Ancient trails and cures: National Heritage Week events across Inishowen

Throughout the week Inishowen Heritage Festival as part of National Heritage Week will be hosting a series of ‘Stories in Stones’ events exploring the stories hidden within the landscapes, monuments and communities of Ireland's northernmost peninsula. The festival celebrates Inishowen's rich natural, cultural and built heritage through a programme of guided walks, heritage talks and unique experiences led by local historians, archaeologists and expert guides.

As part of National Heritage Week, the Colgan Heritage Committee, Carndonagh, meanwhile will host a special Walk & Talk heritage event on Sunday, August 16. Beginning at 10.00am at the Colgan Hall, Carndonagh, the tour element will offer an opportunity to discover the beauty, wildlife, history, heritage, and folklore of Glentogher on a guided walk led by local historian and Colgan Heritage Committee member Dessie McCallion.

After the walk, participants can relax with complimentary refreshments in the Colgan Hall before enjoying an illustrated talk on traditional local cures and remedies once used throughout Inishowen.

Dessie McCallion is well known across Inishowen and beyond as a tour guide and a walking encyclopaedia of local history. With Dessie as your guide, you will journey through thousands of years of Glentogher’s past.

The glen is rich in archaeological and historical features, including standing stones, raths, hilltop enclosures, holy wells, habitation sites, tombs, burial grounds and souterrains.

Glentogher also played an important role in the region’s more recent industrial history. It was once the centre of a thriving silver mining industry, with evidence suggesting that silver working in the area dates back many centuries. This is supported by the discovery of a remarkable silver hoard in the early 1930s, consisting of ornate silver bracelets that attracted national attention and are now preserved in the National Museum of Ireland.

Other industries flourished here too, including lime kilns, flax and corn milling, all supported by the nearby Glentogher/Donagh and Glenagannon rivers.

Glentogher’s remote landscape and plentiful fresh water also made it famous for another industry — poitín making. Stories of local distillers became legendary throughout Inishowen, and newspaper reports from the time frequently recounted the misfortunes of policemen and Civic Guards who attempted to pursue locals across the bogs, often ending up stuck in bog holes while their quarry escaped with ease.

The rivers themselves supported a once-thriving salmon and trout fishing industry. Many local residents still remember the post-war years when busloads of anglers travelled from Derry and elsewhere to fish the Glentogher waters, returning home in the evening with impressive catches.

Beyond its rivers and historical sites, Glentogher is renowned for its natural beauty. The road through the glen is framed by hillsides rich in plant life and woodland, including oak, ash, hazel, rowan, birch, fir, larch, elm, and alder. Many of these trees and plants were traditionally used in folk medicine, a subject that will be explored further during the afternoon presentation by John Moulden.

A coach will depart from the Colgan Hall at 10.00am sharp to bring walkers to Glentogher. Cost: €5.00 per person, which includes transport and the guided walk. Following the walk, participants are invited back to the Colgan Hall to rest weary limbs and enjoy complimentary refreshments before the afternoon talk.

After refreshments at 1.00pm , John Moulden will present an engaging talk and visual presentation at 2.00pm, on the traditional cures once commonly used by people throughout Inishowen.

John Moulden, who has been a regular contributor to heritage events throughout Inishowen, is a Belfast born, former Primary School Principal with a passion for old songs - he is well known for his talks on aspects of this. However, this talk builds on a theme of the morning's walk: herbal cures and remedies, and particularly on those that have a real benefit.

Medicine has been practiced, formally and informally in Ireland since mythological times. The extent to which some of this Folk Medicine is effective will be a surprise to most people.

John will explore how earlier generations relied on the natural world as their medicine cabinet. Common remedies were made from plants and herbs such as tree bark, seaweed, nettles, dandelions, mint, berries and garlic.

While the presentation will focus on local flora and plant- and herb-based remedies, it is hoped it will also generate a wider discussion of the many other cures found in Irish folklore.

These include remedies involving cobwebs, cow dung, and fox tongues, as well as traditions associated with seventh sons, wise women and fairy cures. Religious and spiritual healing traditions may also be touched upon, including the role of prayer, pilgrimages, and Holy Wells in the folk beliefs of earlier generations.

These events are among 150 taking place in Donegal during National Heritage Week, from Saturday, August 15 to Sunday, August 23.

Other Inishowen events include on Saturday, August 15: Memories of Place -The Vanishing Heritage of Inishowen – Walk, Exhibition & Talk organised by Clonmany Genealogy & Heritage Group at Market House, Clonmany from 10 a.m to 4 p.m; Introduction to Surveying for Butterflies -Walk & Talk organised by the Donegal County Council Biodiversity Office at Buncrana Community Library from 10.30 a.m. Booking essential; and Place Names of Clonmany, a discussion hosted by Lands of Eogain in the Market House, Clonmany at 12.30 p.m.

On Sunday, August 16 there will be Explore Your Shore! at Portmór Pier, Malin Head organised by the Donegal County Council Biodiversity Office at 2 p.m. Booking essential, while on Monday 17 events include: Slowing the Flow - Protecting Inishowen's Heritage at Risk organised by Inishowen Rivers Trust at Market House, Clonmany at 6 p.m. Booking Required; Valuing Donegal's History: Surveys, Maps & Archives organised by Donegal County Archives and Donegal County Library in Carndonagh Community Library at 2.30 p.m; and Heritage at Risk – Culdaff, a talk hosted by the Culdaff Development Association /Tidy Towns at The Wee Hall, Culdaff at 6 p.m.

Thursday, August 20 will see the lInishowen Traditional Music Project Website Re-Launch at Buncrana Cinema at 6 p.m followed on Friday by Spoken Word – Writing with Writers Open Mic Night hosted by Donegal Library Service at Buncrana Community Library at 7 p.m.

Saturday, August 22 events will include Culdaff Sand Dune Safari organised by the Donegal County Council Biodiversity Office at Culdaff Dunes at 11 a.m. Booking Required; and Textile Heritage Event at Glendowen Craft Shop, Clonmany from 12 noon.

Sunday, August 23 events include Malin Head Sports Day Through the Years, organised by Malin Head Heritage Group at Malin Head Community Centre from 11.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission €2 for adults; children and students free; A History of Fahan in Stone hosted by Fahan Community Development Partnership CLG, at the car park at St. Mura's Church of Ireland, Fahan from 2.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Donations Welcome; and Appreciating Water, an afternoon of art, craft and music facilitated by local family the O'Hara Farren's in Moville Community Gardens from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

For the full ‘Stories in Stones’ Inishowen Heritage Festival programme and booking information visit: https://www.govisitinishowen.com/event/stories-in-stones-inishowen-heritage-festival-2026/

Further details and updates on other events across Donegal can be found at the National Heritage Week website at: www.heritageweek.ie