9/17: Gorgeous Drive from Derry to Malin Head, the Northernmost Part of Ireland!

After spending the morning and early afternoon walking along Derry's city walls and then strolling through the Bogside area to view the striking Bloody Sunday murals that took us back to that sad chapter in the city's history, we drove north along Lough (or lake) Foyle toward Malin Head, the northernmost point in Ireland.

We had no idea that we'd crossed back into the Republic of Ireland at the small community of Muff until we saw the distance markers listed in kilometers instead of miles as there was no sign indicating we'd just entered another country. 

The Fort Apartments and Townhouses looked appealing from the outside.

Rather than driving inland as planned toward Malin Head, we drove to Inishowen Head at the end of the peninsula. St. Columba, known as the patron saint of emigrants, said his last goodbye to his native land here at Inishowen around 526 AD. He set out from his Derry monastery to bring Christianity to the Scots. He pulled up his small boat near here which was later named Portkill. He was reported as having wept after climbing the cliff and looking back over his beloved Donegal. 

He is said to have blessed a well on the shore and made the sign of the cross on a nearby standing stone with his finger. Then he set sail north to the island of Iona off Scotland where his monastery became a beacon of learning throughout Europe. We looked forward to seeing his monastery in Iona in about a week's time to complete the Columba circle. 

Stroove Beach and Lighthouse was right by the beach where St. Columba had landed so long ago. 

Heading back south again, there was a fair sized ferry port at Greencastle which we planned to take on our way back from Malin Head across the bay to our B&B rather than having to drive all the way into Derry and then out again on the other side. 

We'd seen a gazillion hydrangeas on our thus far three week long trip around Ireland but these were among the most colorful,

Yay - another fairy house! This was in Glenneely.

I was entranced by the lovely views heading north toward Malin Head through the center of the peninsula. As Steven remarked once we got home, he felt he wasn't able to enjoy the gorgeous scenery on our drive along the many coastal roads as he was so focused on driving on the narrow roads. I felt badly for him as I din't realize at the time that was the case. 

A little before reaching Malin Head on the far north part of the peninsula, we stopped for a while to take in the great views and birds at Trawbreaga Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

I was determined to wade through the piles of seaweed until I could find some shells for our son, Zachary. Thank goodness, I was able to get a few for him!

Finally, another hour later we reached our destination of Malin Head, the northernmost point on the entire island of Ireland. We'd certainly thought that it would be located in Northern Ireland, not in the Republic of Ireland which I had always thought of as being in the southern part of the island. 

From Malin Head, we had some of the most dramatic panoramas of Ireland's rugged coast along the epic Wild Atlantic Way.

The scene looked so very peaceful but the area around Malin Head had some of the most hazardous waters along Ireland's coast. A small sign indicated the small rocky island of Inishtrahull north of Malin Head was the oldest place in Ireland. The rocks were nearly 1.8 billion years old. 

This was one of my favorite shots - I again would have bought a painting given the opportunity with images like this. 

What a picture perfect shot this would have been if not for the overhead wire!

It wasn't until we saw this sign that we realized that Malin Head wasn't quite the northernmost point! Banba’s Crown, named after the mythological goddess representing the sovereignty and the spirit of Ireland, was the tip of Malin Head, we discovered. 

For over 200 years, Malin Head's location gave it a vital role in communications. Even today, many people know it from daily shipping forecasts. About 1805, the British Admiralty built many watch towers like this to guard against a possible invasion from France during the Napoleonic Wars. Later, the insurance company Lloyd's of London used the tower to contact ships offshore. At first, they used telescopes and semaphores. In 1902, Lloyd's hired the Marconi Wireless Company to set up a station in the tower. 

During World War II the Irish Defense Forces built 82 lookout-posts along the Irish shore, many of them next to the remains of the old Napoleonic signal towers. The concrete bunkers and huts at Malin Head were from WW II. 

Another remainder of war times was the large inscription on the bare rock underneath the tower at Malin Head: the letters laid out in stones and white paint spelled out ‘EIRE.' (Eire is Gaelic for Ireland). The letters served as a navigational marker during WW II to alert pilots that they were entering Irish airspace. 

The Irish Republic was neutral during the war, but Northern Ireland as part of the UK, was not. Despite its neutrality, the Irish Republic was hit in several German air raids. These ‘Eire neutrality markers’ were laid out at all strategic lookout points to make pilots aware that they were in fact flying over Ireland. 

The island's northernmost food truck was doing a booming business when we were there. 

The wavy squiggles indicated it was the Wild Atlantic Way, the scenic road that we'd been following for almost our entire journey through Ireland.

Relatives lit bonfires on the headland  here as a last farewell to emigrants sailing to North America. 

Oops - better get out of the way as a tractor was coming down the narrow road!

We took the road along the eastern coast rather than the inland route on our way back south along the peninsula, stopping off at Culdaff Beach. 

Too bad it was late in the day as it would have been a perfect place to plop ourselves down for a couple of hours on the very attractive beach. We'd certainly never known ahead of our visit to Ireland how beautiful the country's beaches were. We regretted not having more time to just be beach bums at a few of them when the weather was so glorious. 

Only the brave Irish would dare to swim in the chilly water in mid-September!

As we headed back toward Derry, we passed miles and miles of fishing traps located close to shore. 

When we returned to Greencastle, we discovered we'd missed the last ferry across the bay so ended up having to drive all the way through and around Derry to our B&B located in Eglinton northeast of Derry. What spectacular sunset views we had from there overlooking farms and Lough Foyle!

Our drive to Malin Head ended up being one of the highlights of our entire trip to Ireland and it was all due to a suggestion from William and Eileen, our wonderful hosts at Lillikoi B&B!

Next post: Onto Giants' Causeway, a five mile stretch of bizarre basalt columns on the coastline the next day.

Posted on October 23rd, 2019, from a spectacular day in Denver just before we get another round of cold and snow.