Carndonagh

Carndonagh (Carn Domhnach) is a market town on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal. With a population of less than 2800 in 2022, it's the largest settlement in the north of the peninsula, which ends at Malin Head the most northerly point on the Irish mainland. Other villages described here are Ballyliffin and Clonmany to the west, and Moville and Greencastle on the shore of Lough Foyle. Buncrana near the foot of the peninsula is described on its own page.

See Derry for inter-city transport by air, rail and road.

55.2513-7.26141 Carndonagh Diamond is reached by Local Link Bus 952 from Derry. There are 7 a day, and two continue to Malin and Culdaff.

Bus 954 runs 7 times a day from Carndonagh to Culdaff, Malin village and Malin Head, taking 50 min.

McGonagle Bus 951 runs once on M-Sa mornings from Carndonagh to Letterkenny, and returns in the afternoon taking 80 min via Burt, Burnfoot, Fahan, Buncrana and Ballyliffin.

Bus 957 runs 6 times a day from Derry to Moville and Greencastle.

Bus 953 runs from Letterkenny via Bridgend and Muff to Moville and Greencastle, with 7 a day.

55.203-6.9842 Greencastle is the landing point for the Lough Foyle Ferry from Magilligan Point in County Londonderry. It sails June-Aug, shuttling continuously from 9AM to 8PM, a 10-min crossing. It carries light vehicles, which you'll need as Magilligan Point has no onward public transport. Make sure your personal and car documents are valid for Northern Ireland.

See Buncrana for the summer ferry across Lough Swilly from Rathmullen.

You need wheels to explore Inishowen Peninsula. A bike would do.

• Church of the Sacred Heart in Carndonagh is the Roman Catholic church prominent on the mound southside of The Diamond. It was completed in 1945 in Romanesque style. Barrack Hill Park and gardens are just south.
• Donagh Cross is 500 m west of The Diamond on Church Rd, junction of R238 and R244. It's a 7th century high cross, one of the oldest in Europe, flanked by two "guard stones" like Dismas and Gestas. Across the street is the Church of Ireland Donagh Church, built in 1769. Look for the ancient "marigold stone" in the graveyard. Another 400 m north, a roadside white cross marks the Mass Rock used in the Penal times.
• 55.316329-7.3726741 Carrickabraghy Castle is a scenic stump north of Pollan Strand. "Carrick" means a rock, "braghy" no-one knows, maybe something rocky. From 834 to 1215 AD it often featured in "The Annals of the Four Masters", which reflected the site's importance but was not good news, as the Annals mostly recorded people hacked to death in battle. It then fell into obscurity until 1600 when the present castle was built, as part of the final conflict between Gaelic and English rule. The Gaels lost and fled into exile, and the castle was abandoned from 1665. It's free to stroll around any time.
• 55.3086-7.3362 Doagh Famine Village, Lagacurry F93 PK19, ☏ +353 74 937 8078. Apr-Oct daily 10AM-5PM. Open-air village museum showing local history from the Great Famine in the 1840s to 20th century border troubles. It was damaged by fire in 2025 but restored. Adult €16, child €10.  (updated Aug 2026)
• 55.317-7.4033 Glashedy is the uninhabited island seen 1 km off Pollan beach. It's been used for grazing, but is best known for the number of ships it's wrecked, and for the scale of illegal poitín distillation discovered by the coastguard.

