Original subtitles

(lively music)

- Our journey begins in Donegal,

the one time capital of a Gaelic kingdom.

Before moving west, along the coast,

to where the world's finest oysters are cultivated.

We'll trace the shoreline of the Wild Atlantic Way,

stop off at Killybegs, the nations largest fishing port

and continue on to the highest cliffs

in Ireland at Slieve League.

From there, we'll turn north to find extraordinary

pristine beaches and then take a look at the bog lands,

where peat turf, Ireland's most important fuel is harvested.

At Malin Head, the Northern tip of the Irish mainland,

we'll head back south to learn the dramatic history

of Glenveah Castle.

It's then back to the east, where we'll conclude our journey

at one of the Emerald Isles most significant archeological

sites, The Grianan of Aileach.

Isolated beneath dense fogs in the North of Ireland

is the town of Donegal.

Steeped in history, as well as natural beauty,

it remains incredibly unspoiled

and unusually connected to it's rich past.

In the center of the town, overlooking a gentle bend

in the river Esque, is Donegal Castle.

Built in 1474 by the O'Donnell clan,

one of the most powerful families in Ireland,

this keep would remain the stronghold of

the Lords of Tír Conaill until the infamous 1607

Flight of the Earls

when Rory O'Donnell fled to France

to avoid capture by English Protestant forces

and set fire to the castle.

In 1623 it was rebuilt and a three story

Jacobean manor house added on the side.

In the 1990's, it was painstakingly restored

using techniques and materials

true to it's original 17th century construction.

The town has given it's name to the county of Donegal

and even today around a third of it's population

still speaks Gaelic as it's common language.

Just to the side of the town is Donegal Bay.

Infamously the site of a 1979 assassination

when the Irish Republican Army

bombed Earl Mountbatten of Burma's boat.

Though the waters looks still,

thanks to its Westward facing geography

and its funnel shape,

the beaches here offer some of the best surfing

in all of Europe.

More than 99 hectares are given over to row after row

of carefully cultivated oyster beds.

Here, near constant rainfall,

runs through the nutrient rich granite and limestone

of the Blue Stack Mountains and down into the bay

where it mixes with the salty oceanic waters

to create 2,000 metric tons a year

of what many have described as

the best tasting oysters in the world.

The long rugged coastline of Donegal Bay

stretches for 80 kilometers of dramatic, steep,

plunging cliffs mingled with vast golden sandy beaches.

While the straight lines denote oysters,

circles like these belong to fish farms.

The large round nets called Pens

are where the farmed fish are actually reared.

They are moored at specific locations in the Bay,

where the water flow is particularly strong

creating the most favorable conditions

for a young salmon to grow into a delicious dinner.

Moving west, we arrive in the nearby town of Killybegs,

the largest fishing port in Ireland

and home to the nations most impressive trollers.

In all, fisherman here land more than 100,000 metric tons

of fish each year, accounting for 45%

of all catches by Irish vessels.

A natural deep water harbor, Killybegs,

receives and launches more than just anglers

from its new 75 million dollar pier.

It's also a dock for commercial cruise liners,

cargo ships and functions as a service port

for off-shore oil and gas drilling rigs.

The ships are not the only things that are huge here.

The town is also home to the largest carpet loom

in the world.

The Turkish style rugs made here,

are renowned around the globe and have decorated

some very important buildings including Buckingham Palace,

The Vatican, 10 Downing Street and The White House.

Further to the west, we find the serene

deep coastal waters of the small town of Teelin.

One of the earliest settlements in the country,

it was only a little more than 100 years ago

that Teelin, not Killybegs was the premiere

fishing village in Ireland.

And standing like a weathered sentinel over the bay,

as it is done for 200 years, is an old watch tower.

Built in the early 19th century

to defend the Northwest coast

from the looming threat of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The tower is one of a series of lookouts,

originally manned by an English naval force

called the Sea Fencibles, atop the spectacular multicolor

cliffs of Slieve League.

Plummeting 600 meters to the fierce Atlantic waters below,

these are the highest sea cliffs in Ireland

and among the tallest in all of Europe.

Considered sacred ground by many,

Slieve League has born witness to 1,000 years

of Christian monastic journeys to its clifftops.

The fame and frequency of these religious expeditions

have given the path to the highest point on the precipice,

the name Pilgrims Pass.

(soft music)

At the base of the cliffs,

there's a single pristine white sand beach

that is accessible only by boat,

offering adventurous sun bathers

a uniquely gorgeous and solitary experience.

Beach goers can soak up rays without another soul in sight,

except maybe a few of the playful seals

that regularly gather here.

