Fort Dunree

Coastal fort and military museum on a rock above Lough Swilly, handed from British to Irish control in 1938

Fort Dunree sits on a rocky promontory on the west coast of Inishowen, reached over a natural cleft in the rock. It was built during the Napoleonic Wars to guard Lough Swilly, rearmed in the 1890s, and manned with six-inch guns in the First World War. After independence it remained one of the British-held "Treaty Ports" until 1938, the last time any territory was handed over to the Irish state. The Irish Army trained here until 1990.

Today it is a military museum, opened in 1986, with restored guns, an old camp and displays on the birds and sea life of the lough, plus a café and walking trails. The setting above Lough Swilly is as good a reason to come as the guns. It is open daily; adult admission was €10 in 2026.

things to do museum history
A story
On 3 October 1938 the Union Jack came down at Dunree for the last time, when Britain handed over the Lough Swilly forts under the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement. As The Times reported, Sergeant O'Flynn of the Royal Artillery, who hauled down the Union Jack, and Sergeant McLaughlin of the Irish forces, who raised the tricolour, were brothers-in-law.