• 55.247-7.5324 Lenan Head Fort was built in 1895, so it was a late addition to the Napoleonic-era artillery positions along this coast. Its three 9.2-inch guns stood ready during the First World War, and like the other Lough Swilly positions it remained held by the British until 1938 when all the "Treaty Ports" were handed over. The Irish held the position during the Second World War then abandoned it in 1952. And abandoned is what it appears, more like a derelict factory site than military. You can stroll it anytime.
• Fort Dunree is the best preserved of the coastal defences, see Buncrana for this and others further south.
• Malin is the attractive small village that gives its name to the headland 13 further north.
• Five Fingers Strand is a long beach with sandhills facing Doagh Famine Village across the channel. Reach it via the lane off R242 at Lagg.
• 55.3838-7.37175 Malin Head is the most northerly point on the Irish mainland. Dúnalderagh at the tip is several km further north than anywhere in Northern Ireland (those extremes being Benbane Head near Giant's Causeway on the mainland, and Rathlin Island off Ballycastle). Ptolemy's "Geography" of the 2nd century AD calls it Βορειον — "Boreion", north, which pretty much sums it up. Bird-watching is the main attraction. There's a Napoleonic-era lookout tower, some ugly army huts, and clifftop viewpoints, such as Pólifreann or Hell's Hole, a cleft boiling with spray when the weather drives onshore. Ballyhillion is a series of raised beaches: after the glaciers melted the sea-level rose but the land rose faster as it rebounded from the weight of ice. A walk east brings you to the "Wee House of Malin", a hermit's hidey-hole. The Eire 80 marker is one of 82 etched around the coast in 1943 to advise aircraft that they were approaching the neutral Republic. Sadly, this neutrality was breached during the Star Wars between the Last Jedi and the First Order Fleet, filmed here, at Skellig Michael and in hyperspace in 2015/16. Later transgressors are wont to modify the access road sign from R242 to R2D2.
• 55.43-7.2346 Inishtrahull 10 km north of Malin Head is Ireland's most northerly island, though the wave-dashed Tor Rocks lurk another km further north. Its fisher folk left in 1929 but the lighthouse keepers stayed on until 1987 when the light was automated. The island is now a birdlife reserve, check the rules before landing, especially in the hatching season May-July. Inis Trá Thuathail means "island of the empty beach"; the landing point is north facing the Atlantic, away from the mainland and shelter, so it's always precarious.

• 55.2679-7.17357 Clonca Church is the ruin of a 17th / 18th century church, on the site of a 6th-century monastery. There are elaborately carved tombstones and masonry. The High Cross depicts the miracle of the loaves and fishes; another cross has fallen.
• Temple of Deen is a group of megaliths 1 km east of Clonca Church, access via R238. These were support pillars for a large burial chamber, maybe Bronze Age, originally covered in an earth cairn.
• 55.2722-7.14818 Bocan Stone Circle is 1 km south of Culdaff village besides R238. Only 7 of the original 30-some stones remain standing.
• Inishowen Maritime Museum & Planetarium, Coastguard Station, Greencastle F93 T2KA (by Lough Foyle ferry pier), ☏ +353 74 938 1363. May-Aug Tue-Sat 10AM-5:30PM, Sun noon-5PM, Sep-Apr 10:30AM-4PM. Small museum about the area's maritime history, plus planetarium show. Adult €13, conc €11, child €9. (updated Aug 2026)
• Northburg Castle is the ruin of a 14th-century bastion, smashed up and abandoned in the 17th. It's just a scenic stump, half a km east of Greencastle harbour.
• 55.197-7.3349 Slieve Snaght is the 615 m mountain between Carndonagh and Buncrana. You might be content to admire it from afar, as it's boggy and midge-ridden by any route. Shortest but soggiest approach is from the lane to the east, 12 km return. Many prefer to ascend from R244 around Drumfrees: a track leads up towards Slieve Snaghtbeg (505 m), then pick your way to the main summit.

• Boat trips: Inishowen Boating sail from Bunagee Pier by Culdaff, for sightseeing and sea-angling.
• Golf: Ballyliffin GC is north side of that village. The championship course is Glashedy Links: black tees 7542 yards, par 72. The Old Links off blue tees are 6937 yards, par 71. Pollan Links is a nine-hole Par 3 course.
• Inishowen 100 is a scenic 100-mile (160-km) driving circuit around the coast of the peninsula, an easy day excursion. The route is signposted and self-evident, start anywhere, and it doesn't matter which way round.
• Wild Alpaca Way is by Five Finger Strand. You get to take them walkies.
• Wild Atlantic Way is the 2500-km (1550-mile) coastal itinerary starting at Moville and winding all the way south to Kinsale in County Cork. So it coincides with the Inishowen 100 through Carndonagh and Ballyliffin to Buncrana.
• Inishowen Agricultural Show is on the third Saturday in July at Riversdale Showgrounds in Carndonagh.
• Greencastle Regatta is in early August, with lots of shore activities.

