Bundoran Activities

The Lissadell Estate is the childhood home of Constance Markievicz and family home of the Gorebooth family. Constance was one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising and was the first woman to be elected to Dail Eireann where she served as Minister for Labour (thus becoming the first woman minister in a modern European democracy). The house is currently the family home of Edward S. Walsh, his wife Constance Cassidy and their seven young children. Just 15 minutes South of Bundoran and in the shadow of Ben Bulben this is an unmissable treat for anyone interested in history.

Marble Arch Caves
www.marblearchcaves.net

The Marble Arch Caves European Geopark is host to one of Europe's finest showcaves allowing visitors to explore a fascinating, natural underworld of rivers, waterfalls, winding passages and lofty chambers. Lively and informative guides conduct tours past a bewildering variety of cave formations - stalactites glisten above stream ways and chambers while fragile mineral veils and cascades of creamy calcite coat walls and spread as shimmering terraces across rock strewn floors. Spectacular walkways allow easy access while powerful lighting reveals the stunning beauty and grandeur of the caves. Electrically powered boats glide through huge caverns carrying visitors along a subterranean river.

Tours last for 75 minutes and are suitable for people of average fitness. Comfortable walking shoes and a warm sweater are recommended.

CreevyKeel Court Cairn
www.megalithicireland.com/Creevykeel%20home.htm

Dating from the Neolithic Period, 4000-2500 BC, This site is one of the finest examples of a Court Cairn in Ireland. It has a cairn, entrance passage, an oval court and a double chamber gallery. The Tomb was excavated in 1935 and shortly afterwards restored. The Cairn is wedge shaped and the court (where rituals were performed) is some 50 feet in length. The excavations uncovered four cremation burials, decorated and undecorated Neolithic pottery, flint arrow heads, polished stone axes and other artifacts, including a chalk ball. This is an amazing site and is well worth a visit the next time you are in the area.

Just 10 minutes from Bundoran this makes an ideal stop coming from or to Bundoran as it just on the side of the main N15 road.

Classiebawn Castle

Classiebawn Castle which overlooks the charming resort of Mullaghmore, was the property of Viscount Palmerston, British Statesman and Prime Minister, who also built the harbor here.

The castle was completed by the first Lord Mount Temple in 1874 and later descended to the Mountbatten family. It is now privately owned and not open to the public.

Donegal Town Castle

Built by the O'Donnell chieftain in the 15th century, beside the River Eske, the castle has extensive 17th century additions by Sir Basil Brooke.

The castle is furnished throughout and includes Persian rugs and French tapestries. Information panels chronicle the history of the castle owners from the O'Donnell chieftains to the Brooke family.

Limited access for visitors with disabilities to the ground floor.

Belleek Pottery

Established in 1857 Belleek Pottery holds a very special place in the cultural and commercial heritage of County Fermanagh. Nestling on the banks of the River Erne this imposing building is home to the world famous Belleek Fine Parian China and also to one of Irelands top five visitor attractions. The building which, up until 1988, was used to produce Belleek pottery has since been refurbished internally and features a museum, tearoom, video theatre and showroom.

Bundoran Coastal Walks

The Cliff Walk as you would suspect from its very name is a walk along the cliff top and seashore of Bundoran's West End. Starting out from the Tourist Information Office (see map) the route takes you westwards over the River Bradog and into the West End. At Bayview Terrace you can enjoy fine views of the Peak, Bundoran's favorite haunt for surfers and across Donegal Bay. Continue on into the heart of the West End and you will pass the Boat Quay, location of the Bundoran Lifeboat which provides a very valuable rescue service to locals and visitors alike in and around Donegal Bay.

