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 of developing his grandmother's land re-entered his thoughts. After arriving back to Dublin, where he had worked since finishing college, Ciarán knew he wasn’t happy with the city life. So he decided to quit his job and return 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. On May 3rd 2021, which is also Ciarán’s birthday, construction on Sliabh Liag Camping project commenced. Due to the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, 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 restrictions ended.