Ciarán McHugh, owner and founder of Sliabh Liag Camping, always had a childhood dream of having a campsite on his grandmother’s farm at the foot of Sliabh Liag. While travelling the world many years later, the idea re-entered his thoughts. When he arrived back in Dublin, where he had worked since finishing college, Ciarán felt he wasn’t happy with the city life. So he decided to quit his job and come back to Donegal to pursue his childhood dream.

On his return home and after much research, planning permission was granted in 2019. Unfortunately when construction was to start in March 2020, Covid-19 put a halt to this for 14 months. May 3rd 2021, which is also Ciarán’s birthday, construction on Sliabh Liag Camping commenced. Due to Covid-19 persisting, there was no lending from banks nor funding from State agencies. So Ciarán decided to start the project as a basic campsite with whatever capital he had, on the assumption that funding would become available as Covid-19 faded away.