One of the finest and recommend coastal walks in County Waterford to tackle is Dunmore East Coastal Walk.
The walk includes Dunmore East Harbour and the Coastal Path that connects Dunmore East to the picturesque Portally Cove.
The Dunmore East Coastal Walk starts from the designated point at the rear of the Old Convent in Dunmore East Village. Then, reaches as far as Portally Cove to the west of the village.
The walk offers stunning views across to Hook Head and the famous Hook Lighthouse (one of the oldest operating lighthouses in the world) and the costal cliffs.
This scenic coastal walk dates back to 1820 when the town’s harbour was first constructed.
Workers used this trail to travel back and forth from Portally Cove. But it has now been extended to Ballymacaw Cove, which is a few kilometres further.
The walk from Dunmore to Portally and back, it will take around 1 hour to cover the full 5km. This walk is suitable for all ages and fitness levels. But as there are a few steps and steep inclines to navigate. The walk to Portally is easy to moderate. But the return walk is a little more difficult as there are is a steep enough uphill climb.
Dunmore East Coastal walk is situated above many beautiful coves and inlets. Carved out of conglomerate red sandstones known locally as pudding stone and used to build the harbour in the 1820’s.
The Dunmore East Coastal Walk was extended in 2020.
And now stretches from the trailhead at the harbour car park as far as Ballymacaw Cove. Almost 7kms further along the Waterford coast. The first section which takes walkers as far as Portally Cove is ideal for those with a moderate level of fitness; it includes steps and some undulations. This linear walk is about a 4km round trip. For those looking for a more challenging walk which requires a good level of fitness then the section beyond Portally Cove to Rathmoylan Cove and onto Ballymacaw Cove is an almost 15km round trip. This includes what may be Ireland’s longest sea cave at Rathmoylan. It is called Dunmore East Cliff Walk.
The area have rich flora and fauna, cliffs nesting birds and seals to spot.
The Dunmore East Coastal Walk is a spectacular coastal path and the walk was amazing in the beautiful sunny day, the incredible views, the entire experience was just breathtaking. We did not do the cliff walk but did the coast walk to Portally Cove from Harbour car park in Dunmore East.
At the end we went to see Dunmore Lighthouse which was built in 1824. This sandstone structure stands 16 metres tall, being the only Doric style Lighthouse in Ireland. Not possible to enter but can be viewed close-up and is located at entrance to harbour.
Location:
Below are photos I took in September 2021.