Though Ireland remained officially neutral

during the second World War,

they did strike a number of accords

including one to provide the allied forces

with a free fly zone called the Donegal Corridor

which led directly over these mountains

and out into the Atlantic.

To help pilots navigate the passageway,

stones were painted bright white and arranged

throughout the terrain to spell out Éireann,

the Gaelic word for Ireland.

Measurements of the exact length of Ireland shoreline

differ wildly due to the jagged shape of the island.

While some sources place

the total distance of 3,171 kilometers,

others estimate the length of 6,347 kilometers.

A perfect example of the jagged nature of the island

can be found here, in the dramatically rocky inlet of

Glencolumbkille Bay.

This area was first inhabited in 4,000 B.C.

and several of those early settlers tombs

have been beautifully preserved and can still be seen today.

A little up the shore atop a rock face called Glen Head,

we find another of the watchtowers

built to defend the island from French forces

during the Napoleonic Wars.

Originally, this was part of a network of 12 towers,

stretching 138 kilometers

from St. John's Point to Malin Head.

The shared cliffs and idea lic inlets of these waters

have inspired many artists throughout the years.

With Sir Arnold Bax, Master of the King's Music,

writing in 1883, "I like to fancy that on my deathbed

my last vision in this life will the the scene

from my window on the upper floor at Glencolumbkille

of the still brooding dove gray mystery

of the Atlantic at twilight.

Moving Northwest, we cross a sparse open expanse

of typical Irish countryside.

In all, Ireland is home to more than 12,000 distinct lakes

while boglands make up 5% of the nations landscape,

more than any other country in Europe.

Ireland is in fact a very wet country in general.

Here in the west, the land can see rain

as often as 225 days of the year.

The constant precipitation feeds the lush rolling hills

of green grass that blanket the small humid island,

of which have given the country

the very well known nickname, The Emerald Isle.

The Donegal Coast however, is more sapphire than emerald.

Only a two-hour drive from Belfast,

this landscape is simultaneously very close to and a

world away from the trappings and noise of modern life.

These remote swages of verdant countryside,

deep blue bays and desolate white beaches

compose the Northern leg of the striking path

known as The Wild Atlantic Way.

For people looking for quiet serene solitude

and 360 degree panoramas of spectacular open beauty,

it's hard to imagine a more perfect spot.

To get even further away, a short ferry ride

can find you on the shores of Éireann Islands,

where Gaelic is still the primary language of choice.

Located at the mouth of Galway Bay,

they were formed by compressed sediments

in a tropical sea some 350 million years ago.

Turning back North to the mainland,

we pass over the majestic and stark region

known as the Rosses.

Binded by rivers to the north and south,

mountains to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west,

this are is separated from the rest of County Donegal

by culture as well as geography.

Here for example, the 16,000 Irish speaking men and women

still prefer Gaelic football to soccer.

The Rosses also boast the county's only airport

which can be seen in the distance as we make our approach.

It began as a simple strip of grassland,

just long enough to land a small plane,

but the Donegal's airport runway

was finally converted to a hard surface in the mid 1980's

and further extended and modernized in the 1990's.

The small airfield is serviced by only a single airline,

flying exclusively to and from the capital city of Dublin.

However, nearly 40,000 travelers will pass

through these gates and into

the Wild Atlantic Way each year.

Having refueled, we continue north passing over

several of the beautiful islands

that freckle the Irish coast including one

whose beauty portrays a tragic past.

In the 18th and 19th centuries,

on the isle known as Oileán Na Marbh

or Island of the Dead, more than 500 infants

were buried without ceremony on unconsecrated ground.

The children died before they could be baptized

and were taken away in the cover of night,

placed in unmarked graves and forgotten.

Their families ordered to grieve silently if at all.

Today though, the children buried here

are finally remembered.

In 2011, a cross was erected in their honor.

(lively music)

Further north, we find the wetlands of blanket bogs

where peat turf is cultivated on a huge scale

for a number of domestic and industrial purposes.

Habitats like these are rare, with Ireland laying claim

to an enormous 8% of the entire worlds

blanket bog ecosystems.

Their formation in the west of the country,

began 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age,

covering huge areas of poorly drained land.

Through most of history the peat bogs

were seen as miserable wasteland, but in the 17th century

the value of the turf was beginning to be recognized.

By the 18th century,

peat was the primary source of fuel in Ireland.

During World War II, coal imports became alarmingly scarce,

so a number of projects were designed

to develop and distribute turf.

As a result, there was not a single Irish death

attributed to cold during the conflict.

Today, Ireland is home to three peat-fired power stations

that consume almost four million metric tons

of turf each year.

