Rossnowlagh

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Rossnowlagh
Ros Neamhlach

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Rossnowlagh (Irish: Ros Neamhlach) is a seaside resort located in County Donegal, in the north-west of Ireland. It is situated about 8 kilometres (5 mi) north-west of Ballyshannon and 16 kilometres (10 mi) south-east of Donegal Town. The extensive beach is very popular with families and is frequented by walkers, surfers, wind-surfers, kite-surfers and swimmers, and there are lifeguards on duty during the summer months. There is about four kilometres (2½ mi) of a good quality sand beach.^[1]

1 History
2 Beach
3 Amenities
4 Events
5 Historical transport note
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] History

There had been 500 years of Franciscan history in Donegal^[2] but the link had been broken in the mid-19th century. The Franciscans re-established themselves in County Donegal when new friary buildings were built in Rossnowlagh in the early 1950s. The friary has a visitors centre and the Donegal Historical Society Museum which houses a small collection including stone age flints and old Irish musical instruments. There are beautiful gardens which are open to visitors.

Picture of Rossnowlagh beach

[edit] Beach

Rossnowlagh is one of Ireland's - and Europe's - best Blue Flag, surfing beaches. As it faces westward into the Atlantic Ocean, and the fact that Donegal Bay's funnel shape can increase the size of the rollers, especially in winter, some huge waves are generated and it has been known to have rollers up to 7 metres (20 ft) high. Rossnowlagh has good facilities, a fine-sand beach and excellent water quality.

Rossnowlagh has many visitors during the summer months and is very popular as most of the beach is accessible by car which is suitable for young and old alike. Drivers are cautioned however to be aware of soft sand areas where cars can get stuck and to be aware of incoming tides which can move in rapidly and cover most/all of the beach. There may be a Beach Warden on duty and information about full and low tides may be displayed. Drivers on the beach are required to drive very slowly at 15 km/h and to be on the lookout for children and other users of the beach.

View from Rossnowlagh strand

A soil erosion study of the beach at Rossnowlagh, known officially as Belalt strand, has been made. The area consists mainly of sandy beach, but also rocky shore platform, sand dunes, grassland, boulder clay cliffs and rock cliffs. Over the last 60 years it has been determined that the central section of the dune front has been 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 were constructed at first in front of the Sandhouse Hotel and with further additions along the shore-line; this stopped the erosion but the dune front has a ragged appearance with up to 35 metres (110 ft) of erosion where half of the sandy shoreline has no protection.^[3]

[edit] Amenities

The Sandhouse Hotel is located adjacent to the beach, with a Surfers Bar attached. Overlooking 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 and The Thatch Tea House nearby. The modern 20th century-built Franciscan Friary is located up from the southern end of the beach.^[4] To the south-west further along the cliffs in the distance stands the ruined Kilbarron Castle.

[edit] Events

In May 2007, a Rip Curl Grom Search Surfing event was hosted by Rossnowlagh Surf Club, with dozens of young surfers competing. In glorious weather, competitions were held for Under-12, U14 and U16 with some winning paid-trips to France for the European Finals.

A peaceful Orange Order parade is held each year in Rossnowlagh, usually on the Saturday before 12 July. The number of participants and marching bands varies each year with many attending from order lodges based in Northern Ireland. The participants begin near St John's Church, march for approximately two kilometres (1.2 miles) and then congregate for some time, before marching back to the church area in the late afternoon.

The most recent Irish National Junior Surfing Championships took place in August 2007 and was hosted in Rossnowlagh. There were 113 young surfers competing for titles in Under-12, U14, U16 and U18, including events for bodyboard and longboard. Rossnowlagh Surf Club members won four out of the twelve titles available, with the club also securing many second and third placings.

An annual Feis (Irish Gaelic: 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 Feis na gCeithre Maistir in Irish.

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 the social event of the surfing calendar, and the actual surfing often takes second place to the craic and social enjoyment. In the last decade the contest has turned into a battle between the two dominant counties in Irish Surfing, hailing from opposite ends of the country - Donegal and Waterford. In October 2007, Waterford won the title again, after also winning it in 2006, with Donegal close, although Sligo took second place.

A special stage of the World Rally Championship Rally Ireland event was held in an area called Cashel on the periphery of Rossnowlagh on 18 November 2007. This was a fourteen-kilometre (9 mi) stage on some very narrow back roads, and was the 19th stage of the Rally Ireland event which was based in the North West of Ireland. The stage was won by Jari-Matti Latvala, while Sebastien Loeb won the overall rally as well as becoming the world champion a few weeks later.

[edit] Historical transport note

Rossnowlagh railway station opened in 1905 but closed on 1 January 1960.^[5] It was part of the Great Northern Railway network with the train running towards Bundoran to the south and to Derry to the north. During the 55 years of its operation, Rossnowlagh, with its two miles of golden beach, became a popular venue for excursionists, and it was particularly favoured by families, daytrippers and for groups on their annual outings.