Knockadoon Head Looped Walk is a mixture of cliff, track and road walks.
Knockadoon Pier is a favorite with locals especially during the summer time when people want to cool down with a dip in the ocean!
Knockadoon also has a signal tower that is said to date back to 1803 when a plan was made to build signal towers all around the coast of Ireland. Their purpose was to spot an incoming fleet of invaders and through signals warn the government in Dublin. Signalling was done by means of flags and balls on a mast in front of the tower. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, the threat of a French invasion diminished. This, together with the high maintenance costs, caused the abandonment of most of the weather-beaten towers.
Capel Island is a small island visible from Knockadoon’s signal tower and walking trail. The island is uninhabited but was almost home to a lighthouse – the structure of which is still visible on the island today. Construction of the lighthouse started but never finished as the nearby island of Ballycotton was thought to be more suitable and so construction of a new lighthouse began there instead.
The island is now recognized as a bird sanctuary.
Read more here about the lighthouse that never was.
