Davey John’s Forge · Weddings

A wedding venue above Mulroy Bay, Donegal.

A restored forge, a bar and a warmly lit function room for your day, with the flowers, music and catering arranged and a coordinator who has just done it herself.

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Weddings at Davey John’s Forge

The old forge, made ready for your day.

Davey John’s Forge is a wedding venue at Carrigart in County Donegal, looking out across Mulroy Bay. The blacksmith’s forge at its heart has been lovingly restored, and it now leads from a lounge with its own stove, through a bar, into a function room made for the evening. Nihal and I got married here, and our wedding of a hundred fitted in comfortably.

If you are looking for a wedding venue in Donegal, this is what we offer, and what we can arrange for you with the people we trust locally.

Where
Devlinmore, Carrigart, Co. Donegal, F92 K6H0. Four kilometres from Carrigart village, above Mulroy Bay.
The room
A hundred guests comfortably. Other layouts for smaller and larger celebrations.
The spaces
A forge lounge, a bar and a function room, opening into one another.
The bar
A professional tap set-up and spirit optics. Bar service is arranged with you.
Food
Your own caterer, or sample menus from our partners on request.
On the day
Bar staff, waiting staff, coat room attendants and babysitters, with your coordinator.
Your guests
The Carrigart Hotel, with a shuttle to the venue all day and night.
Staying with us
The cottage and cabins sleep the wedding party, up to ten.
First, the lounge

The forge, restored.

Guests come into the original forge, lovingly restored and now with its own stove, comfortable seating and antiques on display along the old stone walls. It is where a wedding gathers before it moves on to the room.

The forge lounge with a lit stove set into the old stone fireplace, leather sofas with sheepskin throws and the original forge fittings on the stone wall
Next door, the bar

Everything a bar needs.

Beside the lounge is a bar that can be stocked as a full bar: a professional tap set-up for lager and stout, optics for spirits, bottle fridges, ice makers and a glass washer. Bar service is arranged with you.

The bride pulling a pint of stout at the bar, a glass filling under the chrome tap, with spirit optics and bottles on the timber back wall behind her
Then, the function room

A warm room, carefully lit.

The lounge and the bar both lead straight through to the function room, which is the heart of the day. It is warm and carefully lit, with lighting designed throughout, and it held our own wedding of a hundred comfortably.

It can be dressed in other layouts too, for a smaller gathering or a larger one. Tell us what you have in mind and we will work out how the room should sit.

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The function room laid for the wedding breakfast, with a burlap curtain hung with festoon bulbs and greenery behind the top table and round tables set with pumpkin and dahlia centrepieces
In the room

Set for the meal, then cleared for the dancing.

The room Laid for the wedding breakfast, with a red carpet down the room.
The function room dressed with round tables, pumpkin centrepieces, steel trusses hung with fairy lights and a red carpet down the room
The top table Autumn flowers beneath the fairy lights.
The long top table in the function room, skirted in white with autumn flower arrangements, in front of the burlap curtain hung with fairy lights and ivy
The feature wall Burnt timber beside the lit backdrop.
A tall burnt-timber feature wall beside the lit burlap backdrop in the function room, with set tables in front
The first dance Guests in a ring around the floor.
The first dance in the function room, the bride’s lace skirt mid-turn and guests standing in a ring under the steel trusses
The dance floor Guests gathered round the bride.
The bride on the function room floor in her lace gown, one arm stretched out, the groom beside her and guests gathered round under the string lights
The speeches A full room, warmly lit.
The function room full of seated guests applauding during the speeches, round tables dressed with autumn flowers
Everything arranged

One place for the whole day.

We work with people we know and trust locally, who know the venue, so you are not coordinating a dozen suppliers on your own.

Flowers

Local growers, who know the room.

Flowers are one of the most important parts of dressing a wedding venue, and we work with local flower growers who know ours intimately. They do not shy away from any bride’s aspirations, however difficult the brief.

Deep red, coral and pink dahlias in a bridal bouquet, a ring and a string of pearls resting among the blooms
Music

Traditional music, if that is your bag.

We can source some of the finest traditional musicians Donegal has to offer, and a session in the forge lounge suits the room. For the evening, we can arrange a band or a DJ.

A traditional music session in the forge lounge, with a guitarist, an accordion player, a fiddler, a flute player and a double bassist playing together by the stone wall
Food

Bring your caterer, or ask for ours.

The venue is set up for external caterers, and we have partners who can send sample menus on request. At our own wedding, everybody raved about the food.

A tiered wedding cake made of cheese, dressed with grapes, figs and rosemary on a whiskey barrel against a burnt-timber wall

Styling and hire

Local wedding hire and interior decorators can provide all manner of backdrops, props and finishing touches, so the room looks the way you have always pictured it.

Your own wedding website

Part of the package can include a website of your own to promote the wedding, with tools for budget planning, sending invitations and designing the pamphlet for the church service.

On the day

The venue is fully staffed, with bar staff, waiting staff, coat room attendants and babysitters available, so you and your guests are looked after.

