Page 228 - (DK Eyewitness) Back Roads Travel Guide - Ireland

226 BACK ROADS IRELAND

1 Ramelton
Co Donegal
Set on the banks of the River
Leannan, this pretty heritage
town was once a prosperous trading
port and linen market. Georgian
townhouses and cottages line the
streets and stone mills and 19th-
century warehouses with red doors
create an attractive quayside. The
arrival of the railway in Letterkenny
led to Ramelton’s decline in the 19th
century. Rugby Union aficionados
might be interested to know that
world-famous player Dave Gallaher,
captain of New Zealand’s All Blacks
from 1903 to 1906, was born here.
ª From Ramelton, take the R247 to
Rathmullan. Turn right at Pier Road
Above and above top right The old mill and park in the car park by the pier.
buildings and warehouses lining Ramelton’s
quay Above right Brightly painted houses 2 Rathmullan
in the seaside resort of Rathmullan Co Donegal
This seaside resort on the shores of Lough Swilly has a magnificent
setting, with sweeping views across the lough to Inch Island and
Buncrana on the Inishowen Peninsula. It has a pier with a marina
and a long sandy beach, backed by trees. The resort offers angling,
sailing, kayaking, kite-surfing, pony trekking and a 9-hole golf
VISITING RATHMULLAN course. This circular walk combines historical interest, fine views,
a ruined friary and an invigorating stretch along the beach.
Ferry to Buncrana
In summer (Jun–Sep), a car ferry
operates eight times a day between A three-hour walk Ulster – colonization by English and
Rathmullan and Buncrana on the From the car park by the pier, walk to Scots. The visitor centre tells the story
Inishowen Peninsula. The crossing
takes about 20 minutes. the Flight of the Earls Visitor Centre 1 of the earls and the events that
Rathmullan; 087 211 2331; (open Jun–Sep: daily; Easter–Jun: followed, an important episode in
www.swillyferry.com weekends only) in the old battery fort Irish history, which effectively ended
(1810). It was from this spot that the its old aristocracy.
earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell and Turn north along the beach (with
some 90 supporters fled to France in the sea on the right), for a lovely walk
1607 with the aim of proceeding to along Rathmullan Strand past the
Spain to rally support for the rocky outcrop of Kinnegar Head 2
overthrow of the English in Ireland. and carry on along Kinnegar Strand
Their failure led to the confiscation to the end of the beach, where a
WHERE TO STAY IN of great tracts of Irish land by the stream flows under a bridge. Cross
RATHMULLAN British Crown and the Plantation of Killygarvan Bridge and turn left. To
Rathmullan House expensive
Luxury country house hotel on Lough
Swilly, with direct access to the beach.
Facilities include tennis courts,
a spa with a long list of pampering
treatments, a heated indoor pool,
log fires in winter, and an excellent
restaurant, which uses produce from
its own walled garden.
Lough Swilly; 074 915 8188;
www.rathmullanhouse.com

Right the lush green headlands of fjord-like
Lough Swilly

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