Village · Co. Donegal
Fahan is an Inishowen district five kilometres south of Buncrana, known for its early Christian monastery, a surviving cross-slab, and the forested river valley leading to the marina.
Fahan sits in Inishowen, County Donegal. It is five kilometres south of Buncrana, on the eastern shore of Lough Swilly. The Irish name comes from Saint Mura, the first abbot of Fahan who founded an early Christian monastery here. The district has a story older than the town that grew around it. The monastery, the cross-slab, the river and the forest all sit inside a short drive. The lough is at the end of it.
The Fahan cross-slab is the district’s best-known artefact. It is one of the most important surviving examples of early Irish ecclesiastical art and is now in the National Museum of Ireland. It came from the old monastery. The story of what it depicts, what it took to make it, and how it got from the village to the museum is the longest thread in the district’s history. The village is where it was made. That is enough of a reason to stop.
The Fahan river runs from the hills down to the lough. The district’s modern life sits at the junction of the two: the marina at the head of the lough, the forested valley of the river, and the beaches along the shore. It is the easy end of Inishowen. The lough is on one side, the forest on the other, and the village in between. The drive from Buncrana takes ten minutes.
Allow a morning for the village, the river walk and the marina. Pair it with Buncrana and the lough for a full day from the same base.
Where to stay
Stay in Buncrana and the Fahan is a ten-minute drive, not a detour.
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