Rossnowlagh
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Rossnowlagh () is a seaside village in the south of
County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
, Ireland. It is about north of
Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...
and southwest of
Donegal Town Donegal ( ; , "fort of the foreigners") is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The name was also historically spelt 'Dunnagall'. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 17th ce ...
. The area's long beach, or if measuring from the cliffs to Carrickfad (long rock in Irish, which juts out from the headland and is visible at low tide), is frequented by walkers, surfers, windsurfers, kite-surfers and swimmers.


Beach

Rossnowlagh is one of Ireland's and Europe's best Blue Flag
surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...
beaches. As the slowly rising beach faces westward into the Atlantic Ocean, and the fact that
Donegal Bay Donegal Bay (''Bá Dhún na nGall'' in Irish) is an inlet (or bay) in the northwest of Ireland. Three counties – Donegal to the north and west, Leitrim and Sligo to the south – have shorelines on the bay, which is bounded on the we ...
has a funnel-like shape, it can increase the size of the waves, especially in winter when some large rollers are generated and it has been known to have waves up to 7 metres (20 ft) high. Rossnowlagh has many visitors during the summer months and most of the beach is accessible by car. There is sometimes a 'beach warden' on duty and information about tidal risks may be displayed. According to a soil erosion study of the beach at Rossnowlagh, known officially as Belalt Strand, the area consists mainly of sandy beaches, but also rocky shore platforms, sand dunes, grassland, boulder clay cliffs and rock cliffs. As of the second half of the 20th century, it was determined that the central section of the dune front was eroding at rates up to 0.6 metres (2 ft) per year, with the highest erosion rate between 1951 and 1977. Starting in 1972, short lengths of
rock armour Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...
were constructed at first in front of the Sandhouse Hotel and with further additions along the shore-line; this stopped the erosion in protected parts but the dune front has a ragged appearance with up to of erosion where half of the sandy shoreline has no protection. The beach was the setting for the recording of the music video for
Nathan Carter Nathan Kane Tyrone Carter (born 28 May 1990) is a British-born Irish country music singer based in the UK and Ireland. He has released thirteen studio albums and six live albums as of December 2022, five of which peaked at number one, and four ...
's version of Wagon Wheel.


Public transport access

The Seirbhís Iompair Tuaithe Teoranta (SITT) Rural Transport/ Locallink Donegal
Donegal Town Donegal ( ; , "fort of the foreigners") is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The name was also historically spelt 'Dunnagall'. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 17th ce ...
to
Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...
route serves Rossnowlagh every day. Onward connections are available at
Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...
such as
Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, which also ...
for example. The nearest railway station is
Sligo railway station Sligo Mac Diarmada station, also known as Sligo railway station, is a mainline railway station which serves the town of Sligo in County Sligo, Ireland. It is a terminal station which now has two platforms and an intermediate carriage siding. T ...
.
Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...
services from
Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...
serve Sligo bus station which is located beside the railway station.


Amenities

The main amenity is the extensive beach which is frequented by walkers, joggers, sunbathers, surfers, windsurfers, kite-surfers, doggers and swimmers, and is accessible by car via 3 ramps. There is about 3 km (2 miles) of wide sandy beach although it is possible to walk several more kilometres further along the shore and all the way to Murvagh Beach.There is a children's playground at the main car park constructed in 2022. The Sandhouse Hotel is located adjacent to the beach, with a 'surfers bar' attached. Overlooking the beach and on the cliff is the Smuggler's Creek Inn restaurant and bar, and there are several shops in the area, along with a post office and shop near the Franciscan Friary as well as The Thatch Tea House nearby. The Franciscan Friary is located up from the southern end of the beach. The Friary has a visitor centre and contains the Donegal Historical Society Museum which houses a small collection including stone age flints and old Irish musical instruments. The friary also has gardens that are open to visitors. To the southwest further along the cliffs, in the distance stands the ruined Kilbarron Castle which is accessible via Creevy.


