Explore Donegal
The Inishowen Peninsula in the northeast of County Donegal is perhaps the great overlooked treasure of the Irish landscape (and certainly has the longest signposted scenic drive – the “Inishowen 100”), offering a diverse and visually exciting terrain, where the views usually encompass the waters of the loughs or the Atlantic waves. Virtually every aspect of the landscape is superb – the beaches (especially Kinnego Bay, Culdaff, Tullagh and Pollan), the towering headland bluffs (Malin, Inishowen, Dunaff and Dunree) and the central mountain range, with towering Slieve Snaght at the middle of it all.
The peninsula derives its name from Eoghán, who was made First Lord of the island by his father Niall, High King of Ireland. Phases of the peninsula’s history before and after Eoghán have left a legacy of fine antiquities, from the Grianán Ailigh fort to a host of beautiful early Christian crosses (Cloncha, Mura, Carrowmore and Cooley).
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The Grianán Ailigh
The Grianán Ailigh
Off the N13 Letterkenny–Derry road lies the ancient fort known as the Grianán Ailigh. It dates from 1700 BC, and is thought to be linked to the Tuátha Dé Danann, pre-Celtic invaders. It was sufficiently significant to be included by Ptolemy, the Alexandrian geographer, in his second-century AD map of the world, and was the base of various northern Irish chieftains. Here, in 450, St Patrick is said to have baptized Eoghán, the founder of the O’Neill clan that ruled the kingdom of Ailigh for more than five hundred years. In the twelfth century, the fort was sacked by Murtagh O’Brian, King of Thomond, in retribution for a raid on Clare, and a large amount of its stone was carried away. Today’s impressive building was largely reconstructed in the 1870s by Walter Bernard from Derry and is the only remaining terraced fort in Ireland. It’s enclosed by three earthen banks, but its most stunning asset is the view across the primordial jumble of mountains and hills far away to the west and the loughs to each side of Inishowen immediately to the north.
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Malin and Malin Head
Malin and Malin Head
Five kilometres north of Carndonagh is the planter settlement of MALIN, tucked picturesquely into the side of Trawbreaga Bay, with a charming grassy Diamond at its centre. The village has a couple of pubs, and the boutique-style Malin Hotel, which hosts a variety of entertainment and has a very good restaurant. A little way north of Malin, a signpost points to Five Fingers Strand, across the bay from Doagh Isle – it’s worth the diversion to experience the ferocity of the breakers on the beach and the long walks on its sands, though the strand has undergone recent severe coastal erosion.
Sixteen kilometres north of Malin village, Malin Head, the northernmost extremity of Ireland, might not be as stupendous as other Donegal headlands but is nevertheless excellent for blustery, winding coastal walks – and for ornithologists: choughs, with their glossy black plumage, red legs and bill, inhabit the cliffs, and the rasping cry of the rare corncrake can be heard in the fields. The tip of the headland is marked by Bamba’s Crown, a ruined Napoleonic signal tower, and the western path from here heads out to Hell’s Hole, a 75-metre chasm in the cliffs, which roars with the onrushing tide.
