The "star" of the Northwest is Donegal, the largest county in the Province of Ulster and the fourth-largest county in Ireland. It is a land of wide open spaces - pristine dune-filled beaches, cliff-edged seacoasts, rock-strewn gaps, far-flung welcoming little towns, and vast verdant valleys. Meander around the Donegal countryside, enjoy getting lost in the Gaelic-speaking hinterlands, and encounter unique aspects of Irish lifestyle.

Watch as local craftsmen make Donegal tweed and parian china, step into 300-year-old thatched cottages, make a pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Patrick, discover a Picasso painting, be a surfer, or tap your feet to the sounds of Irish music. "Up here, it's different" is the local Donegal motto.

And it really is! Counties Sligo and Leitrim, to the south of Donegal, are best known for literary connections. Both counties featured prominently in the writings of the Nobel Prize-winning poet, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939). Yeats spent much of his time in this area, referring to it as "The Land of Heart's Desire" — and he is also buried here. Each summer thousands of people from around the world flock to Sligo Town to participate in the annual Yeats International Summer School (held in late July and early August).

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