Events

* Rossnowlagh Surf Club hosts several surfing events, some with dozens of young surfers competing. For example, competitions are held for U12, U14 and U16 age groups. * The annual
Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...
parade for the
County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
Orange Lodge is held each year in Rossnowlagh, usually on the Saturday before 12 July. The number of participants and marching bands varies each year, with most marchers coming from Order lodges based in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, but some come from other parts of County Donegal or come up from Counties
Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...
and
Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...
. There is no lodge in Rossnowlagh itself. The participants begin near St John's Church and march for approximately 2 km (1¼ miles) into the centre of Rossnowlagh, where they congregate for some time. The marchers march back to St John's Church area in the late afternoon. * The Irish National Junior Surfing Championships have been hosted in Rossnowlagh, such as in 2007 where 113 young surfers competed for titles in U12, U14, U16 and U18 levels, including events for bodyboard and longboard. * An annual Feis (
Irish Gaelic Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...
: pronounced ''fesh'') is held each summer in July or August at the Franciscan Friary in Rossnowlagh. The feis is officially called the ''Feis of the Four Masters'' or ' in Irish. One of the Four Masters, Michael O'Cleirigh, comes from a nearby locality. * The Inter-Counties Surfing contest is Ireland's longest-running surfing contest and has been held every year since 1969. As it is normally the last surfing event of the year in Ireland, held in September or October, it is widely viewed as a social event of the surfing calendar. * The World Rally Championship came to the Rossnowlagh area in 2007 and again in 2009.
Rally Ireland Rally Ireland was added to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar in 2007. It was not part of the 2008 schedule, but returned as the First round of the championship in 2009. The north–south event is the largest sporting occasion on ...
organised both events. The rally which drew a large number of spectators was held in the townland of Cashel on the northern edge of Rossnowlagh and was labelled the Donegal Bay stage. This special stage was 14 km (9 miles) long on narrow single-lane tarmac back roads. In 2007 it was won by
Jari-Matti Latvala Jari-Matti Latvala (born 3 April 1985) is a Finnish rally driver who has competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC). His co-driver for most of his career was Miikka Anttila, who co-drove for Latvala between the 2003 Rallye Deutschland and 2019 ...
and in 2009 by Mikko Hirvonen. Sébastien Loeb was the overall winner of both rallies.


History


Franciscan Friary

There had been 500 years of Franciscan history in Donegal when the link was broken in the mid-19th century. However, the Franciscan order re-established itself in County Donegal when new friary buildings were built in Rossnowlagh in the early 1950s. The land for the Friary was donated by Charles Williamson to his brother and Franciscan, Brother Paschal Williamson.


Rail transport

Rossnowlagh railway station opened in 1905 but closed on 1 January 1960. It was part of the
County Donegal Railways Joint Committee The County Donegal Railways Joint Committee operated an extensive narrow gauge railway system serving County Donegal, Ireland, from 1906 until 1960. The committee was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1906, which authorised the joint pur ...
network with the train running towards
Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...
(where a walk across the town to the other station in Ballyshannon run by the
Great Northern Railway of Ireland The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I) or GNRI) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The government ...
, would be required for Bundoran or Enniskillen) to the south and north to
Donegal Town Donegal ( ; , "fort of the foreigners") is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The name was also historically spelt 'Dunnagall'. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 17th ce ...
, Stranorlar,
Strabane Strabane ( ; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,172 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the east bank of the River Foyle. It is roughly midway from Omagh, Derry and Letterkenny. The River Foyle marks ...
(where passengers could change onto the
Great Northern Railway of Ireland The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I) or GNRI) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The government ...
, to reach Omagh) and
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
. During the 55 years of its operation, Rossnowlagh, with its 2 miles of beach, became a popular venue for excursionists and families on their annual outings.


Bus transport

Between 1999 and 2000
Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...
route 484 served Rossnowlagh on Fridays only linking it to
Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...
for onward connections. Rossnowlagh had a regular daily bus service until the late 1980s.


People

*
Easkey Britton Easkey Britton is an Irish surfer from Rossnowlagh, County Donegal. In 2010, she won her fifth consecutive Irish National Surfing Championship title at her namesake wave in County Sligo and in 2009 became the British Pro-Tour Champion. Britto ...
– surfer, scientist, born Rossnowlagh


See also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland * List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Donegal) * Surfing in Ireland


References


External links


Donegal Bay

Rossnowlagh Surf Club
{{County Donegal Beaches of County Donegal Surfing locations in Ireland Tourist attractions in County Donegal Towns and villages in County Donegal