Kearney
The beauty of the rugged coastline, simple character of the dwellings and unspoilt, timeless character of the village makes Kearney truly special.

County Down
Distance 1 miles
OS Map Sheet 21
Terrain Rocky shoreline
Nearest Town Portaferry
Route Shape Circular
Grid Reference J649517
Route Type Coastal
The shoreline trail is linear and can be taken in either direction. The degree of difficulty is moderate with uneven surfaces. The terrain is made up of grass, dirt, sand and rocky shoreline. The two-miles of coastline beyond the village, including cliffs, a low rocky foreshore, a small pocket of salt marsh, sandy beaches
Unspoilt beauty, Mary Ann Donnan Room
Kearney is on the coast directly east of Portaferry. From the west and south the ferry is needed leaving from Strangford village. From the north the A20 or A2 south will get you to the small lanes taking you to Kearny.
Translink – journeyplanner.translink.co.uk
Information room, car park, and public toilets.
Grade 3
- The path may not be hard and firm in all weathers with loose stones (not bigger than 5cm) with occasional tree roots and pot holes and will be at least 1m wide for its entire length.
- The path will not be steeper than 6° or have a cross slope of greater than 6°.
- There will not be any obstacles such as steps or stiles and surface breaks will be between 12mm and 75mm in width.
- There will be a clear head height of greater than 2.10m for the entire length of the route.
- There will be passing places at least every 150m and rest areas at least every 1km.
Comments will be reviewed and those that cause offence will be removed. This is at the discretion of WalkNI.
We want everyone to be able to enjoy the walking routes listed on WalkNI safely and easily.
If you have come across any problems whilst walking a route, please let us so we can pass on any issues to the appropriate management body responsible for maintaining the walk.
Walk Route
Kearney
In June if you walk near the shingle beach southwards towards Ballyquinton you will see Horned Poppies growing. They are quite large. They have beautifully curled pale grey green leaves and large floppy yellow flowers. It is the seed pods that are ‘horned’.
This is the only place in N. I. Where these spectacular wild flowers grow.
beautiful little place.my mothers birthplace.