Day 5 Glencolumbcille

Today we journeyed along the Wild Atlantic Way to the traditional fishing village of Glencolumbcille.  This village shows how the people of this area used natural resources for construction and heating of structures for habitation.  The small cottages were made of local stones topped by a dense mat of thatching made from reeds gathered locally.  The homes were heated using dried peat harvested from the local landscape. The fields of peat had long rows of blocks carved from the ground and stacked up to dry.  As we drove through the hills the presence of wool sheep dotted the countryside.  Wool was a highly valued resource for clothing, bedding, and all manner of things.  The wool sweaters that were worn had different stitching patterns depending on the family.  The Atlantic Ocean is so cold at these latitudes that if a fishermen fell overboard he was not expected to survive.  If a body was recovered they could identify the family by the patterns of the stitching.  This area is very remote and would not have seen much traffic so the people would have needed to be self sufficient.   I noticed that the hamlets we passed through were much smaller than comparable villages in the east of the country.
On the south side of the peninsula are the sea cliffs of Sliabh Liag, the tallest in Europe.  This dramatic landscape gave a glimpse at the sedimentary stone that makes up this landmass.  There were terrific views through the clouds and rain of the Atlantic Ocean, the Sligo Mountains and Donegal Bay as we walked towards the top of the cliff face of Bunglas that rose over 600 yards  above the raging ocean.  The weather didn't cooperate with us this day.  It was overcast and drizzling rain for most of the time.  I had a better view at the observation area than all the way at the top.