Details from the day

Flowers, music, antiques and cake.

Flowers Burgundy hydrangea and tall grasses.
A large arrangement of burgundy hydrangea, trailing foliage and tall grasses in a zinc trough
Flowers The bouquets, in dahlias.
The bride in a lace gown and veil beside a bridesmaid in red, both holding bouquets of red, orange and coral dahlias by a tall window
The forge lounge The stove, with the old forge gear on the stone.
Guests gathered in the forge lounge around the lit wood stove, sheepskin throws on the leather sofas and the original forge gear on the stone wall behind
Music Guitar in the lounge.
A bearded guitarist playing in the forge lounge with a gold candelabra and red dahlias behind him
Music Fiddle and accordion, mid-tune.
A fiddler and an accordion player mid-tune in the forge lounge
The cake Cut together, in front of the burnt timber.
The couple cutting the cheese wedding cake in front of the burnt-timber wall and string lights
Your guests

Getting everyone there, and home again.

We have an affiliation with the Carrigart Hotel, four kilometres from the venue, where accommodation and breakfast for your guests can be arranged in advance at special rates. Our team runs a shuttle between the hotel and the venue all day and night during your wedding, so every guest can find their way to us, and back, without thinking about it.

The wedding party can stay with us on site. The whole place sleeps up to ten, and the cottage, the cabins and the sauna are yours for the weekend, subject to availability.

Your coordinator

Nihal Teskey.

Nihal is one of the owners of Davey John’s Forge, and she is our wedding coordinator. She will meet you to talk through exactly what you are looking for and help you make it real, from the first conversation to the last dance.

She loves helping other brides have a wedding every bit as good as her own, which we held here recently.

Nihal in a lace off-the-shoulder gown and veil, holding a bouquet of red, orange and cream dahlias
Our own wedding

Nihal and I were married here.

Our wedding Together, in a doorway.
The bride in her lace gown and tartan jacket and the groom in a waistcoat standing together in a doorway, a framed old photograph on the wall above them
Our wedding Nihal, by the motorbike.
The bride in her lace gown and tartan jacket gathering her skirt in the courtyard, a barrel table and a motorbike with red bows beside her
Our wedding In the courtyard before the party.
The couple kissing in the courtyard, the bride in a mantilla veil, a patio heater beside them and a vintage car and the white cottage behind

The forge has a longer story: how five generations and one forge led here.

How it works

From first message to the day.

  1. Tell us your date and numbers. A rough season is fine to begin with.
  2. Talk it through with Nihal. She will ask what you are picturing and what matters most.
  3. Plan it together. Flowers, styling, music, food and where your guests will stay, all in one conversation.
  4. Your day. A fully staffed venue, and Nihal on hand.
Questions

Weddings at Davey John’s Forge

Where is Davey John’s Forge, and what kind of wedding venue is it?
Davey John’s Forge is a wedding venue at Devlinmore, Carrigart, Co. Donegal (Eircode F92 K6H0), above Mulroy Bay on the Fanad peninsula, four kilometres from Carrigart village. It is a restored family forge with a lounge, a bar and a function room that open into one another, and a wedding coordinator who looks after the day with you.
How many guests can the function room hold?
Our own wedding of a hundred fitted comfortably. The room can be dressed in other layouts for smaller and larger celebrations, so tell us your numbers and Nihal will talk you through what works.
Can we bring our own caterer?
Yes. The venue is set up for external caterers, and we have partners who can send sample menus on request.
What is the bar like?
The bar area can be stocked as a full bar. It has a professional tap set-up for lager and stout, spirit optics, bottle fridges, ice makers and a glass washer. Bar service is arranged with you.
Where will our guests stay?
We have an affiliation with the Carrigart Hotel, four kilometres away, where accommodation and breakfast for your guests can be arranged in advance at special rates. Our team runs a shuttle between the hotel and the venue all day and night during your wedding. The wedding party can also stay with us on site: the whole place sleeps up to ten.
Who coordinates the wedding?
Nihal Teskey, one of the owners, is our wedding coordinator. She meets you to talk through exactly what you are looking for and helps you make it happen from the first conversation to the day itself.
Can you arrange flowers, styling and music?
Yes. We work with local flower growers who know the room and take on any brief, local wedding hire and interior decorators for backdrops and props, and local musicians, including some of the finest traditional musicians in Donegal. We can also arrange a band or a DJ for the evening.
Is the venue staffed on the day?
Yes. The venue is fully staffed, with bar staff, waiting staff, coat room attendants and babysitters available.
Is there a wedding website as part of the package?
It can be. We can build you your own wedding website, with tools for budget planning, sending invitations and designing the pamphlet for the church service.
How do we enquire about a date?
Use the enquiry form on this page with your rough date and numbers, or message us on WhatsApp. Nihal will come back to you to arrange a time to talk.
Enquire about your date

Tell us a little about your day.

A rough date and the numbers you have in mind are plenty to start. Nihal will come back to you to arrange a time to talk.

Prefer to message? WhatsApp us, or email shane@daveyjohnsforge.ie.