An Clochán · Co. Donegal
Quiet Finn Valley fishing village. Strong Irish, prolific salmon, and the birthplace of Isaac Butt and George Carlin's father.
Cloghan sits in the Finn Valley, about 13km northwest of the Twin Towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar, on the R252 in the rural heart of Donegal. It is a working village - farmers, two primary schools, a Catholic church, the Reelin Bridge Bar - with no pretence about being anything else. The River Finn runs past it toward the Bluestack Mountains, famous the length of the country for salmon and sea trout. This is not a destination. It is a place.
What matters here is that 38 percent of the 488 residents still speak Irish day to day, and that a village this size has put out a remarkable run of names. Isaac Butt, who founded Ireland's Home Rule movement, was born at the old Church of Ireland rectory just southeast of the village; the Isaac Butt Heritage Centre is housed in the former Brockagh National School up the Glenfin road. Patrick Carlin was born here too, emigrated to America, and fathered George Carlin, one of the most fearless comedians America ever produced. Bishop James Hannigan came from here. Frank McGlynn, the 2012 All-Ireland winner, still pulls on the Glenfin jersey.
Drive through on the R252. Stop at the Reelin Bridge Bar if the timing is right, watch the river under the bridge, and understand that the quiet is the attraction. The road knows what it is doing.
