Wild Atlantic Companion · Donegal

Welcome to Donegal Town & Slieve League.
We're glad you're here.

Donegal Town — Dún na nGall, 'fort of the foreigners' — sits at the head of Donegal Bay where the Eske river meets the sea. The 15th-century O'Donnell castle on the river and the triangular town square called the Diamond are the heart of it. West along the N56 lies Killybegs, Ireland's largest fishing port, and beyond that Teelin and the cliffs at Slieve League — at 601m, nearly three times the height of the Cliffs of Moher and among the highest accessible sea cliffs in Europe. Donegal tweed comes from these valleys.

The castle, the Diamond, and Europe's highest accessible sea cliffs.

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First things first

Where are you headed next?

Tell us once and we'll shape the rest of the page around it.

The essentials

What you shouldn't miss.

Locally chosen, not algorithmic. In rough order of "if you only do one thing".

View

Slieve League cliffs

Sea cliffs rising 601m straight out of the Atlantic — almost twice the height of the Cliffs of Moher and among the highest in Europe. Two viewing levels: the lower car park is suitable for everyone; from the upper car park (a steep narrow road, locked gate at busy times) a path runs along the cliff edge to Bunglas viewpoint. The 'One Man's Pass' ridge walk along the top is for experienced hillwalkers only.

Good to know · Free, always open. Visitor centre at Teelin. The road up is single-track — a barrier limits cars at peak times; shuttle from the lower car park then.

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History

Donegal Castle

A 15th-century tower house built by Red Hugh O'Donnell, chieftain of Tír Chonaill, on the bank of the Eske. Burned by the O'Donnells themselves in 1601 to deny it to the English, then rebuilt by the planter Sir Basil Brooke in Jacobean style. Restored by the OPW in the 1990s.

Good to know · OPW site. Admission charge. Open year-round, reduced winter hours. Guided tours included.

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Town

The Diamond and Donegal town

The town's triangular market square, with the 1937 Four Masters obelisk in the centre — commemorating the Franciscan friars who compiled the Annals of the Four Masters in the nearby ruined abbey in the 1630s. Magee's tweed shop on the Diamond has been making Donegal tweed since 1866.

Good to know · Pay-and-display in the centre. Free at the Quay car park (5-min walk). Tourist office on the Quay.

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Town

Killybegs

Ireland's largest fishing port, 25km west of Donegal Town. The harbour is full of deep-sea trawlers — herring and mackerel for the European market. The Maritime and Heritage Centre on the pier covers the town's hand-knotted carpet trade (Killybegs carpets line the Vatican and the White House).

Good to know · Free parking on the harbour. Fish-and-chips on the pier from The Lighthouse. Heritage centre seasonal.

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Drive

Teelin and the Bunglass road

A small fishing village in the bay below Slieve League, the launch point for boat trips along the cliffs. The road up to Bunglas viewpoint climbs steeply from Teelin — the views back across to Sligo and Mayo on the way up are part of the experience. Sí Bheag pub for a pint after.

Good to know · Free parking at lower Slieve League car park. Boat trips from the pier in summer — book ahead.

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Drive

Glencolmcille turn (heads-up)

From Teelin you can keep west on the R263 to Glencolmcille — a remote valley with a folk village, beaches, and end-of-the-road quiet. It's a separate page on this site; don't try to combine Slieve League and Glencolmcille in a single tight day.

Good to know · R263 from Carrick is winding and slow. Allow 45 minutes Carrick to Glencolmcille.

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Local businesses

Places we'd point a friend to.

Hand-picked, not paid for. The ferries, the beds, the pubs and the bike hire that make a visit work.

Thumbnails are illustrations — businesses can claim their listing and upload their own photo.

Eat

Warm interior of a small visitor centre café — a wooden table by a large picture window with a steaming bowl of soup, a scone and a coffee, the window framing a painterly view of Slieve League cliffs and Teelin bay in the rain, painterly editorial style.

Eat

Tí Linn Café

Inside the Sliabh Liag Cliffs Centre — soup, sandwiches, scones, decent coffee, big windows. The reliable warm-up after a wet drive up to Bunglas.

Where: Teelin, Carrick, Co. Donegal

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Paper cone of golden battered fish and chunky chips on a weathered bench on Killybegs pier, steam rising, a wedge of lemon and a mug of tea beside it, blue and red deep-sea trawlers berthed in the busy fishing harbour behind, painterly editorial style.

Eat

The Seafood Shack, Killybegs

On the pier in Killybegs — Ireland's biggest fishing port — a small shack serving fish and chips, scampi and chowder cooked from boats unloading metres away. Lunch only, queue out the door in summer.

