The Isle of Doagh Walk
From 'Country Roads by Sam Mitchell
Taken from The Inish Times 27th June 2002.

Possibly one of the least visited parts of Inishowen, Doagh Isle has a tranquillity and beauty which is hard to match. This is a delightful circular walk - never far from the sea, which offers great views of Trawbreaga Bay, a bird and wildlife sanctuary.

To get there: Like Inishowen itself, the Isle of Doagh is no longer an 'island'. A very straight, narrow road takes you from the R238 (Carndonagh to Ballyliffin road) across the formerly tidal sandy flats to the higher rugged terrain of the 'island' proper. If you would like a longer walk (7.9m/4.9miles) than the one described, you could park beside the playing fields at the end of this straight stretch of road; otherwise, continue on towards Trawbreaga Bay and, after a sharp left-hand turn in this road, take the first road to the right (No. 4 on the map). Follow this road round the eastern end of Doagh Isle through Fegart, shortly after which you come to a sharp right-hand bend and a steep descent towards the bay. At the foot of this descent, there is another sharp bend to the left, where you will see a small car parking area.

From the car park turn right to walk the circuit in an anticlockwise direction. This allows you to keep on the right-hand side of the road with views over the bay most of the way round. You are now walking along a pleasant, narrow country road with colourful roadside banks of honeysuckle, dog rose, fuchsia and dwarf willow. The landscape is quite well farmed despite the rugged nature of Crockmore, with its numerous outcrops of schist rock, which dominates this eastern part of the Isle. The road follows a winding, undulating course keeping close to the shore of Trawbrega Bay as it cures round towards Doaghmore Point. The view ahead is across the channel to the rocky slopes of Sheemore and to Malin Head beyond. A small boat in view fishes the bay for white trout. The road makes a sharp turn to the left (1) and passes through the small settlement of Doaghmore. Where this straight road reaches the shore, you are looking directly across the narrow outlet of Trawbreaga Bay to Goorey on the R242 and the little white church and graveyard near Lagg. West of Lagg is an area of impressive sand dunes (up to 30m high, some of the highest in Europe) which back Five Fingers Strand - named after the line of five rock pinnacles which you can see jutting out from the headland at the entrance to the Bay. You pass a lovely thatched cottage near the end of this straight stretch of road, and then enter an S-bend (2) just past a farm road which goes off to the right. The road immediately starts to rise, heading inland along the lower slopes of Crockmore. A herd of deer grazes the low-lying fields to the right, indicating one important way in which Donegal farming has become diversified in recent years. The road winds along, climbing gradually, through attractive hedgerows of hawthorn entwined with honeysuckle, brambles, dog rose and other wild flowers. Near Clarragh there is a lovely continuing view, across the hayfields and rocky outcrops of the northern coastal area of Doagh Isle, to the Five Fingers headland and the Malin Head Peninsula. The road sweeps round to the left, still climbing, until it comes to a crest, where the high mountains of inland Inishowen come into view: Crockaughrim, Slievekeeragh and Raghtin More. The road is heading almost due south now, passing a group of farm buildings with red corrugated iron roofs and some thatched, It then drops down to a Y-junction (3) where keep left following the signpost for Ballyliffin.

You now follow a fairly straight undulating road heading due south. The highest mountain straight ahead on the far horizon is Slieve Snaght. You pass another small thatched cottage on the right and come into an area of open moorland of heather, gorse and rushes, with yellow flags (irises) and lovely small early purple orchids near the road. The mountains of Inishowen ahead form a lovely background to the view, as the road drops down through small irregular fields towards Trawbreaga Bay (now again in view) and to the road junction (4), where turn left.

You have already driven along this road on your way to the parking place. You are now walking almost due east, the road rising gradually between low stone walls and grassy verges colourful with wild flowers. The road curves right and there is a striking view over the western end of Trawbreaga Bay to Raghtin More rising beyond the low pass between Crockaughrim and Binnion. The road continues to climb gradually, curving to the right and below, in the shallow waters of the Bay, a circular structure of posts and nets is visible - an attempt to farm oysters, which apparently failed due to marauding crabs,

The road then swings inland in a loop through Magheranaul, rising to the highest point of the walk at just over 40m. A view of the broad eastern portion of Trawbreaga Bay now opens up from this crest. At low tide, extensive sand and mud flats are exposed in this very shallow Bay. A wildlife sanctuary, it is Ireland's most northerly wetland and important for wintering flocks of Brent Geese and Barnacle Geese, also many varieties of duck and other waterbirds. The road drops again through gorse and rush covered fields, curves left onto a north-easterly course and climbs once more towards the little hamlet of Fegart. As you pass the track down to Fegart Point, pause to take in the view, which extends to the head of Trawbreaga Bay and to Malin town.

The road now curves round to the north-west onto a straight gently undulating course, overlooking the narrow channel leading into the Bay from the open sea. The road crests again, and you are looking down once more on Doaghmore Point and across the straight to the great dunes of Lagg, which begun to form in their present position about 5,000 years ago. Curving left, the road passes through a group of whitewashed farm buildings, narrows, comes to a sharp right-hand bend and drops down quite steeply to the place where your car is parked. This is a lovely spot for a picnic just beside the car park, with a picnic table on a little rocky knoll surrounded by a grassy area dotted with wild flowers. There are lots of empty oyster shells lying around (the Walrus and the Carpenter, perhaps?) and yellow irises rise from a marshy corner of the field. Seabirds abound. The view is also magnificent - straight across Trawbreaga Bay to the Malin Head peninsula. Across the channel, the large building with the wall in front of it is the Meeting House, the most northerly Presbyterian church in Ireland. Further west, the small white church in view is the oldest Roman Catholic church still in use in Inishowen built in 1784.

To make the most of your visit to the Isle of Doagh, I would suggest that, after your walk and picnic, you visit Carrickabraghy Castle on the north-west tip of the peninsula. From the car park, drive on in the direction you walked earlier, until you reach the Y-junction (3). Here turn right, following the signpost for Pollan Bay. This drive follows a very scenic route with lovely views, over an irregular rocky coastline and small sandy bays, to Five Fingers Strand and Malin Head. You soon come within sight of Carrickabraghy Castle, set high on a rocky promontory with Glashedy Island behind. If you wish to take a closer look at the castle on foot, drive through the group of farm buildings in front of it onto a stoney track. Park on the roadside and walk across an open stretch of grass to a narrow path behind the older farm buildings, then through rocky outcrops to the castle itself.

Carricabraghy Castle:
Referred to locally as "Doherty's Castle", it was another link in the O'Doherty's defensive network of Inishowen. The first castle on this site was built in the later 16th century, and it was occupied by Phelemy Brasleigh O'Doherty. The oldest part of the castle is the square keep, the circular gun tower having been added later. Sir Cahir O'Doherty is said to have come to this remote castle in 1608 to plan his short-lived rebellion against the English, his lands at Inch Island having already been lost. Carrickabraghy suffered a similar fate, having been confiscated in the Plantation and granted to Sir Arthur Chichester in 1610.

Doagh Farm
No visit to the Isle of Doagh would be complete without calling into the Famine Village, This innovative local development can be enjoyed by all the family who will experience first hand the sights, sounds and stories of life on the Isle in the days gone by.

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