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If you stick to the coast road west of Bruckless, you'll round Killybegs Bay and arrive in the most successful fishing port in Ireland, KILLYBEGS ( na Cealla Beaga - "the little churches"), where tons of top-quality fish are hauled onto the quaysides daily. This marks the halfway point on the route from Donegal town to Glencolmcille, and also the point at which the scenery changes dramatically for the better: the mile-long approach road around the bay would be idyllic were it not for a fishmeal processing plant interrupting the view. Killybegs itself is perched on a slope above the harbour, its gleaming whitewashed buildings huddled around narrow cramped streets. The town is well served by shops and banks and buzzes with traffic in summer, most of it heading down to the quay, where you can buy fish after watching the fleet come in during the early evening. A huge international sea angling festival takes place here in the second half of July but you can go sea angling any time with one of six boats that go out daily - the Harbour Store (tel 073/31569) has details and sells all manner of fishing gear. Picturesque though Killybegs is, it isn't exactly overflowing with interest, and most of the pubs are aimed squarely at working fishermen, though students from the local Tourism College liven the place up in term time. All may soon change, however, as Killybegs is slated to become the service town for the thirty or so oil rigs soon to be located off-shore. If you're staying, it's worth visiting the church at the top of the hill for a glimpse of the sixteenth-century tombstone of Niall Mor MacSweeney , removed from his grave at Ballysaggart Friary on St John's Point and now covered in Celtic carvings and contained in a glass case to the left of the church door. The MacSweeneys originated from the Scottish Hebridean islands and arrived in Ireland as gallowglasses ( galloglaigh - "foreign warrior), hired by the O'Donnells to drive the O'Neills from the land around the River Foyle. Receiving land in payment, the MacSweeneys became one of Donegal's ruling families prior to the Flight of the Earls, and Niall Mor was head of one branch of the clan. The cross standing on the hillock behind the church is an ugly specimen that serves as a reminder of ugly times - the days of the Penal Laws.
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