Buncrana —County Donegal

The principle town and resort on the lovely Inishowen Peninsula, Buncrana boasts a 5km sandy beach. Buncrana's Irish name means 'Foot of the River' and one of its delights is the walk under beech, maple and lime trees beside the brown waters of the River Crana. The Crana River is an excellent Salmon River and it adorns Swan Park, a haven of peace for the stroller. Tel: 07493 60488 Buncrana is a seaside resort on the east shore of Lough Swilly. There is a fine strand at nearby Lisfannon. There was a small O'Doherty tower-house built there about 1400 and repaired and enlarged in the early 17th Century. When the O'Dohertys were overthrown, Sir Arthur Chichester granted it to Henry Vaughan who rebuilt it, in his own words, 'after the English fashion with a parapet on the top of it'. The Vaughans were to live in it for a century until 1718 when Sir John Vaughan built the nearby house. A pair of small towers or pillars at Westbrook is still pointed out as Vaughan's Gallows and the Sockets for the crossbar of the gallows may still be seen. There is a strong local tradition that it was to Buncrana Castle that Wolf Tone was taken when he was captured in 1798 after the Anglo-French Naval encountered in Lough Swilly.