Overview
Burtonport (Ailt an Chorráin) is where you catch the Arranmore ferry – a 15-to-20-minute crossing that runs all year and carries cars as well as up to 96 passengers. That’s the main reason most people come, and it’s a good one. Beyond the ferry, this is a working Gaeltacht fishing village on the rocky coast of the Rosses, with a colourful quay, a couple of cafés, and Irish spoken in the shops and pubs. It’s a harbour and a jumping-off point rather than a resort, so set your expectations for a quiet stop, not a day’s worth of sights.
Island ferries
The harbour is the launch point for several of Donegal’s offshore islands.
- Arranmore (Árainn Mhór): Year-round car and passenger ferries cross in 15 to 20 minutes to an Irish-speaking island with a circular coast road, a lighthouse and good walking.
- Gola Island: A seasonal passenger service runs to this quiet island, known for its beaches and sea arches. Schedules change, so check the operator’s updates before you travel.
- Tory Island: The Tory ferry leaves not from Burtonport but from Magheroarty Pier, about 4km north, for the crossing out to Tory’s cliffs, stone ruins and strong traditional-music scene.
Walking the old railway
The trackbed of the old Letterkenny & Burtonport railway, closed in 1940, is now a flat, dog-friendly walk. The Crickamore loop runs about 5km (roughly an hour) on minor roads and the old line, past the gatehouses and the site of the Dungloe Road station, through ash woodland. A longer 5.5km stretch of the old railway walk continues the same easy, buggy-friendly grade. If you have an hour spare while waiting on a ferry, this is the thing to do.
Magheroarty beach
North at Magheroarty, an uncommercialised 3km strand curves along the coast. The steady Atlantic swell makes it a known spot for surfing, kitesurfing and windsurfing, and a sand-dune walk runs behind the beach. A seasonal surf school and café operates through the summer for lessons, hire and a bite.
Food and culture
Burtonport’s eating is built around the harbour: the long-standing Lobster Pot for seafood, and cafés like the Wheelhouse serving chowder, breakfasts and fish and chips with the water in view. The village keeps a Gaeltacht rhythm – Irish is the working language – and the calendar peaks with the Burtonport Festival towards the end of July, rolling into the Mary from Dungloe Festival that follows.
A brief history
Burtonport was laid out in the early 19th century by the Marquess of Conyngham as a planned rival to the settlement on nearby Rutland Island, where a plaque still marks Napper Tandy’s brief French landing in 1798. St Columba’s Church went up in 1899, and the railway ran from 1903 until 1940; its line survives as today’s walking loops. In the 1970s and 80s the village briefly hosted the Atlantis Primal Therapy Commune and the Silver Sisterhood, an odd footnote that still turns up in local conversation.
Practical information
- Getting there: Burtonport is about a 10-minute drive from Dungloe, 25 from Gweedore and 35 from Ardara. TFI Local Link route 271 connects it to Dungloe, Crolly and Letterkenny; there’s no direct bus to Donegal town, so you change at An Clochán Liath (Dungloe).
- Parking and facilities: Free public parking and toilets at the harbour, which is buggy-friendly with benches and coffee nearby. More free parking sits by St Columba’s Church and at Magheroarty Pier.
- Ferries: Arranmore runs year-round; Gola is seasonal; the Tory crossing goes from Magheroarty and is weather-dependent. Check timetables before you set out.
- Best time to visit: Summer for the fullest ferry schedules and the surf school; spring and autumn for fewer people and good migration-season birdwatching.
Book nothing until you’ve checked the ferry timetable and the forecast – crossings here shift with the weather, even in July – and keep a windbreaker in the bag whatever the season.