Melmore Head
Melmore Head is the blunt northern tip of the Rosguill Peninsula, with Mulroy Bay curling in to the east and the open Atlantic working the western shore. The townland’s Irish name, An Meall Mór, means roughly ‘the big mound’, which is more or less what the headland is: a rounded rise of grass and rock at the end of the Wild Atlantic Way. If you only do one thing out here, walk to Murder Hole.
Murder Hole
Murder Hole is why most people make the drive to the tip of Rosguill: a horseshoe of pale sand folded into the coast and reached only on foot. From the car park it is about a 25-minute walk across private farmland, moderate going, and the beach only really shows itself at low tide. Check the tide times before you set off, because the far end floods first.
One flat warning, and it is the important part of this page: do not swim. The currents are strong, the water shelves away fast, and there are no lifeguards. People have got into serious trouble here. Come for the sand, the walk and the view, keep half an eye on the incoming tide, and never turn your back on it.
The beach and the headland walk
For an easier outing, a well-worn coastal loop starts at the Trá na Rosann hostel, runs past Melmore’s own beach and climbs onto the headland. The reward at the top is the view: Fanad Head across the water to the east, and on a clear day Tory Island sitting low on the northern horizon. You can drop back down and finish through the caravan park.
Up on the headland stand the ruins of a Napoleonic-era watch tower, one of the chain thrown up along this coast in the early 1800s to watch for a French landing that never came. There is older interest underfoot, too: geologists know this shoreline for the Melmore Migmatite, a designated geological heritage site where the banding of half-melted ancient rock shows in the outcrops.
Getting there and parking
The peninsula is reached on the R259 through Rosguill. There is a car park at Melmore Head, and it now charges €5; the old line about free parking in the layby is out of date. In summer the barrier is typically open from around 8am to 7pm. The path from the car park to the beach crosses working farmland, so the owners ask a few sensible things: park considerately, close the gates, and leave the dogs and the drones at home.
Don’t expect facilities at the beach itself; this is a remote spot and you carry in what you need. The Rosguill Caravan and Camping Park nearby has facilities for its guests, and the shops of Downings are a short drive back down the peninsula. Bring a raincoat whatever the forecast says, and give the headland a good half-day if the weather holds.