Despite having to be postponed twice due to nasty weather conditions, the 2026 Big Barnesmore Cleanup finally took place on Sunday, May 3, and commenced from Biddys O’Barnes at 7am that morning. Read on for more on the fantastic effort by the team of volunteers and sponsors, and click on the arrows to see a gallery of photos:

Even though the weather still wasn’t perfect, a large number of committed volunteers showed up at the crack of dawn, eager to get the trash lifted and restore the natural beauty of the Barnesmore scenic drive again. 

Organiser Stephen Thomas said: “The dedication of our volunteers never ceases to inspire me. Some volunteers help at every cleanup, every single year, and we do see new faces as well, which are always very welcome. 

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“They all leave their cosy homes at an early hour to work hard in the often cold and wet conditions, because they have pride in their locality and in our beautiful Donegal countryside. 

“The content of the rubbish collected never ceases to amaze. By 11am, a huge pile of roadside trash was collected, and within an hour or so, Donegal County Council had already removed it from the collection point at Barnesmore. 

“As always, I must express our gratitude to our important annual sponsors, Seamus McGowan, of Daytona Heavy Haulage, for kindly sponsoring the safety and collection vans, and Kenneth Foley the owner of The Donegal Town Service Station and Supermacs, his Area Manager Albanis, and Raimonda (Rey) Visniauskaite, the General Manager of Donegal Town Supermacs for sponsoring refreshments for our volunteers after each cleanup, year on year.

“The kindness and generosity of Daytona and Supermacs ensures that the Cleanup is a successful and enjoyable event, and the quality coffee and pastries in Supermacs afterwards, along with a good chat with our friendly volunteers, all make our cleanups enjoyable and worthwhile occasions. 

“We sincerely thank Donegal County Council who supply the cleanup equipment and who also collect the rubbish, Nuala Toland, from Leghawney Community Notes, who promotes our Cleanup, and my good friend Raymond Jordan who helps me organise the cleanup, Cllr Noel Jordan for making the arrangements for the collection of the rubbish by Donegal County Council, and Owen Howells, from Donegal Town Tidy Towns who we always undertake this event in partnership with. 

“These Cleanups, and the wider family of Cleanups in our area make a real difference because Donegal Town won the bronze medal in the national Tidy Towns competition during 2025 and Owen Howells, the Chairman was presented with this award on behalf of Donegal Tidy Towns and the local community. Owen is delighted that Donegal Town’s performance was up 16 marks on the 2024 result, which was a first for Donegal Town.”

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The Drumlonagher to Tullyearl Cleanup which took place on Sunday, April 19, was also sponsored by Supermacs and was another great success this year. 

Stephen said: “All of the local cleanups, which include The Big Barnesmore Cleanup and The Drumlonagher to Tullyearl Cleanup are true examples of great community spirit, where all of the above mentioned contributors combine their resources to accomplish very tidy and impressive results. 

“It might be ‘trashy’ work, but you have all earned a huge thanks yet again, and we are totally appreciative of your efforts.”