Knockalla Coast Road

The view from the top of the Knockalla Coast Road is one of the most majestic in the country and a worthy spot for a picnic. On a fine day overlooking the wide mouth of the aqua blue Lough Swilly with its traffic of rusty Fishing Boats and the gentle hum of those enjoying water sports from nearby Portsalon beach, along with the sight below of the famous Ballymastocker Beach which earns it reputation as one of the most beautiful beaches in the entire world, as deemed by The Observer newspaper truly is a breathtaking sight.

Across the Lough you can see the Inishowen Peninsula, the most northern place in Ireland. The impossible corkscrew road has become famous in its own right due to the popular Donegal Rally with the road being one of the highlights of the entire event. This culminated in 2007 when WRC world champion Sebastian Leob took part in the Donegal Rally attracting thousands of spectators.

While standing at this fantastic site it is also hard not to cast a thought back to the poor 256 souls who lost their lives on the HMS Saldanha. On the night of the 4thsail four days previous found itself caught in a gale and shipwreaked upon the rocks of Lough Swilly. 200 bodies were washed up on Ballymastocker Beach including its Captain William Packenham. Only the ships parrot is thought to have survived the tragedy. Capt. Packenhams is buried in the nearby town of Rathmullan and was a brother-in-law to the Duke of Wellington of the famous Battle of Waterloo. December 1811 the ship after setting.