Saturday, February 16, 2019

Spring Fete at Donegal Castle

This afternoon we went off to Donegal Castle to experience the spring fete, which was run by a local school. We're always going by the castle on the way to the library, but we've never been inside until today.
no roof on this part

this part was where stuff was happening
We went in and climbed up one set of stairs and then another, until we were up at the top, where there was a demonstration of Irish dancing. There was a group of girls, some of them quite young, and since I do not feel comfortable taking pictures of other people's children (or anyone, for that matter, without their permission) to toss onto the internet, I kept my camera in my pocket and just enjoyed the dancing.

I did snap a few pics of the room, though.
gives a sense of how thick the walls are
looking up
Donegal Castle in 1590
Donegal Castle in 1650
After the dancing, we made out way back to the middle floor, where a few tables were set up and craftspeople were selling their wares. Unfortunately, the lighting was horrible. I am a big fan of the dark and do not like bright lights at all, but in this case, I felt so bad for the people who were displaying their work, because you could barely see it. We did buy a couple of things from one lady, named Roz. She had what looked like some lovely things, from handmade soap using flowers from her garden, to woodwork, to decoupaged rocks, and other things. I would have loved to have been able to actually see it all, but I understand she comes here to the craft fairs that happen when the cruise ships are in town, so I will look for her this summer!
she had several of these, with 'love' painted in different colours and each with a different embellishment--we chose this one for the bird

painted on driftwood
We went back downstairs and looked around a little bit.


Then outside
church steeple in window

good use for a stump

When we were done at the castle, we went across the street to the church hall, where tea and scones were available. It was a slightly chilly day and that really hit the spot!
church of ireland hall

strawberry jam and cream on a scone
What a lovely way to send a few hours--it was a fun afternoon!

2 comments:

Lynne said...

Something magical about seeing a castle from the 1500’s . . .
Everything sounded magical about your visit.
Sweet pleasant days are wonderful . . .

Brenda said...

Love the pictures and especially scone with cream