Mackinac & Straits
Mackinac Island
A car-free island in the Straits of Mackinac. Bike or walk from a busy harbor town to an old fort and a state park that covers most of the island.
Bed and breakfast · Mackinac & Straits
Cloghaun Bed and Breakfast
On Market Street in downtown Mackinac Island
Cloghaun stands on Market Street in downtown Mackinac Island, within easy walking distance of the ferry docks. Thomas and Bridget Donnelly, who left Ireland in 1848, started building the house in 1880. Thomas died in 1882 and Bridget finished it. The Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau notes that the family’s money for the property came from work on the Soo Locks.
Bridget began taking in summer visitors, and for a time the house was known as the Donnelly Cottage. A daughter, Nellie, later gave it the Gaelic name Cloghaun, which the inn translates as “stony ground.” The house passed down through the Donnelly daughters and granddaughters, and the current owner, Jim Bond, is the fourth generation of the family to run it.
The inn has eleven guest rooms furnished with antiques from the late 1800s, all with air conditioning, and a full breakfast comes with each stay. It is a seasonal operation that opens in May.
Location
Where Cloghaun Bed and Breakfast is
1 place on an OpenStreetMap map
Approximate location. The host shares the exact address when you book.
Nearby towns
Nearby attractions
Historic site
Fort Mackinac
The fort on the bluff above Mackinac Island's harbor, founded by the British in 1780 and now a living history museum with fourteen restored buildings.
State park
Mackinac Island State Park
Michigan's first state park covers more than 80 percent of Mackinac Island: forest, limestone formations, historic sites and 70-plus miles of roads and trails.