Distance cycled: 51km
Number of Enya 'A day without rain' albums sold: 15 million
Number of roadworkers I had to talk my way past: 5
Lowlight: The skies opening 20 min before I reached the campsite and standing in reception a puddle formed around me.
Highlight: Being told it's my lucky day because my cousin Michelle and her almost-hubby Owen had upgraded me from camping to cabin-ing.
I'm convinced I've worked out where the Irish language originated from. My theory is that there were a few guys sitting around sinking pints when someone pulled out an old scrabble board. As the night progressed and the beer flowed the words became harder and harder to decipher. One guy had no vowels to play, so he just stuck all the consonants together. Then the letter V got lost somewhere along the way, so they decided, no bother, just put B and H together that'll do the same job. One of the players, a man named Leo had victory in sight if he could just play his last letters, T,A,B,H,A,I,R,N,E. He put them on the board, and when the other men disputed his word he told them that it was to be the name of his new tavern, Tábhairne Leo.
While my story might be a little far fetched, that is in fact the Irish name of Leo's Tavern, renowned for its music being the birth place of world famous musical talents Enya, Clannad and Moya Brennan. The proprietor Bartley Brennan is Leo Brennan's youngest son and Leo himself continues to entertain the locals and tourists regularly. (He just celebrated his 90th birthday!) When Leo's tavern won the vote, I cycled the Donegal coastal route from Glenties to Dungloe to Crolly where I entered a Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) area. I stayed at Sleepy Hollows campsite in in the village of Meenaleck, just 2 min walk from Leo's Tavern. The walls there are decorated with many platinum records, recognition of the musical talent that originated from this small village. I also called into Kincasslagh, hometown on popular singer Daniel O'Donnell while I was in the neighbourhood. I wolfed down a gorgeously gianormous Guinness pie and washed it down with plenty of Donegal tap water... surely there must be something in it for so much musical talent to originate from such a small village.