Overview
Drumanoo Head was very nearly the site of a lighthouse. In the 1830s, as traffic into Killybegs grew, the headland at the harbour mouth was considered for a navigational light, but the Ballast Board went instead for the more exposed Rotten Island offshore, where the light was first lit in September 1838. Drumanoo never got its tower. Today it is a low, grassy headland on Donegal Bay just west of Killybegs, on the Wild Atlantic Way: open coast, no barriers, no facilities.
Be honest with yourself about what it is before you drive out. There is a view over the bay towards Fintra and the open Atlantic, a stretch of rough grass and salt-washed rock, and quiet. The best view of the point itself is arguably not from the land at all, but from the water.
Boat tours
Drumanoo Head is one of the marks you pass on the coastal cruises out of Killybegs harbour. Atlantic Coastal Cruises run trips that round the point and the Rotten Island lighthouse, and on a calm day there is a fair chance of dolphins, and sometimes basking sharks, out in the bay. Seeing the headland and its cliffs from the sea gives you more than the short walk to the tip does.
Fishing
The rocks south of Fintra Bay, around the head, are a known mark for shore anglers. Bring your own gear; there is nothing out here in the way of shops or facilities.
Getting there
Drumanoo Head is reached off the R263 west of Killybegs, with a small car park; the road out is part of the Wild Atlantic Way. There are no toilets or refreshments at the headland, and no bus stops nearby, so you will need a car, or take one of the Killybegs boat trips to see it from the water.
Nearby
The sandy Fintra Beach is a few minutes east. For more on the coast’s seafaring past, working Killybegs – Ireland’s biggest fishing port – and the Rotten Island lighthouse fill in the picture. West of here the road climbs on towards the Slieve League cliffs and the Glengesh Pass.