic of Ireland. Derry City (or Londonderry) to which it must once have focused, is now in Northern Ireland, and so at times, this beautiful wild mountain country, its hills and rugged valleys as patterned as the county’s eponymous tweed, may seem isolated.

Yet its sweeping beaches still call to the Northern Ireland traveller. Surfers make for Tory Sound and Donegal Bay, ornithologists for the guillemots, kittywakes, puffins and razorbills nesting in the dizzying sheer cliffs where Slieve League meets the Atlantic. White-washed cottages dot remote valleys, a trout fisherman’s line glints in the Maytime sun. 19th century Glenveagh Castle speaks softly of medieval romance.

Ballyshannon’s Georgian shop fronts contrast with the old garrison barracks. The Cistercian Abbey, its water wheels restored dates from the 12th century.

Rossnowlagh has a fine strand and Franciscan friary, whilst Bundoran, south of the Erne is the region’s premier holiday resort.

Donegal Town boasts a fine Diamond, a 17th century castle and the nearby ruins of a Franciscan Abbey where ‘The Annals of the Four Masters’, a vast 17th century history of Ireland, was begun. Visitors can watch tweed weaving at Magee’s and buy other crafts at the Craft Village outside the town.

Magee of Donegal started out as a small retail drapers in 1866 and is today the largest producer of menswear clothing with two clothing factories and a weaving division.