The exterior of the tavern.
The interior of the tavern - note some of the Enya and Clannad items on the walls!
Date: Mon, 9 Sep 1996
From: veers@netspace.net.au (Jim Morrissey)
My name is Jim Morrissey, and I live in Frankston, a town (100,000) in the state of Victoria, Australia. I have liked Enya ever since "Sail Away" appeared on TV. I soon became obsessed (in A nice way:) with collecting Enyas Music.
In 1994 I had the good fortune to travel overseas visting Canada, USA (I used to live in Long Beach, Califionia)England and finally IRELAND!
Having no firm plans on what to do In Ireland I decided in a Naive and simple fashion If I could see Clannad in concert (I knew Enya did
To the very north of Eire in a parish of Gweedore, resides a town named Bunbeg. So on the 14/10/94 (Or to the Americans 10/14/94) after a 6 hour bus trip from Dublin I arrived in a beautiful sparse collection of white buildings. (As I remember when I asked One Irish girl in not perform live at that stage to my knowledge never:( ) So being what I thought clever I found out where Clannad and Enya came from and went there.Dublin, how will I know when its Bunbeg?-She laughed and said the only way to tell is when the bus stops:)Once I told some locals why I was there-well it was like out of a movie.
It seemed everyone knew everone and one of them had met or seen Enya! The local Taxi lady (Who owned the 3 private cars that were the Taxi Service) Had driven Enya to the airport (Enya was in disguise) also had photos of Enya at the wedding of her Younger sisters, two who have married Australians! ( I was too late:)
Where is this going? I'm getting there, thanks for reading this far:) I was told by the Taxi lady to go to Leos Tavern.So I went........and behold it was Leo (Enyas dad) That Leo!!! The small box shaped tavern was adorned with Enyas Gold records-It was the Holy Grail for myself:)! I sat down to the cozy atmosphere and up the front Leo sang and played accordian. Being crowded I sat next to some elderly American Ladies and as fate would have it Leo came down to speak to them!
I overheard Enya being said and bravely (Rudely:() interuppted. I'm glad I did As Leo told me more about Enya than I would have ever known. Not Private stuff Thats well..Private and should be left that way. No just two stories that I want to share with everyone (Unless everyone has heard of them already)
One was how an Italian Skinhead walked into the Tavern one night and demanded to see Enya and marry her! (Leo was sober and serious) and promptly he was kicked out!
The Other was how Enya being a private person will wear disguises in public, well once in Dublin, Enya was walking past a school, at this time Sinead O'Connor had ripped up the picture of the pope on TV and was disliked by alot of people. The school children seing Enya (Thought it was Sinead in Disguise) and harrased her!
I was surprised and saddened by those storys. In any case I got a photo of Myself and Leo. Just thought people would like to know that stuff:)
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997
From: Jim Waters (jwaters@az.com)
Well I've never been to Ireland, but I *can* pass along the directions to Leo's Tavern posted here by a former subscriber to the Enya mailing list. Here are the directions from Willie Arbuckle. Hope this helps.
Having been there many (hundreds of) times, I'm sure that I can get you there.
There are public transportation busses to Letterkenny and Dunglow that will go right past the road to Leo's. However I'll assume you're driving or hitching (still do-able in Ireland).
From Derry city - take the Letterkenny Road (south along the West bank of the Foyle). Go all the way (26 miles) to Letterkenny.
As you come into the town of Letterkenny, you will encounter a roundabout with 4 exits (including the direction from which you are coming - call it six o'clock). You want the 3 o'clock exit.
About 400 yards later is a street on the left going up-hill. This brings you to another roundabout - again you want the 3 o'clock exit.
You are now on the main road to Creeslough. Landmarks to watch for are, immediately on your left is the general hospital and you are on a relative steep up-hill. Say on this road for several twisted miles passing through Kilmacrennan.
A couple of miles after Kilmacrennan, you will see a signpost on the left - here you get to chose the coast road or the mountain road. If you're not in a hurry and want to see some coastal scenery take the coast road towards Creeslough, PortnaBlagh, Falcarragh, Dunfanaghy and Gortahork and eventually Gweedore. If you go this way, stay on the main coast road all the way through those towns.
The signpost should say both Gweedore and Glenveagh National Park. The mountain road is much shorter and a challenge to your driving ability - some of the hairpin turns leave you wondering if you are still on the road at all.
The road gets progressively worse - although in the past number of years there have been improvements and some stretches have been straightened out, but don't be fooled - most straight sections end in a tight hairpin, with a delivery truck coming the other way! One or other opposing vehicle sometimes has to stop and pull onto the side of the road to pass (what side of the road ?). Passing a car or truck going in the same direction as yourself is a little more challenging, but if you decide to do it - just do it, don't mess about; get into third gear and plant your accelerator!
The mountain road will bring you past views of Muckish mountain and eventually onto the back side of Errigal mountain (the highest mountain in north Ireland) - - unmistakeable due to its volcano like appearance . As you round Errigal, there is a spectacular view into Dunlewey lake and the Poisoned Glen (and indeed the old church that Enya is reputed to frequent).
The road comes to an end shortly after this and rejoins the main road to Gweedore. The Gweedore river and power station will be on your left as you go along this road. A couple of miles later, you come to a Y junction at a large bridge (relatively) over the river. The right fork takes you to Bunbeag (Gweedore (town) and Derrybeg and onward to the Bloody Foreland).
You want the left fork. You will be on a height looking down over Dore, and onward towards the Rosses. After a couple of miles you will see a road heading off to the right (to Bunbeag) and on the left you will see a two storey house and behind it another more modern house - that is where the Brennan family live - - I don't think that a personal visit is appropriate.
Continuining onward, you will begin a dowhill towards the village of Crolly, crossing the Crolly river over a tight bridge. You will see the pub, Teach Phaídí Óig, ahead on the right. There is also a B&B there above the pub.
You are now in the Rosses.
Almost immediately thereafter, there is a fork in the road again and you get to choose whether you are going to Dunglow (left) or Burtonport (right). You want the right fork. About a mile or so later there is a road going off to the right and there is a sign post at the corner proclaiming Leo's Tavern. Leo's is on the left side of this road about 300 yards from the main road.
If you continue onward on the main road, you will encounter another fork - left for Burtonport via Lochanure, right for Annagry, Rannafast, Kincaslagh and the coast road and some of the best beaches in Ireland.
From Pettigo (in south county Donegal), go to Donegal town, to Glenties, to Dunglow and then towards Crolly.
