Carrickabraghy Castle: The O’Doherty Ruin on the Rock

Carrickabraghy sits on a rock at the north western tip of the Isle of Doagh, with Pollan Bay on one side and the open Atlantic in front of it. There is no ticket office, no interpretation panel worth the name and usually nobody else there. It is a ruin on a rock in the wind, and it is one of the best stops on the whole peninsula.

Working out where this sits against everything else on the peninsula? It is a pin on my map of Inishowen, alongside every other place worth stopping at on the Inishowen 100.

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Crossing the border? Two currencies, two sets of speed limits and a hire car insurance trap that catches people out. Here is everything that actually changes when you cross between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The story: a thousand years of lords

The rock was a seat of power long before the castle. The Annals of the Four Masters record a succession of lords of Carraig Bhrachaidhe from the 830s to the end of the twelfth century, the O Maolfhabhail or McFall sept, whose last recorded lord, Cathalan O’Mulfavil, was killed in 1198. That is the documented deep history. The story you will see on tourist boards about three princesses escaping a Viking raid at the rock is folklore rather than record, and even the meaning of the name is disputed.

The O’Dohertys, descended from Dochartach of the Cenel Conaill, became lords of Inishowen and held several castles across the peninsula. Carrickabraghy was the north western one.

Now, the dating, because almost every page online states this with more confidence than the evidence allows. The Clann O’Dochartaigh Association argues from design features for construction around 1526 to 1540. Other sources put the present remains at around 1600. The restoration project’s own history page says only that the visible ruins were probably constructed in the sixteenth century. What is actually documented is that Phelemy Brasleigh O’Doherty was occupying the castle in 1600. Occupancy, not construction. Treat any confident build date, including the ones you will read elsewhere, as inference.

In late 1607 Sir Cahir O’Doherty, the last Gaelic lord of Inishowen, withdrew to this remote rock while under English suspicion, and it was from here that he planned the rising of 1608, the revolt that burned Derry and ended with his death that July.

Here is the bit that gets told wrong. The castle was not destroyed in the rebellion. Sir Arthur Chichester was granted 170,000 acres of Inishowen and leased Carrickabraghy to a Lieutenant Hoan, who appears to have added a late seventeenth century wall with gun loops. The site was unoccupied by 1665. A 1661 map still shows the bawn wall and mural towers; Sir William Smith sketched a largely intact circular tower in 1802; and by Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of 1837 it was a ruin of a circular tower 25 feet high and a square building 30 feet high. It did not fall to an army. It just stopped being needed, and then the weather got on with it.

The rescue

The Carrickabraghy Restoration Society formed in 2010 and commissioned a survey in November 2011, which found the upstanding remains in places in a dangerous condition and stabilisation urgent. Archaeological excavation followed in autumn 2012, and consolidation ran from April to September 2013: lime mortar pointing, securing loose stone, wall stabilisation. Phase one completed in December 2013, funded through the LEADER programme via Inishowen Development Partnership plus over €30,000 raised locally and from the worldwide O’Doherty diaspora.

That is worth knowing as you stand there. What survived is not an accident.

Getting there

• From Derry: around 50 km, allow about an hour, either via Moville and Carndonagh or via Bridgend and the R238 through Buncrana and Clonmany.
• From Carndonagh: around 16 km, 20 to 25 minutes, on the R238 to Ballyliffin then following signs for Doagh Famine Village.
• From Buncrana: around 28 km, 35 to 40 minutes north on the R238.

The last stretch is single track and there is no bus, so you will need a car. Compare car hire in Ireland here.

From Ballyliffin, head north on the R238 for about 2.5 km, turn left at the junction, left again at the Doagh Famine Village junction, and carry on to the end. The last few kilometres are single track with grass up the middle, blind bends and passing places. Not suitable for large campervans or coaches, and there is no turning circle worth the name at the end.

