Castles and Historic Sites in Co. Donegal
11 places
1.Grianan Of Aileach
Free 250m hilltop stone fort with 360° views
A 23m-wide dry-stone ringfort crowning a 250m hill in Inishowen, Grianán of Aileach was the royal seat of the Uí Néill and still delivers sweeping views over Lough Foyle, Lough Swilly and, on a clear day, five counties.
- Highlights
- Free entry, open daily 08:00–18:00
- Mortarless stone fort, 23m across, walls 5m high
- 360° views over Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
2.Lloyds Signal Tower- Malin Head
Star Wars backdrop and a 200-year-old signal tower
A derelict 1805 Napoleonic signal tower on Banba's Crown, the sheer northern tip of mainland Ireland, where you can walk past a WWII EIRE ground sign and stare straight across the Atlantic toward Iceland.
- Highlights
- Banba's Crown, Ireland's most northerly point
- Restored EIRE 80 neutrality sign
- Hell's Hole sea cave and Devil's Bridge
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access
3.Bád Eddie
a fishing boat beached here since 1977
A French-built fishing boat abandoned on a windswept Donegal strand in 1977 and never moved, Bád Eddie is now the most photographed wreck on the north-west coast. It is free, open to the air, and best seen when the tide pulls back.
- Highlights
- A 1977 shipwreck stranded on Magheraclogher strand
- Starred in the Clannad and U2 video for In a Lifetime
- One of Donegal's most photographed landmarks
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access
4.Beltany Stone Circle
A 145ft ring of 64 stones above a hidden cairn
A vast Bronze Age ring of 64 standing stones crowns Tops Hill above Raphoe, wrapped around a mysterious raised mound that may predate the circle itself. It is one of the largest and earliest stone circles in the country, with sweeping views over Donegal's prehistoric landscape.
- Highlights
- 64 of an original 80+ standing stones
- Nearly 45m in diameter, one of Ireland's largest circles
- Cup-marked and ring-marked megalithic art
- Facilities
- Good for kids
5.Dunlewey Church abandoned
A roofless 1853 church in a poisoned glen
A roofless 19th-century church stands alone at the head of Dunlewey Lough, framed by Errigal mountain and the brooding Poisoned Glen. Built as a widow's memorial, it is free to wander and open to the sky.
- Highlights
- Known as the 'Donegal Taj Mahal' — a monument to love and loss
- Roofless church ruin (1848–1853) built of local white marble and blue quartzite
- James Russell lies in a vault beneath the floor
- Facilities
- Good for kids
6.Fanad Head Lighthouse
voted one of the world's most beautiful lighthouses
An 1817 working lighthouse at the mouth of Lough Swilly, voted one of the most beautiful in the world, with guided tower climbs, restored keeper's cottages to stay in and a cliff-edge café.
- Highlights
- Climb 76 steps to 360° views over Lough Swilly and the Atlantic
- Audio guides in Irish, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish
- Virtual reality Saldanha experience and the Éist audio space
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
7.Fort Dunree
18th-century clifftop fort with a military museum
Fort Dunree guards a clifftop above Lough Swilly on Donegal's Inishowen peninsula, its coastal artillery and bunkers now a military museum with some of the best views in the north-west.
- Highlights
- 18th-century clifftop fort and military museum
- Views over Lough Swilly and the Inishowen coast
- Three signposted headland walks
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
8.Glenveagh Castle
A Victorian castle in a 16,000-hectare mountain glen
Glenveagh Castle is a castellated Victorian mansion of local granite, built between 1867 and 1873 and set beside Lough Veagh in the heart of the Derryveagh Mountains. Free to enter, the park pairs a romantic castle garden with ancient oak woodland, blanket bog and hill trails.
- Highlights
- Castellated Victorian castle built 1867–1873
- Gardens that are Donegal's most biodiverse plant habitat
- Ancient oak "celtic rainforest" woodland
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access
9.Carrickabraghy Castle
Free year-round 16th-century ruin on the Atlantic
A roofless 16th-century O'Doherty tower house on a wave-battered greenstone headland, saved from collapse by a local restoration society in 2013. Free to visit, open to the weather all year.
- Highlights
- Ruined tower house inside a bawn, with a detached round tower
- Panoramic Atlantic views to Glashedy, Malin Head and Tory Island
- The Hissing Rock sea spout at high tide
- Facilities
- Good for kids
10.Doe Castle
a 1420s MacSweeney stronghold with free grounds
Nestled in an inlet of Sheephaven Bay on Donegal's Wild Atlantic Way, Doe Castle is the 1420s stronghold of the MacSweeney clan, its grounds free and open every day.
- Highlights
- 1420s MacSweeney stronghold
- Free admission to the grounds
- Carved 1544 MacSweeney grave-slab
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access
11.Donegal Castle
Red Hugh O'Donnell's 15th-century riverside fortress
Red Hugh O'Donnell's 15th-century fortress stands over the River Eske in the middle of Donegal town, its restored tower house and 17th-century manor rooms open to walk through.
- Highlights
- Red Hugh O'Donnell's 15th-century tower house
- Restored 17th-century Brooke manor house with carved chimney-piece
- Guided tours and local genealogical information
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access