What You Need to Know About the Donabate-Portrane Cliff Walk

Louise Ducrocq was super lucky to get a first look at the soon-to-open new Donabate-Portrane Cliff Walk, along with other lovely journalists, Cairn Homes and O'Hea PR.

Now, if you're a Donabate local, or you've every been lucky enough to visit it, you'd know that this Cliff Walk has been a popular walking route for years and is not a recent development. It offers stunning views of the Irish Sea and is a well-known coastal walk in the area. The walk is approximately 4km long, taking you from Donabate to Tower Bay in Portrane and back.  However, Cairn Homes is developing a new community of 1,200 homes for around 350 families in the Donabate aera, offering a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom houses. The development includes a 32-acre nature park with cattle and, of course, the Donabate-Portrane Cliff Walk, linking to a greenway that leads to Smith’s Pub, known for its food and drink. The entire site will be easily accessible via Donabate train station, combining rural charm with strong transport connections.

The merry bunch and I walked 1.7km from Donabate train station to Portrane beach in a gorgeous 22° weather, stumbling upon Balcarrick Martello Tower, St Ita’s Hospital, Lambay Island, and of course – the cherry on the cake – Tower Bay. We got to meet Terry. She is the storyteller and current residee of Tower Bay, a privately owned Mortello Tower. Terry had always dreamt of living in such a tower. Her husband Tom, along with their sons Bryan and Anton, made her dream come true by renovating Tower Bay. They made it into a family home. Brick by brick, the whole family discovered the amazingly rich history of that building. From hosting the ancestor of the Irish Coat Guard, one whisky bottle at a time, to influencing Napoleon’s combat strategy, Terry talked us through the infinite historical significance of Tower Bay. I got to experience, almost unexpectedly, the most unique tour I have ever been a part of here in Ireland.

After exploring those wonderful milestones along the Donabate & Portrane Cliff Walk, which our lovely storyteller Marion Lynders guided us through, we ended the day at Newbridge House, for a laughter-filled Summer Soirée. We were met with champagne, delicious French wine and locally-sourced Irish bites in this gorgeous manor-adjacent institution.

ITTN’s Louise Ducrocq had a grand time yesterday, exploring Donabate and Portrane with O’Hea PR and Cairn Homes. The trip was put together by Roisin O’Hea from O’Hea PR, along with Tom Noonan and Sarah Glavey from Cairn Homes.

We all got our steps in, absorbed the sunny Vitamin D, chatted plenty and got rewarded with delicious food and drinks. What more could one want?!