Overview
Inishowen is the largest and most northerly peninsula on the island of Ireland, a wedge of County Donegal bounded by the Atlantic, Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle, with Malin Head as its northern point. The name Inis Eoghain means ‘island of Eógan’, after a son of the fifth-century High King Niall of the Nine Hostages whose descendants ruled here. Two signposted routes do most of the work of showing you round: the Inishowen 100 coastal loop for a day on the road, and the Inishowen Heritage Trail, which links fourteen forts, crosses and stone circles. If you only have one day, drive the loop and stop at the Grianán of Aileach – it gives you the coast and the best of the history in a single go.
The Inishowen 100 coastal loop
The Inishowen 100 is a signposted loop of roughly 100 miles (160 km) around the peninsula’s coast. Go Visit Inishowen marks the official start at Newtowncunningham, near the neck of the peninsula, but as a loop you can join it wherever suits and it works for cars, cyclists and walkers alike.
The stops that earn the drive:
- Malin Head: Ireland’s most northerly point, marked by the derelict Banba’s Crown signal tower of 1805 and a marked path out to the cliffs. It stood in for a remote planet in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, filmed here in 2016, and on clear, dark winter nights it is one of the mainland’s better spots to catch the Northern Lights.
- Grianán of Aileach: a hilltop drystone ring fort that was the royal seat of the kingdom of Ailech, restored in the 19th century (its south wall partly collapsed in recent years). A short walk up from the car park brings views over Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle.
- Fort Dunree: an early 19th-century coastal battery above Lough Swilly, built against the threat of French invasion and now a military museum, with coastal walks along the headland.
- Doagh Famine Village: an open-air museum recreating 19th-century rural life. It closes over winter and reopens in March, so check ahead outside the season.
- Glenevin Waterfall and Mamore Gap: a wooded waterfall walk near Clonmany, and a hairpin mountain pass that climbs to 800 ft (244 m) between Mamore Hill and Urris, about five miles north of Buncrana.
History along the heritage trail
Archaeology puts people here from the Neolithic on, and the heritage trail threads the surviving layers together. By the sixth century monastic settlements like Fahan had taken root, leaving carved stones such as St Mura’s cross slab. Northburgh Castle at Greencastle is a Norman stronghold begun in 1305 by Richard Óg de Burgh, its gatehouse and courtyard still standing. And the peninsula was at the centre of the events that ended Gaelic Ulster: the 1607 Flight of the Earls, when the O’Neill and O’Donnell lords sailed for the Continent, and the O’Doherty rebellion that followed a year later.
There is a maritime seam too. In 1588 the Spanish Armada ship Trinidad Valencera went down in Kinnego Bay on the Foyle side; artefacts raised from the wreck are on show at the Tower Museum across the water in Derry. The Inishowen Maritime Museum at Greencastle tells more of that story and houses a planetarium.
You can drive the trail in a day, but it is spread the length of the peninsula, so a weekend with a night in Buncrana or Carndonagh lets you slow down.
Beaches and wildlife
Inishowen’s coast is a strong seabird stretch – puffins and guillemots on the cliffs near Malin Head, grey seals and the odd dolphin offshore – and it is one of the few corners of Ireland where the corncrake can still be heard, thanks to the peninsula’s Special Areas of Conservation.
For a swim or a long strand walk, Culdaff (Silver Strand) on the north coast is the pick, pale sand framed by rocky outcrops and quiet on a weekday. Lisfannon, on Lough Swilly near Buncrana, now has an accessible boardwalk out onto the beach, making it one of the easier strands to reach for wheelchair users and families with buggies. The Atlantic stays brisk even in July, so pack a jacket for the headlands whatever the forecast promises.
Practical information
- Starting point: the Inishowen 100 is officially marked from Newtowncunningham at the base of the peninsula, but you can pick it up anywhere on the loop. The heritage trail brochure is free from Go Visit Inishowen.
- Time needed: the coastal drive is a half-day skim or a full day with beach and museum stops; the heritage trail is a day on its own if you attempt all fourteen stops.
- Getting there: it is about a 40-minute drive from Derry, 55 minutes from Letterkenny. A seasonal car ferry crosses Lough Foyle between Greencastle and Magilligan in Northern Ireland, a handy shortcut that saves the long road round the top of the lough.
- Facilities & parking: cafés, restaurants and toilets in Buncrana, Carndonagh and Greencastle; parking is free at most stops and at the Grianán car park, though it fills fast on summer weekends.
- Accessibility: Fort Dunree and the Doagh Famine Village have level access and accessible toilets, and the Lisfannon boardwalk is designed for it. The cliff-top paths at Malin Head and the ring-fort approach at Grianán are rougher going.
For the best of it, drive out to the western headlands early for the light, and give the Grianán of Aileach a proper half-hour rather than a quick photo – on a clear day it is one of the widest views in the north of the country.