The peat bogs have a great deal

of environmental significance as well.

They serve as a home to a wide variety

of plants and animals found nowhere else in the country.

Moving further into the headlands towards the tip

of the country, we reconnect with the sea

over beautiful pristine shores.

County Donegal has a coastline

that stretches over 1,235 kilometers

and is home to dozens of the most remote

and unspoiled white and gold sand beaches in Europe.

13 have been awarded prestigious Blue Flag status

by the Foundation of Environmental Education,

more than any other county in Ireland.

This guarantees an extraordinary high standard

of water quality, safety and management.

(soft music)

As we make our way toward the western-most point

in County Donegal, we pass directly

over the Horn Head Peninsula,

home of the famous blowhole known as McSwynes Gun.

Though it's not quite as powerful as it once was,

it's been known to rocket water more than 17 meters

into the sky with a crash that could be heard

for 16 kilometers, but sadly not today.

We also get a look at the dramatic unblemished coast

of the Rosguill Peninsula.

These waters have recently become a world class destination

for big-game fishing, where boats are often chartered

on the hunt for sharks and giant bluefin tuna.

This peninsula is also home to Old Tom Morris Links,

a golf course with more than 100 years of history

that has hosted the likes of John Wayne and Errol Flynn.

Gaining height, we rise into the clouds

and look down at Ballyhiernan Bay.

Clouds are every bit as iconic to the Emerald Isle

as Guinness and shamrocks, with Irish skies

being completely overcast well over 50% of the time.

Ireland even has its own Cloud Appreciation Society,

and and annual Cloud Festival which is held each July

right here in the beautiful Northwest.

In the distance is Malin Head, the northern-most

point on the Irish mainland.

It's violent waters have claimed more ocean liners

and German U-boats than any other stretch of coastline.

A particular interest to many is the SS Laurentic.

She struck two German mines in these waters

on January the 25th 1917 and sank in less than an hour,

taking with her 354 souls and 43 tons of gold ingus.

Most of the treasure has since been recovered,

but 22 gold bars still remain unaccounted for.

Turning away from the coast and sharply inland

to the southeast, we head towards Lough Bay.

It runs for five kilometers right through the heart

of Ireland's largest national park.

On the east bank is the imposing Glenveah Castle.

Modeled after Balmoral Castle,

the British Royal Family's Scottish getaway,

Gelnveah was built in the 1870's by John George Adair,

a man whose very name was once a curse

on the tongues of the people of Ireland.

Black Jack Adair as he was known,

made a fortune on land speculation in the United States

and returned to Donegal, where he purchased huge tracts

of land and promptly went to work

evicting all of the men and women who were living on it.

On St. Patrick's Day 1861,

with the help of some 200 police officers,

Adair visited 46 homes, turning people out,

and in many cases demolishing the houses

to ensure the tenants could not return.

In just one day, he left 244 people homeless,

including 159 children.

After his death, Black Jack's wife

built a monument to him on the estate,

but it is no longer standing.

Local legends say it was struck by lightning

and crumbled into the lake.

In 1937, the castle was acquired

by Philadelphia millionaire, Henry McIlhenny,

who in 1981 bequeathed it to the Irish people,

the very men and women Black Jack Adair despised.

A fitting irony for one of the worst landlords in history.

Further to the east, on our way to our final destination,

we cross over Lough Swilly, a deep glacial fjord,

whose name translates to both lake of shadows

and lake of eyes.

On the edge of the upper reaches of the lough,

on top of a hill we find the ancient site

of Grianan of Aileach.

Built almost completely without mortar,

the dry stone ring fort was erected in the 8th century A.D.

But the site itself seems to date back as far as 1700 B.C.

Since then, this place has served as a seat

of the Kingdom of Aelic as well as one of the royal sites

of the Gaelic Kings of Ireland.

By the 12th century, the Kingdom of Aelic was under siege

by the invading Normans and in the year 1101,

the King of Munster destroyed much of the ring fort

and it remained in ruins until

a massive restoration effort was begun in 1870.

It has an internal diameter of 23 meters

with walls that are four meters thick and five meters high.

The sight is steeped in both mythology and history,

but sometimes the two are difficult to separate.

Many of the famous stories revolve around St. Patrick

traveling here to baptize Prince Owen into his faith

leading the Prince to turn his entire clan away

from their Pagan ancestry and towards Christianity.

Its ancient beauty, its connection to Irish history,

and its wealth of culturally significant stories

makes Grianan of Aileach one of the most important

and intriguing places in Ireland

and it's the perfect place to end this journey.

(lively music)