The loss of the fabulous venue at Myross Woods House in Leap, was the final nail in the coffin for our residential weekend whale watching courses which IWDG has delivered in West Cork since 2022. But there was only time in it, as our starting these courses coincided with our large whales departing the Southwest in favour of the Northwest. So, with neither venue nor whales, a Plan B was required.
So why Mullaghmore? Well, if you’re asking this question, you’ve likely never been to Mullaghmore, North Sligo, or the Donegal Bay area. It’s simply gorgeous and to be honest if we never saw a whale from there, it wouldn’t discourage us from returning in 2027. World class surf under Ben Bulben’s watchful eye, obliging hosts at the Pier Head Hotel and Mullaghmore Sailing club and of course the close proximity of Mullaghmore Head for land-based watches, all made for easy logistics and a relaxed weekend, with plenty of options for bracing walks and fresh air.
Our lecture venue at Mullaghmore Sailing Club
Of course, there will always be the matter of the weather and the northwest is as prone to the vagaries of the Atlantic low-pressure systems as anywhere else and so it came to pass on this our inaugural Mullaghmore weekend course, that the first casualty was the chance to get out on a local whale watch boat like MV Kiwi Girl. But this didn’t seem to matter, as course participants understood that safety and comfort comes first and that venturing out into Donegal Bay in search of whales in such poor weather, is a waste of time, energy, not to mention your money.
In the 25 yrs I’ve been delivering these weekend courses, I’ve had to revise my approach to handing the disappointment, both mine and that of participants, when the weather lets us down. During this period, we’ve not cancelled a single weekend course to poor weather; which isn’t to say that we’ve not had any. We’ve had some truly shocking weather, that not only kept us on dry land, but in some cases kept us indoors. And the weather trend is only heading in one direction……warmer, wetter and windier.
But the nature of these weekends to a large degree weather proofs them. The course description makes it quite clear that these are NOT Whale Watching weekends per se, but whale watching courses, and as such we can still deliver all of the course content, albeit indoors, regardless of the weather. But something else I’ve noticed is how a group of complete strangers thrown into a situation will likely get on so much better when faced with what could be considered a wash out. People simply work harder at getting along, having more fun, perhaps letting their guard down a little and are more willing to go with the flow. Some of our most memorable weekends, whether out on Cape Clear Island, Tory Island, or Myross Woods House, have been those that on paper shouldn’t have worked, yet they did and this month’s Mullaghmore course was no different. So a big thanks to the 35 participants, now all IWDG members, who joined us.
We did manage to get out on Monday morning on a shorter IWDG charter out of Killybegs as part of our Floating Classroom series and enjoyed some nice minke and common dolphin encounters. Hopefully we’ll get out on the water off Mullaghmore in 2027 to see them at close quarters. If you’d be interested in attending, we have provisionally pencilled in Fri. 17-19th Sept. 2027. Keep those dates free and we’ll let you know as soon as bookings go live on Eventbrite.
A big thanks to Declan Kilgannon, Des Ruddy (MSC), local IWDG members and the team at Donegal Bay Trust for all your support in making this happen. We’ll see you in 2027.
Pádraig Whooley, IWDG Sightings Officer
Common dolphin, east of St. John’s Pt Donegal Bay, 21/09/2026, © Erika Kind
We finally got out on the water on Monday…too late for most but nice to see some blubber in the bay!
Minke whale , Donegal bay 21/09/2026 © Erika Kind