Overview
The rusted boat on the sand at Magheraclogher is Bád Eddie, and it is why most people come. This is a wide, pale beach on Gweedore’s exposed Atlantic coast, better known locally as Bunbeg Beach, with the quartzite cone of Mount Errigal rising across the water behind it. It draws photographers, families and walkers after unspoiled coast without the crowds of the bigger resorts. If you have time for one shot, it is the wreck with Errigal behind it, caught at the start or end of the day.
The story of Bád Eddie
The vessel was built in France and originally named Cara Na Mara, ‘Friend of the Sea’, before local fisherman Eddie Gillespie bought her for fishing out of Gweedore. Accounts of the ending differ, but the version the evidence supports is the simplest: she was driven ashore here in rough seas in the early 1970s and never refloated, not, as often retold, towed in for a repair that never happened. Half a century of salt, wind and shifting sand has stripped the paint back to the bare timber ribs, and the hull has gone from forgotten workboat to one of the best-known sights in Donegal, turning up in music videos and behind countless wedding photographs.
What to see and do
The wreck
Bád Eddie sits a short walk from the car park, easy for all ages. You can walk right round the low hull to look at the weathered planking and iron fittings, but mind yourself: the metal and wood are sharp and unstable in places. Treat it as a viewing and photography site and stay off it, both for your own safety and to keep what is left of it standing.
The old hotel behind the beach
The large derelict building by the car park is the former Óstán Gaoth Dobhair, the Gweedore Hotel, built in 1970. In its day it was a busy wedding venue and hosted the likes of George Best and Paddy Crerand; it closed in 2015 and has stood empty since, a second, quieter ruin beside the famous one.
At low tide
The tide runs the show here. At low water the beach widens right out, opening sand flats, sheltered rock pools and tidal channels that are good for children hunting crabs, periwinkles and seaweed. The shallows near the shore are fine for paddling, but the main channel beyond the sandbars drops off quickly and is not for swimming. Check the tide tables before you set out, as the water comes back fast and can cut off the northern end of the beach.
Walking and wildlife
A well-worn path follows the dune line, linking Magheraclogher into the wider Gweedore coast, and a short inland walk reaches the Gweedore River estuary where saltmarsh takes over. Gulls and terns are about year-round, with waders and curlews on the spring and autumn passage, so binoculars earn their place if you like your birds.
Getting there and practical information
Magheraclogher is signed off the R250, roughly 30km west of Letterkenny and a short hop from the village of Bunbeg. A large, free car park sits by the old hotel, with a level gravel path onto the sand. At low tide, drivers with a suitable vehicle can take a short stretch of the beach, but it is weather-dependent and not for ordinary cars.
- Admission: Free, like Donegal’s beaches generally
- Parking: Ample free spaces; arrive early on summer days as it fills
- Facilities: None on the beach itself; Bunbeg village, five minutes away, has cafés, a pub and basic supplies
- Accessibility: The car-park-to-sand route is level and compacted, fine for pushchairs and most wheelchairs; the dunes and rock pools are uneven and best avoided with mobility aids
- Safety: Not a swimming beach – strong currents, cold water and fast tides. Carry a phone and check tide times before you go
Nearby
- Bunbeg Harbour – a tiny, photogenic working harbour tucked into the rocks nearby
- Mount Errigal – Donegal’s highest peak and the mountain behind every photo here, with a walking route up from the Dunlewey side
- Amharclann Ghaoth Dobhair – the local Irish-language theatre in the heart of the Gaeltacht
- Gweedore River estuary – a short, flat walk from the car park, good for a quiet picnic as the tide fills the river mouth
When to visit
Tide matters more than season: low tide gives you the wide sand, the rock pools and the room to walk, while high tide brings the waves up close to the wreck and dunes. Summer has the longest days and the busiest car park. Whenever you come, pack a windproof layer and sturdy shoes – the Atlantic breeze and drifting sand are a given on this stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way.