The Cliff Walk is signposted off the main road down to your right. The walk then follows a pathway along the cliff top. The outdoor sea pool which is still used by some hardy swimmers is a unique shoreline feature. All along this section of the walk you can enjoy fine views of both Bundoran and the expanse of Donegal Bay. On a clear day you can clearly see the imposing sea cliffs of Sliabh League which are located across the bay and close to the small village of Carrick. At a height of 600 metres these cliffs are reputed to be the highest sea cliffs in Europe. At the end of this cliff top section the walk turns back towards the town and the main road. Join the pathway and head eastwards passing through the West End back towards the Tourist Information Office and the conclusion of the walk.

Rougey Walk - Starting at Bundoran Tourist Office (see map), this is a circular walk taking in views of the Atlantic Ocean from Rougey and Bundoran's bustling main street.

Follow the path along the promenade passing the "thrupenny pool", The Waterworld Complex and the funfair. The promenade comes to an end at Bundoran's Blue Flag Beach, which is popular with families and surfers. Leaving the beach follow the path which veers left taking you around the headland with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Bundoran's Championship Golf Course on the other. From the shelter at the top of Aughrus Point, the highest point on this walk, you can enjoy spectacular views across the town and out to sea. Continue on along the path and you will come to the Fairy Bridges, cliff arches which have been carved by the pounding waves. Also close by is the Wishing Chair which is Bundoran's answer to the Blarney Stone. Make a wish as you sit on the edge of Europe.. On reaching the far end of the walk the panorama including magnificent Tullan Strand stretches out below the cliffs. From this point follow Tullan Strand Road back into town until you reach the junction with the main road. At this point take a right and follow the path back along Bundoran's Main Street towards the Tourist Office.

Carrowmore
www.stonepages.com/ireland/carrowmore.html

Carrowmore is the largest cemetery of megalithic tombs in Ireland. The tombs are spread out over 3.8 sq km (1.5sq mi) in the shadow of the Knocknarea to the east, over a number of fields and townlands, most of them situated near the road. Carrowmore's placement on a low-lying gravel ridge contrasts to the hilltop situation of other cemeteries; each mounment stands on its own little eminence.

Nearly 100 ancient monuments were originally present on this extensive site. Academic vandalism in Victorian times and modern gravel quarrying have left only about 65 sites, but the atmosphere of the area remains quite extraordinary. The majority of tombs are a mixture of small passage-tombs and dolmens, usually surrounded by a stone kerb and constructed with the large rounded granite boulders of the area. On this site there are several examples of what appear to be stone circles but which are, in fact, the kerbing stones of cairns which have disappeared. Some, however, are considered transitional forms between the heavy kerbs of cairns and the true free-standing stone circles.

One of the largest tombs is Site 51, known as Listoghil, a large stone cairn (between 35-41m - 115-134ft) with carvings on its sill and capstone. This site is typical of the group, a type which spread west and north from the Boyne Valley, via Loughcrew and Carrowkeel.

Site 27,a very early version of the passage-tomb, in a cruciform shape, is one of the largest surviving monuments of the Carrowmore cemetery. In this tomb the Dowth lozenge layout of four central pillars is repeated. Its probable construction date (3825 BC) controversially proposes that these tombs in western and eastern Ireland were not initiated by Brittany's megalith builders at all, but instead were developed independently by an already existing indigenous Neolithic population.

Site 4, dated about 4600 BC, contains the remains of a passage-tomb which may be the earliest in the country. Such an early date, however, is controversial. This tomb is one of the smallest complete sites in the cemetery and produced the remains of over 65 fragments of antler pins, including seven pieces with mushroom-shaped heads, as well as over 30 kilos of cremated human bone.

Site 7 is a megalith with a polygonal chamber of five 1.3m (4.2ft) tall stones supporting a large capstone and with two additional stones at the entrance. It stood at the centre of a 13m (42ft) circle of 31 boulders, and appears to have had no mound covering it originally.

Only the boulder kerb of Site 26 remains. The tomb proper was demolished when Later Bronze Age or Early Iron Age peoples reorganised the site as a ritual enclosure about 680 to 490 BC.

Swedish excavations at Carrowmore from 1977 to 1979 suggested that the small, simple tombs, were probably very early burial-places of immigrant farming families.