Surf Coast

The jagged stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way, leading from Donegal Town through Sligo to far-flung Erris in Mayo, is renowned for its surf and attracts some of the world's top waveriders. But that’s only the beginning.

There’s a cultural richness along the Surf Coast too, from the Neolithic Céide Fields to a lively festival scene and, of course, the legacy of poet WB Yeats, who immortalised the landscapes of his childhood in some of his best known works – including the Lake Isle of Inishfree.

Land and sea come together to create something truly special at Mullaghmore Head. This is the home of big wave surfing in Ireland, and surfers come from all over the world to test their skills against epic waves. But there's more to Mullaghmore. There are boat trips to the 6th century monastic ruins on Inishmurray Island; Classiebawn Castle dominating the surrounding landscape with its Gothic splendour; and nearby Ben Bulben, the flat-topped mountain famed in Irish mythology and the poetry of WB Yeats.

Downpatrick Head in County Mayo is a spectacular headland of great beauty 38 metres (125 feet) above the sea. The ruins of a church, stone cross and holy well mark the site of an earlier church founded by Saint Patrick. Then there’s the impressive sea stack known as Dún Briste. Legend says the people living there were rescued using ships’ ropes when high seas separated the stack from the mainland in 1393.

Download our Wild Atlantic Way map.

Continue your Wild Atlantic Way journey.