Margaret's home is a beautiful, clean, roomy, well equipped house which is ideally located for exploring the Inishowen peninsula. We spent a week in July here with our 3 children and their grandparents. The house is very spacious and the games room was a particular hit, ours loved playing table tennis, pool and darts. There is also a toy box for younger kids. There was also ample DVDs to suit all ages. The kitchen is well equipped with everything you could require to cook. Outside there is a garden bench and plenty of space for parking or for kids to kick a ball.The beds are very comfy and the locality is so quiet on a country road that is connected to the village on foot by a 10 minute lovely riverside walkway.
There is a Centra supermarket in the village and this is well stocked. The house is 15 minutes from Tullagh Bay which is an immaculate large horseshoe bay perfect for swimming. We also visited Pollen Bay in nearby Ballyliffin which is a little more wild and probably not safe for swimming due to currents. Unfortunately the local Clonmany adventure centre was not open for '21 season nor was the Tullagh Bay equestrian center. Our children enjoyed surfing with Dan from Inishowen surf school. We also took a trip to Moville to Inish Adventures and partook in inflatable water park kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. We ate outdoors in a lovely cafe in Moville called Norries. Apparently you can sometimes see dolphins in the water at the quayside. We also enjoyed swimming at Stroove beach in Greencastle. We didn't get a chance to go on the ferry from Greencastle to Magilligan in Derry but you can go across Lough Foyle in 20 mins either by foot or take the car for 20 euros. Similarly there is a ferry in Buncrana which you can go across Lough swilly to Rathmullan.
Just 30 minutes from the house is Wild Ireland in Burnfoot . This is a really good experience and an opportunity to see animals such as wolves, bears and eagles which were once commonplace in Ireland.
For younger children up to age 8, a trip to Lurgybrack open farm is well worth it for their playground alone.
Also Halfway Karting in Burnfoot was a really enjoyable experience.
Apart from the numerous fabulous beach walks, consider visiting Inch wildfowl reserve near Burnfoot. There is a fabulous 5 mile walking route around the reserve. The coastal walk in Moville was also lovely. There are lovely playgrounds at Ballyliffin beach, Culdaff beach and Moville.
Other places to recommend to eat are Nancy's Barn Ballyliffin for breakfast, brunch, lunch ( closes at 5) , Clare the Baker's under SuperValu in Carndonagh and The Butter bean Carndonagh. We also had a lovely outdoor meal in The Ballyliffin lodge and the local takeaway in Ballyliffin Atlantic catch was particularly good with HUGE portions.
Carndonagh and Buncrana are beautiful towns within 20 minutes of the house which we would have loved to explore but COVID prevented that this time.
We did visit Glenveigh national park which is 20 mins from Letterkenny. A good idea is to hire bikes up to the castle. The castle is not open to tours due to COVID-19 but the grounds bad gardens are worth a visit amidst spectacular scenery.
If shopping is of interest, Letterkenny is about an hours drive, Derry 40 mins and Mcelhinneys
department store in Ballybofey is about 1 hour and 20 away.
Another enjoyable day out which the kids enjoyed very much was the Doagh famine village. The exhibits and tour is really well done and gives a glimpse of Irish and local traditions throughout history since the famine and in more recent times. This is only a short 15 minute drive away.
Malin head is a must visit and this is only 35 minutes drive. There is a fabulous coastal walk there.
Overall, Inishowen is a jewel in Ireland's crown and Margaret's house a home away from home.
Definitely recommended.