Village · Co. Donegal
Carndonagh is the central hub for Inishowen's north coast, combining a 2,768-person village with easy access to Trawbreaga Bay, Atlantic beaches, and inland glens.
Carndonagh, known in Irish as Ceann Dunnaigh, sits on the Inishowen peninsula in County Donegal near Trawbreaga Bay. The 2022 census counted 2,768 people there. That number makes it the biggest of the peninsula’s north-coast villages. It also acts as the practical crossroads for the area. The road along the bay, the route into the glens, and the way to the Fahan all converge here.
The place functions as a working village. Shops, fuel stations, and a full range of stays are available. It exists to be a base.
Trawbreaga Bay serves as the village’s front door. It is a wide, sandy, sheltered stretch of the Atlantic. Generations have fished and worked these waters. Summer boats still use them today.
The coast road leads out of the village toward the north coast beaches and headlands. The drive itself is enjoyable. Bay sits on one side, glens and townlands on the other. The sea here is the west Atlantic in its proper form. The village makes exploring it easy.
Country rises behind the village into the glens of Inishowen. Walks from Carndonagh into this interior form the other half of the day. They are short enough for a morning but long enough to justify the drive. Conditions improve before the wind builds. The village provides a natural start point for those wanting the interior as well as the coast.
Allow a day for the area. Spend the morning at the bay and the afternoon in the glens. Finish at the village’s pub. Pair the trip with Glencolmcille to the south for a full coast day.
Where to stay
Stay in the village and the bay, the glens and the Fahan are all inside the hour.
See current availability for your dates. Availability and prices come from the accommodation provider, not from us.
Slieve League in southwest Donegal drops roughly 600 metres into the Atlantic, making it one of Europe's highest sea cliffs. The full scale is best experienced from the foot, reached via a two-hour walk from the Meenaleck car park.
Ardara is a small south-west Donegal town on the N56, named by The Irish Times in 2012 as the best village in which to live in Ireland. It serves as a practical base for the Bluestack Mountains and the west coast.
Buncrana is Donegal’s second-largest town, sitting on the Inishowen shore of Lough Swilly. It features the historic O’Doherty’s Keep and a rich textile heritage, serving as a practical base for exploring the peninsula.
Bundoran, County Donegal’s most southerly town, is a historic seaside resort named after the Doran River. It is a National Geographic top 20 surf town and the site where Mícheál Ó Cléirigh helped compile the Annals of the Four Masters.