The best of Kerrykeel isn’t in the village but above it. A 5.6 km waymarked loop climbs from the old Garda barracks up Ranny Road, past the site of the Battle of Ranny – where six men were killed – to a panorama over Mulroy Bay and Knockalla Mountain, the ‘Devil’s Backbone’, before dropping back by the Gortnavern portal tomb, a Neolithic dolmen. Give it about an hour and ten.
The village itself is small – 389 people at the last census – set on Mulroy Bay between Knockalla and Ranny Hill in north-west County Donegal, where the R245 and R247 meet. It’s a stop on the 35 km Mulroy Drive, the scenic loop that links Kerrykeel, Milford and Fanad Head with a string of pull-offs above the water.
The Saturday market
The Kerrykeel Country Market runs every Saturday at the old national school on Ranny Road – but only from 11am to 12pm, so it’s an hour, not a morning. Local produce and home baking, free to wander in. Don’t linger over breakfast.
A bit of history
Kerrykeel – An Cheathrú Chaol, ‘the narrow quarter’, and Carrowkeel in the older census returns – grew up as a farming and market village. For generations it held a fair on the 6th of every month up at Cow Hill on Pump Street, trading livestock and produce.
Its odd moment of fame came in 2013, when a Central Statistics Office data glitch briefly labelled it Ireland’s crime capital – the figures had been mixed up with Kevin Street in Dublin. The record was corrected quickly, and locals have dined out on it since; the joke lands harder given the village Garda station is often unstaffed. The footballer Billy Gillespie, the first Irishman to captain an FA Cup-winning side, was born here in 1891, as was the ballad singer John Kerr.
Nearby
Follow the Mulroy Drive to the tip of the peninsula and it reaches Fanad Head, where the lighthouse runs guided tours over the sea cliffs. Portsalon, with its long sandy strand, sits on the far side of the headland.
Practical
- Getting there – By car on the R245 and R247. Letterkenny, 20 minutes east, has the nearest supermarkets, restaurants and onward transport.
- Amenities – A primary school (Scoil Colmcille), a Garda station, a post office, a couple of pubs and a community centre. There’s no visitor centre; the post office is your best bet for local advice.
- Market – Saturdays, 11am to 12pm, at the old school on Ranny Road. Free.
- Nearest airport – Donegal Airport, about 45 km south, with flights to Dublin.
Time your visit for a Saturday and get to the market before it packs up at noon – then walk off the scones on the Ranny Hill loop.