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MOVILLE |
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Set on a gentle hillock beside the Foyle, MOVILLE is an agreeable
seaside resort and was once a port of call for transatlantic liners,
though there's little activity in today's compact harbour. It's handy
for a rocky shoreline walk that you can pursue as far as Greencastle
without too much difficulty, although at a few points you'll have to
walk circumspectly across the bottom of a few private gardens. The
village rarely stirs itself to offer anything more than the odd tingle
of excitement, except during the late September Foyle Oyster Festival ,
a cross-border event with bucket-loads of entertainment and the chance
to devour shellfish galore. There are plenty of places to stay .
McNamara's Hotel (tel 077/82564; £55-70/¬69.84-88.88) is the grandest
and has Club Max! attached. For B&B try Naomh Mhuíre , Main St (April-Oct;
tel 077/82091; £26-33/¬33.01-41.90) or Iona House , Gulladuff Rd (tel
077/82173; £26-33/¬33.01-41.90). The Moville Holiday Hostel , Malin Rd (tel
077/82378, scanvas@iol.ie ) also rents out bikes. Barron's café, Lower
Main Street, offers economical daytime meals, while Rosatos , Malin Road,
is the best place for an evening meal . There are traditional sessions
at Rawdon's Bar and Grocery on Fridays. The Prospect Bar down on the
front by the gaudily blue-painted Temperance Hall has music at weekends.
A livelier time is to be had at the Hair of the Dog pub by the pier,
which promises varied music every night.
The most notable historical remains in the district are the Cooley Cross
and Skull House , approached by taking the left turn just before the
petrol station on the way into Moville. Follow the turn-off up the steep
hill for about a mile, always bearing right and you'll discover an
ancient Celtic wheel-cross, guarding the entrance to a walled graveyard.
There are very few examples of this kind of cross with the pierced
ringhole in its head - the hole was once a pagan device used to clinch
serious treaties, the hands of the opposing parties being joined in
amity through it. The Skull House, in the graveyard, is in the form of
the beehive huts of early monks and it was once possibly an oratory
before becoming an ossuary. Any bones that were stored here have long
since vanished.
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