• Carndonagh SuperValu is open daily 8AM-10PM.
• Ballyliffin Atlantic Stores are open daily 8:30AM-10PM and with an ATM.
• Moville Centra is open M-Sa 7AM-10PM, Su 8AM-10PM.

• Simpson's in Carndonagh is open for food daily noon-9PM, with the bar open to 11:30PM. It's 500 m east of The Diamond.
• Taste of India in Carndonagh is open M-F 4:30-midnight, Sa Su 4:30PM-3:30AM. Yes, like its namesake in Letterkenny, it serves pizza.
• Diamond Cafe in Carndonagh is open M-Sa 8:30AM-5PM.
• The Butterbean in Carndonagh is a restaurant with rooms.
• Nancy's Barn in Ballyliffin is open daily 9AM-5PM, their chowder is popular.
• Rosato's in Moville is open M-F 5-11PM, Sa 3PM-midnight, Su 12:30-11PM.
• McGettigan's in Moville is open M 8-11:30PM, W-Sa 5-11:30PM, Su 12:30-11PM.
• Inish Fusion bistro in Moville is open W-Sa 4-9PM, Su 12:30-8PM.

• Carndonagh has Sportsman's Inn, Joyce's, Glen Bar, Persian Bar and Farren's.
• Ballyliffin has Jack's Bar. Clonmaly 2 km south has McFeely's, Toland's and Briney's.
• Farren's near Malin Head is the most northerly pub in Ireland, open daily 11AM-1AM, with food served noon-4PM.
• Moville has Corner Bar, Susie's, Annie's, McGuire's and Rawdon's.
• Greencastle has Sean Ti / Kavanagh's and Ferryport Bar.

• Riversdale Country House is a B&B 2 km north of the village at Carndonagh F93 A9TP.
• 55.2802-7.39541 Ballyliffin Hotel, Main St, Ballyliffin F93 XT52, ☏ +353 74 937 6106. Reliable mid-range hotel, good service and food. B&B double €120.  (updated Aug 2026)
• Ballyliffin Lodge, Shore Rd, Ballyliffin F93 XR25 (200 m north of Ballyliffin Hotel), ☏ +353 74 937 8200. Comfy spa hotel, great sea views. B&B double €160. (updated Aug 2026)
• Ballyliffin Townhouse, Main St, Ballyliffin F93 WN93 (50 m south of Ballyliffin Hotel), ☏ +353 74 937 8300. Charming small hotel with spa. B&B double €140. (updated Aug 2026)
• Red Gate House is a B&B 2 km northwest of Carndonagh on R238.
• Whitestrand is a B&B off R242 the road to Malin Head.
• SolasTobann ArtHouse is at Malin Head, so until someone erects yurts on Inishtrahull it ranks as Ireland's most northerly B&B.
• 55.1882-7.0422 Barron's, Main St, Moville F93 X7FN, ☏ +353 74 938 2472. Cafe with rooms in Moville village centre. B&B double €100.  (updated Aug 2026)
• Cosy Cottage at Bath Terrace, Moville F93 CDH6 is a B&B and cafe with bike hire and other activities.
• Greencastle B&B's include Temple View Lodge.
• Dunagree is a B&B by Inishowen Lighthouse.

As of Aug 2026, Ballyliffin, Carndonagh and Moville have 4G from all Irish carriers, but there are lots of dead areas on the roads between them and up to Malin Head. 5G has not reached this area.

• Derry is a fascinating city with intact 17th-century walls.
• Buncrana is the main village on the west side of Inishowen Peninsula.
• Letterkenny is Donegal's largest and liveliest town and transport hub.