How TBEX and Donegal helped me find my family

Family is everything. They’re our anchor and biggest cheerleaders. Travel is about visiting new places and connecting with others. In iconic Donegal, Ireland, family and travel intertwined.

As a travel writer, author and blogger, going to TBEX (Travel Bloggers Exchange) was on my wish list. The TBEX conference in 2025 was being held in Letterkenny, Donegal. My maternal ancestors emigrated from Donegal Ireland to Australia in 1880. This was a sign.

The Smart Travelista

Welcome

One of Donegal’s best assets is its people. On arrival into Letterkenny, I reached out to my Airbnb host Paul to advise of my arrival.

“I’ll pick you up from the bus station,” he said.

This is how they do it in Donegal. The people of Donegal are authentically warm, kind, gracious and friendly. Greeting you like an old friend with a wide smile as you pass them on the street. Always ready to have a laugh or give directions if you’re lost.

Introduction to Donegal

I booked a pre-bex tour of Old Town Donegal. On the tour, we took a deep dive into the history of Donegal town and sampled all that is wonderful about this region. We had fantastic guides from Donegal Town Walking Tours who showed us around. Here are some highlights from the tour.

Donegal Town Walking Tours

Agenda

First stop, Simple Simons for a coffee break and introduction with Finbar Rock. Simple Simon’s is a restaurant and wholefoods store that focuses on sustainability and healthy food options, especially catering to those with food allergies and intolerances, and has the yummiest food and coffee this side of Donegal.

Simple Simons

Next, we visited Magees and met with Stephen Harron who told us about the history of the Irish fabrics industry and we watched a master weaver give us a demonstration of fabric weaving.

Magees

The iconic Donegal Castle was next on the itinerary. Emma Timoney took us on a guided tour. Interestingly, the castle was used as a family home instead of a fort like others were in Ireland.

Donegal Castle

Jo Daly and Debbie O’Reilly greeted us warmly at the Quay West Donegal Restaurant, where lunch was served. The menu included a delicious chowder/soup meal with a few Guinness’s thrown in.

Quay West Restaurant Donegal

Hanna Hats of Donegal didn’t disappoint. We watched workers creating Irish signature caps that are highly sort after by customers from around the world.

Hanna Hats

We learnt about Donegal’s railway history at the Donegal Railway Heritage Museum. Marty Gilroy told us everything we needed to know about the role the railways played in Donegal county.

Donegal Railway Museum

The whistle-stop tour finished at Little Mamma’s & Sliabh Liag Distillers with host Jon Geary. We tasted a variety of scrumptious gelato flavours and samples of whiskey. Our day was deliciously complete.

Little Mammas

Sliabh Liag Distillers

Family discovery

The next day I visited the Donegal County Museum as a free activity on the TBEX program. A chance meeting with Caroline Williams led me to find out more about my family.

“I suggest you go down to the Central Library. They might help you with more family information, “ she said.

I wasted no time. I ran, with my heart pounding in my chest, to the library. The terrific library staff greeted me with open arms. The librarian who helped me shared stories of Irish culture and historical anecdotes. My very own personal Irish history guide.

Irish history and genealogy books soon covered my table. I spent the next few hours researching and looking through genealogy records. Looking for any clues about my family, their life in Ireland and what led them to leave all those years ago.

I wished in that moment that I had a time machine so I could ask them questions about our family journey. Instead, I pieced together my version of our family story.

My ancestors were in the booming Irish linen industry in the late 1700s to 1800s. Many people came from Scotland to Ireland for work, and this is what my ancestors did. The year of their departure from Ireland was coincidently when the linen industry was winding down.

Migration and hiring fairs were common in the late 1800s. My ancestors may have attended one of these fairs. Took a chance, made a decision to travel by boat to start a brand new life in Australia. And as they say, the rest is history.

County Museum Donegal

Central Library Letterkenny

Thanks

Thank you, TBEX, for a fantastic travel conference. TBEX is an opportunity to network with other travel creators, travel companies and learn more about the craft of storytelling and other writing methods. I highly recommend TBEX to any travel creator, no matter your level of expertise. You’ll come away with a lot of new knowledge, action steps, friendships and connections.

TBEX

A big thanks to all our wonderful hosts while in Donegal. Some of whom include:

Donegal Town Walking Tours, Simple Simon’s Restaurant, Magees, Donegal Castle, Quay West Restaurant, Hanna Hats, Donegal Railway Heritage Museum, Little Mammas, Sliabh Liag Distillers and County Museum Donegal.

And lastly, thank you, the people of Donegal. You welcomed us with open arms and treated us just like family. You also helped me find out more about own family. For this, I’ll be forever grateful.