https://www.donegaldayout.ie/portnoo-beach Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

There’s an animal-lover in us all as my Dear Old Dad discovered in Ireland a Dinky stay for you and your pet.

Not that we were allowed one, unless you count the few months when I pestered my parents into bringing Benjie the Budgie into the house.

Or sneaked Jeemy the Mouse into the house despite my Mum’s pathological fright of mice.

So when we visited her homeland of Donegal and Portnoo in north-west Ireland.

We never expected the Man and Best Friend friendship that developed.

With Dinky the Welsh Corgi dog of the owners of the guest where we stayed.

Celtic the Cat’s Whiskers

Of course, as is the way with us all when we set up home for ourselves we get to choose who lives there.

And that meant Celtic, our ‘first-born’, our tabby.

Now pets quickly become part of the family but with that comes problems around holidays.

And Celtic being ushered out to catteries while we flew and flopped or explored new cities.

So, imagine what a Godsend MindMyHome.ie pet sitting service would have been.

Which, of course, gives you savings in pet care, and no kennel stress for furry friends.

Swap shop

Homeowners registered with MindMyHome.ie can also connect with other trusted homeowners for house swaps across Ireland.

And, with dog boarding costing anything up to €65 a night, home owners can avoid paying more for their pet’s holiday than their own.

Registering on the site costs €59 for homeowners, for 12 months access.

The site, which launched in January, already has trusted ‘frequent fliers’ that have cared for half a dozen properties this year.

And housesitters pay the same annual fee for the opportunity to stay in homes, without the typical expenses.

Out of the host’s mouth

Site owner Tom Gilligan said: ‘Sitters build trust with homeowners, show genuine care for pets, and personalise their posts, quickly building a good reputation.

‘It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement where homeowners have peace of mind and cost-savings.

‘While sitters have unique new living experiences in different local communities, in the comfort of a home environment, they have completely to themselves.’

It was the playground of my youth and now an international walkway. The Wild Atlantic is the Way to go in Portnoo who Noo?

Portnoo in south Donegal in north-west of Ireland is famed for its Blue Flag beach and is stop 10 on your Way.

It was something, of course, we lapped up, city dwellers from a grey post-industrial city in Glasgow.

To have 2km of beach stretched out before us just outside our boarding house.

And with rocky pools to explore for a child with an overactive imagination.

And a new friend, and a girl at that, my parents could relax, knowing I was safe, happy and getting exercise.

While they got some adult time with Helen’s parents, Paddy and Sheila.

Who would come to this bolthole from The Troubles from their home in Belfast.

A Donegal Fáilte

The hills of Donegal: On your Atlantic Way

And so a lifetime friendship was forged for my parents.

Which is often the way that we form those bonds through parents of our children.

We have, of course, been back time and time again.

And when I took the plunge and introduced my English rose of a wife to Ireland it was to Portnoo that we came to stay.

Although alas not Shovlin’s Guest House which had long since passed taking visitors and become a private house.

Kee’s to the door: Kee’s hotel, Stranorlar

Instead we took a cottage which gave me that authentic peat-burning experience.

I remembered from trips to my grandparents in nearby Brockagh, my mum’s homestead.

But alas it is another pleasure denied us now but which we got the most out of in our 13 years in Greystones, Co. Wicklow.

An island of adventures

Atlantic crossing: A smaller island to explore

Today as we return her to the Donegal sod on our final journey together we relive old memories on Portnoo beach.

And look out to Iniskhkeel, an island you can walk out to at low tide.

And which holds monastery ruins, again just what an adventurous kid in the middle of his Enid Blyton Secret Seven phase, can absorb.

Trek the 2km walk along the beach and you will arrive at the charming village of Narin.

And don’t be surprised if you bump into parties of international trekkers.

As the Wild Atlantic is the Way to go in Portnoo… who Noo?

Dip your toe in

By the light of the silvery dune: Portnoo

Local kids and big kids still flock to Narin jetty to jump in the North Atlantic Ocean, though not for this landlubber.

For more grown-up pastimes the Portnoo golf club draws back international visitors.

It is a course I have not played since childhood and never will such is the state of my game.

So I guess I won’t find out if they still have the electrical surround around some greens to put off wandering cows.

The best Mum bar none

We are off on our wanders too and we will take in Mum’s childhood home, McNulty’s Bar in Brockagh, now The Ramblers.

And be welcomed with open arms by today’s hosts, Con, and a tray of teas, bran and sandwiches.

The suitcases are assembled in the foyer of our hotel, another family go-to, Kee’s of Stranorlar.

To be transported to a next stop.

For me, it’s an EasyJet flight back from Belfast to Edinburgh and North Berwick and cold reality.

While walkers continue their trek down from the Inishowen Peninsula to Kinsale in Co.Cork, all 2,600s down the west of Ireland.

For Mum, though, this is where she leaves us.

MEET YOU ON THE ROAD