Parking and practicalities

• Admission: free. There is a donation box on site and it goes toward upkeep, which given the above is money well left.
• Opening: no official hours. Effectively open access in daylight.
• Parking: free lay-by opposite the site, room for a handful of cars.
• The walk: a few minutes from the roadside over rough, uneven, rocky grass. Not wheelchair or buggy accessible.
• Getting inside: recent visitors have reported a locked gate preventing entry to the tower itself. You may be walking round the outside, which is still worth the trip.
• Toilets and food: none on site. Nearest are at Doagh Famine Village about a kilometre away, and in Ballyliffin.
• Dogs: open coastal ground next to working farmland, so leads.

Safety, and the tide

This is a consolidated ruin, not a rebuilt one. Do not climb the masonry. The rock is slippery with seaweed, the ground is uneven and there are sudden drops at the shoreline.

Check the tide times. Nineteenth century accounts describe outlying rocks here as insulated by every tide, and there is a deep fissure in the rock at the base of the headland, known locally as the Hissing Rock, that fills forcefully at high water. Keep children well back from the water.

How long, and when

Twenty to forty minutes for the castle, an hour or more if you add the beach at Pollan Bay. Late evening is the time. It faces north west over the Atlantic and it is a well-known sunset spot. Low tide gives you the most shoreline to walk.

Frequently asked questions

Is Carrickabraghy Castle free to visit?

Yes. There is no admission and no official opening hours, so it is effectively open access in daylight. There is a donation box on site and it goes toward upkeep, which is money well left.

Where do you park for Carrickabraghy Castle?

A free lay-by opposite the site with room for a handful of cars. From there it is a few minutes over rough, uneven, rocky grass, so it is not wheelchair or buggy accessible.

Can you go inside Carrickabraghy Castle?

Not necessarily. Recent visitors have reported a locked gate preventing entry to the tower itself, so you may be walking round the outside. It is still worth the trip.

How long do you need at Carrickabraghy Castle?

Twenty to forty minutes for the castle, an hour or more if you add the beach at Pollan Bay. Late evening is the time, because it faces north west over the Atlantic and it is a well-known sunset spot.

Do you need to check the tide at Carrickabraghy Castle?

Yes. Nineteenth century accounts describe outlying rocks here as insulated by every tide, and there is a deep fissure at the base of the headland, known locally as the Hissing Rock, that fills forcefully at high water. Low tide also gives you the most shoreline to walk. Keep children well back from the water and do not climb the masonry.

Are there toilets at Carrickabraghy Castle?

None on site. The nearest are at Doagh Famine Village about a kilometre away, and in Ballyliffin.

Nearby

• Doagh Famine Village, a kilometre away, and the natural pairing.
• Five Finger Strand, round the coast toward Malin.
• Things to Do in Inishowen.
• Things to Do in Donegal.

Inishowen sits right on the border, and most people who come this far pair it with the north. Here is the full guide to things to do in Northern Ireland.

Getting here and where to stay

Carrickabraghy is out on the Isle of Doagh at the top of the peninsula, roughly an hour from Derry, and there is no reason to go unless you are already doing the north of Inishowen. There is no public transport worth the name on Inishowen, so a car is not a convenience here, it is the trip itself. If you are flying into Derry, Belfast or Dublin, compare hire prices before you land rather than taking what the airport desk offers you.

Derry is the practical base for most of the peninsula. It has the hotels, it has somewhere to eat after dark, and nearly everywhere on Inishowen is inside an hour and a half of it. If you would rather stay on the peninsula, Buncrana and Moville both have beds, but book early in summer because there are not many.

Every stop on the Inishowen 100

This guide is part of a series covering the peninsula stop by stop. Here is the rest of it:

• Malin Head, Ireland’s most northerly point.
• Five Finger Strand, the dunes and the sea stacks.
• Doagh Famine Village, famine-era life, told on the spot.
• Kinnagoe Bay, where the Spanish Armada came ashore.
• Mamore Gap, the steepest road on the peninsula.
• Glenevin Waterfall, the easy walk near Clonmany.
• Grianán of Aileach, the ring fort above two loughs.
• Fort Dunree, the fort that guarded Lough Swilly.

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