Landzunge · Co. Donegal
Slieve League
A wall of grey limestone dropping roughly 600 metres into the Atlantic on the Derrybeg Peninsula in southwest Donegal — among the highest sea cliffs in Europe, and only properly seen from the foot of them.
The headland
Dunree is a townland in north-west Inishowen, in County Donegal, part of the civil parish of Desertegney, with an area of about 0.8 square kilometres and a population of 33 people at the 2011 census. The headland that gives it its character is the cliff top above the settlement, where the coast turns and the open Atlantic is on one side and the lough on the other. It is a small place in every sense — the walk is short, the settlement is small, and the view is the whole point.
The walk
The walk up to the cliff top is the day’s work: short, direct, and better before the wind builds. From the top, the coast runs out to the headland and the water drops away on both sides, and the kind of quiet that comes from a place with thirty-three people is the thing you come for. It is not a long walk and it does not need to be; the headland does the work.
The country
The Dunree country is the north-west Inishowen coast in its proper form: the townlands, the small settlements, the cliff and the water. It is the kind of coast that is easy to pass and hard to forget, and the headland is the place to stop and do it properly. Pair it with the lough and the Inishowen villages for a full touring day.
Practical
Allow an hour for the walk and the headland. The base is the Inishowen villages to the south; the headland is a stop, not a destination that needs one.