Inishowen Livestock Mart

What to Expect

Inishowen Livestock Mart, on the Newpark Road outside Carndonagh, holds its cattle sales on the first and third Monday of every month. These are daytime sales, though the mart does not publish a fixed start time, so ring ahead before travelling. Sheep sales run alongside the cattle calendar, with breeding sheep on Tuesdays and a fortnightly Saturday sheep sale, and weanlings sell fortnightly on Wednesdays. The mart is operated by Inishowen Co-op, the farm supply and services co-operative that covers the whole peninsula, and it is licensed under PSRA number 001866.

Its significance is geographic as much as commercial. This is the only livestock mart on the Inishowen peninsula, so farmers from Carndonagh, Malin, Moville, Buncrana and the parishes in between trade here rather than facing the much longer run south to Raphoe or Stranorlar. That makes sale Mondays a genuine gathering point for a farming community spread across a wide, thinly populated peninsula. Sales are broadcast for online bidding as well, which widens the buyer pool beyond those standing at the rail. Numbers build through the autumn as weanlings and store cattle come off summer grass, so the September and October sales are typically the strongest of the year. Anyone can walk in and watch without paying, though the yard is a working one and stock is moving throughout the morning.

Good to Know

• Next cattle sale: Monday 17 August 2026, a daytime sale. This is the third Monday of the month. No fixed start time is published, so ring ahead.
• Following sales: Monday 7 September and Monday 21 September 2026, on the same first and third Monday pattern.
• Venue: Inishowen Livestock Mart, Newpark Road, Tullanree, Carndonagh, Co. Donegal.
• Price: free to attend as a spectator. Buying and selling is between registered farmers and traders through the ring.
• Sheep sales also run here. Ring ahead to confirm the date and time for a particular sale.
• Contact: mart manager Harry Molloy, 074 937 4154.

Getting There

Carndonagh is the main town of the Inishowen peninsula, reached on the R238 from Buncrana or from Derry via Muff and Quigley’s Point. The mart is on the Newpark Road just outside the town centre in the townland of Tullanree, and it is well signposted given its role as the peninsula’s only livestock trading point. There is a dedicated yard with parking for jeeps and trailers. Local Link buses serve Carndonagh from Buncrana and Moville, but stock traffic makes a car the practical option on sale mornings.