Just the sort of old pub advertising people dream about, this old bar looks as it must have done a hundred years ago, with its low ceilings, an ancient weathered bar and furniture and fires in winter in a big old room and then another behind.
Then it got so popular that they built on a further room, which is light and bright, with paintings on the walls and this is also for drinking and sitting while you wait for a table to become available in The Restaurant, which is beyond it again.
In 2013 The Olde Glen changed ownership but the new owners, Aengus Haughey and Cormac Walsh, kept this much-loved destination just as it should be, and everything about it has continued to delight - including the recently added accommodation next door, ‘Clara’s Cots’, and the ’Olde Glen Bar Bia Box’, a shipping container in the yard which serves up interesting sandwiches to enjoy in the bar or garden, or to take away. It was originally in a converted horse box - which has since been reinvented, yet again - this time as a cocktail bar.
Aengus manages the bar and the Bia Box, while Cormac (chef turned front of house) looks after the rooms and The Restaurant - where there was a big change in 2021 when Ciarán Sweeney, a Donegal native and former head chef at Dublin's Forest & Marcy, joined the team. The food has always been good at The Olde Glen and a big part of its appeal in recent years, but the lovely rooms and Ciarán Sweeney’s arrival have upped the ante, with a very appealing new dinner, bed and breakfast package offering what may well be the best value food experience in Ireland.
Ciarán Sweeney’s short locally-focused menus offer four choices on each course, plus seasonal blackboard specials - which sounds simple enough but the aim is to give a real taste of Donegal and, being the kind of chef he is, you also get lots of fabulous little snacks in between.
The menu is very seafood orientated (in summer anyway) so you could go fish and seafood all the way - starting with a pretty starter of scallops, pea, ham & lettuce, for example, followed by a main course of glazed halibut, shellfish croquette, samphire & crab sauce. But there will be other options - such as a fermented potato bread starter with bacon and cabbage, and a beef cheek main course with asparagus and wild garlic - and, unusually these days, there are no supplements.
The wine list is being reorganised (but Cormac always seems to have a few special bottles hidden away, so don’t be afraid to ask) and service at The Olde Glen is never less than friendly and helpful - a true Donegal gem, and great value too.
* Olde Glen Bar was our Pub of the Year in 2008.