Where: The Pier, Killybegs, Co. Donegal

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Drink

Close-up of a creamy-topped pint of stout on a worn wooden bar counter, warm bokeh of a turf fire and a window beyond showing the dark mass of Slieve League cliffs at dusk over Teelin bay, painterly editorial style.

Drink

The Rusty Mackerel

On the road into Teelin at the foot of Slieve League — pub, restaurant and small B&B in one. Donegal lamb, Killybegs seafood, sessions in the bar most weekends. Where most people land before or after the cliffs.

Where: Teelin, Carrick, Co. Donegal

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Close-up of a creamy-topped pint of stout on a battered dark wooden bar counter, warm bokeh of a glowing turf fire and a couple of locals chatting in the snug interior of a Donegal village pub, painterly editorial style.

Drink

Kilcar House Bar

On the main street in Kilcar — a properly local pub with a turf fire, sessions at the weekend and Donegal accents thick enough to lean on. No food beyond a packet of crisps; that's not what you come for.

Where: Main Street, Kilcar, Co. Donegal

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Close-up of a creamy-topped pint of stout on a small round wooden table in a snug pub corner, candlelight and warm bokeh of a fiddler and bodhrán player mid-trad-session, painterly editorial style.

Drink

Tigh Hiudaí Beag

Small bar at the top of Kilcar village known for serious trad sessions on Tuesday nights — players come from across south Donegal. Snug, candlelight, a fire that's lit nine months of the year.

Where: Kilcar, Co. Donegal

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Stay

Two-storey whitewashed family-run guesthouse on the main street of Carrick village in south-west Donegal, slate roof, hanging baskets, the green slopes of the hills rising behind in soft late-afternoon light, painterly editorial style.

Stay

Slieve League Lodge B&B

Family-run guesthouse in Carrick village, ten minutes from the cliffs — large rooms, big breakfast, hosts who'll point you at the back-road walks no-one else mentions. The reliable mid-range base for the area.

Where: Main Street, Carrick, Co. Donegal

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Shop

Old wooden hand-loom in a small Donegal weaving mill, warm window light falling on a half-woven length of flecked Donegal tweed in heather and rust tones, spools of coloured wool stacked beside it, painterly editorial style.

Shop

Studio Donegal

On the main street of Kilcar — Tristan Donaghy's hand-weaving mill, in production since 1979. Donegal tweed jackets, throws, scarves, all woven on site. The mill floor is open to visitors; the shop is the proper place to buy the cloth.

Where: The Glebe, Kilcar, Co. Donegal

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Do

Low whitewashed visitor centre at the foot of the road climbing toward Slieve League, the vast layered ochre and rust Slieve League cliffs rising dramatically behind, a small minibus shuttle parked by the door, painterly editorial style.

Sliabh Liag Cliffs Centre

At the bottom of the road up to the cliffs — visitor centre, café, gift shop and shuttle bus to the upper Bunglas viewing platform. Boat tours of the cliffs from Teelin pier are run by the same family.

Where: Teelin, Carrick, Co. Donegal

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Run a place in Donegal Town & Slieve League?

Our directory is curated, not pay-to-play. If we'd recommend you, you can be on here.

See how to get listed

Got a window or a counter?

Download a free A5 QR card for Donegal Town & Slieve League — print it, stick it up, and visitors land straight on the Donegal Town & Slieve League guide.

Ask a local

The bits that aren't on Google.

Slieve League from the upper car park
Most coaches stop at the lower car park. If you're confident driving a single-track road, take it up to Bunglass — you'll skip the shuttle queue and start the walk halfway up.
Silver Strand at Malin Beg
A perfect horseshoe of pale sand at the bottom of 167 concrete steps. The descent puts most people off, which is the whole point. Bring everything down with you.
Know a Donegal Bay spot worth sharing?
Hidden gems on this page are written by locals, not us. The right pub for a session in town, the swim spot near Killybegs, the back-road shortcut to Slieve League — tell us and we'll add it.

Practical

The things you'll wish you'd known.

Fuel: Donegal Town, Killybegs, Carrick. Fill up before Slieve League.
Cash: All banks in Donegal Town. AIB in Killybegs.
Pharmacy: Multiple in Donegal Town and Killybegs. Donegal General Hospital for emergencies.
Parking: Pay-and-display in Donegal Town. Free at Killybegs harbour, Slieve League, Teelin.
Phone signal: Strong in towns. Patchy at Slieve League upper car park and on the cliffs.
Cliffs in weather: Slieve League is exposed and dangerous in fog or high wind. Check the forecast and don't go past the safety wall in poor visibility.