Cranford
Cluan Glas Creamhghort

The Mulroy Bay
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Cluan Glas Creamhghort · Co. Donegal

A crossroads on Mulroy Bay where the blacksmith still lives in the pub.

Cranford sits on the road between Milford and Carrigart, and it knows exactly what it is: a small farming village that doesn't pretend to be anything else. The name means wild garlic wood — Cluan Glas Creamhghort — which tells you what the ancestors saw here. Fertile ground. Still is.

The working heart of the village is Logue's pub, where Paddy Logue set up a forge in 1920 after learning his trade in Glasgow. He brought the equipment back with him — rare bellows, the fireplace, the whole workspace — and left it exactly as it was when he locked the door in the 1960s. On Sunday evenings in summer, traditional music sessions fill the forge. The rest of the week it's just there, waiting.

Cranford Athletics Club has been going since 1962. Every Boxing Day they run the Bill Hunter Memorial Race. In December, on the day after Christmas, when most places are quiet, this village gathers to run it all off.

Population

~150

Coords

55.1667° N, 8.2000° W

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The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Logue's

Local, historic

Pub with forge

The pub itself is quiet and straightforward. What matters is the Olde Forge out the back — a working blacksmith's shop from 1920, left untouched since the 1960s. Sunday sessions in July and August are the thing. Traditional music, proper setting, locals and a few travelers who've found their way here.

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Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Paddy Logue's return

The Forge

Young Paddy left Cranford for Glasgow, worked as a blacksmith there, then came home in 1920 with his tools and his knowledge. He set up the forge at Logue's and kept it running for forty years. When he stopped in the 1960s, the Logue family locked the door and left everything as it was. The bellows are among the last of their kind in Ireland. The fireplace is thought to be unique. Sunday evenings in summer, the place fills with music and the past isn't quite past anymore.

Bill Hunter Memorial Race

Boxing Day Racing

Every December 26th, Cranford Athletics Club hosts the Bill Hunter Memorial Race. That's the day after Christmas, when most of the world is recovering from festivities and lying in. Not here. The village gathers for a run. It's been happening since 1962 — over sixty years of cold December mornings and people who care enough to show up and run.

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