Landzunge · Co. Sligo
The headland at the west end of Strandhill, where the coast turns: a car park on the cliff top, a short walk, and the 1835 Blackrock lighthouse — the only lighthouse in Ireland with an external staircase.
Sligo Head is the headland at the west end of Strandhill, where the coast of Carribbeg Sound turns. The car park is on the cliff top, the walk down to the water is short, and the view is the whole reason: Strandhill beach falling away to the south, Benbulbin filling the horizon, and the open Atlantic beyond. The headland is a natural stop on the coastal walk from Strandhill to the Rosses, and on a calm day the water between the headland and the far shore is quiet enough to make the distance look closer than it is.
The lighthouse that gives the headland its character is Blackrock, twenty-five metres tall, with its light first established on 1 June 1835. It is the only lighthouse in Ireland with an external staircase. In the early days a single keeper served Blackrock for six weeks at a time, then crossed to Oyster Island for two, and a heavy rowing boat made the supply run between the two stations every fortnight. Blackrock is one of four lighthouses in Sligo Bay — the other three, near Rosses Point, are the Metal Man, Lower Rosses and Oyster Island — and the bay is part of the Donegal–Mayo section of the Wild Atlantic Way.
From the car park a short path takes you down to the old lighthouse and the rock at the water’s edge; the coastal path continues south along the cliff to Strandhill beach and north towards the Rosses. The headland itself takes an hour, allowing for time on the rock — which is only to be approached when the sea is calm.
Übernachten
A base in Strandhill puts the headland, the beach and Benbulbin all within a short walk.
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A headland on the north coast of Sligo Bay and one of the best-known surf spots in Ireland — a place we describe here without a precise map, because the headland and its dunes are fragile and the land is not all public.