Fanad Lighthouse.
One of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world, and far easier to reach from us than you’d think, straight across the Harry Blaney Bridge.
One of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world, and far easier to reach from us than you’d think, straight across the Harry Blaney Bridge.
If you do one big day out from your stay, we’d point you here. Fanad Head Lighthouse stands at the very tip of the Fanad peninsula, where Lough Swilly opens into the wild Atlantic: a working light on a rocky headland that has been voted one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world. On a bright day, with the sea thrift flowering pink between the rocks and the Donegal hills low on the horizon, it’s as good as the northwest coast gets.
And here’s the thing people staying with us don’t always realise: it’s close. The map makes Fanad look like a long way round the head of Mulroy Bay, but you don’t go round. You go across.
From Davey John’s you run out through Carrigart and Downings, and just beyond the village you cross the Harry Blaney Bridge, the causeway and bridge that has linked the Rosguill and Fanad peninsulas across Mulroy Bay since 2009. Before it was built, reaching Fanad from this side meant the long drive around the entire bay; now it’s a short, scenic hop with a viewpoint over the water and the Isle of Roy as you cross.
From the far side it’s a relaxed run up the Fanad coast, past Ballyhiernan Bay and the long sandy strands, out to the headland and the lighthouse at the end. Allow around forty minutes door to door, though you’ll want longer for all the places you’ll be tempted to stop.
The lighthouse was built in 1817, after the frigate HMS Saldanha was wrecked in Lough Swilly with the loss of all hands, a tragedy that made the case for a light on the headland. More than two centuries on it’s still a working lighthouse, with the keeper’s cottages beautifully kept beside the white tower and its red-railed lantern.
You can take a guided tour up the tower: it’s a climb of seventy-six steps to the lantern room, where the reward is a 360-degree view over the Atlantic, across the mouth of Lough Swilly to the Inishowen peninsula, and out towards Tory Island on a clear day. The tours run to set times and are popular in season, so it’s worth booking ahead rather than turning up and hoping. There’s also a café for afterwards, and the headland itself is free to wander whether or not you do the tower.
The tower tour is well worth doing, and the only way to get inside the lighthouse; do it at least once. But for a casual visit, here’s our own way: park the car outside, and walk into the field behind the old coastguard station (it looks like a war ruin) and out to the edge of the cliff. From there you get the spectacular photographs: the lighthouse on its headland with the rugged coastline falling away beneath you.
If you’ve a drone, bring it: this is one of the great spots to fly one, though be warned it can get very windy out on the head. And don’t save it for a blue-sky day: a sunny afternoon makes a beautiful photograph, but a blustery, wintry day gives you all the drama, with the Atlantic crashing white off the rocks. There’s genuinely never a bad time to go.
The Fanad run pairs naturally with the rest of the peninsula. Portsalon and Ballymastocker Bay (once voted one of the most beautiful beaches in the world) sits on the eastern side, with Portsalon Golf Club for anyone who fancies a round. The Knockalla coast road gives you the big views. And if you’d rather someone else did the driving, the day works beautifully on an e-bike from Downings, or as a guided tour.
For the journey home, we like to come back through Kerrykeel, another lovely seaside road along the water. Pick up a bag of fish and chips in the village and eat them down by the water, looking out over Mulroy Bay. Take your time, and give it the afternoon. It’s the kind of day guests come back from a little quieter than they left, in the best way.
Lighthouse tours & opening times →
Three stays on a smallholding above Mulroy Bay, a short run from Fanad, the beaches and the golf.
