The Wild Atlantic Way is Ireland’s new long distance scenic driving route along the entire west coast of Ireland from Donegal in the north to Cork in the south making it the longest specific driving route in the world. Coming from South to North, Bundoran’s Tullan Strand is proud to be the first Discovery Point you will meet in County Donegal and what a place to start! With scenic views for 360 de
grees you can see back into Mullaghmore, County Sligo and across Donegal Bay to the magical Slieve League Cliffs. As you begin the Roguey Walk Experience, you will arrive at the stunning Fairy Bridges – sea stacks hundreds of years old and Bundoran’s original tourist attraction back in the 1800s. However, it is believed that as far back as the 1700s locals thought these to be haunted by the fairies with the result of the name “The Fairy Bridges”. It is said that many of the town’s famous visitors over the years have sat here overlooking the wild Atlantic Ocean - from poet William Allingham to golfer Christy O’Connor Jr to Viscount Enniskillen to 10 times world champion surfer Kelly Slater – they’re all believed to have sat in Bundoran’s famous Wishing Chair located at the Fairy Bridges at Tullan Strand. Legend says it is advised to approach the chair with caution lest the powers of the chair be disrupted. Wishers are advised to sit down slowly holding on to both “arms” of the chair and then pause for at least 15 seconds to take in the stunning scenery that surrounds them – Donegal Bay to their left, Tullan Strand straight ahead and the Dartry Mountains to the right. It is useful to contemplate the figures, possible heroes and heroines who may have sat in the chair in the years and the centuries ahead of them, before making their wish which must be done in silence and kept private to the wisher in order to increase the chances of it coming true. Finally it is believed that tapping the seat twice as you get up will give your final commitment that your wish is a genuine one.
