Strictly speaking, there is no longer a place called Ballydavid. The 2003 Official Languages Act revoked the English form, so the only official name now is Baile na nGall – ‘town of the foreigners’ – and that’s what you’ll see on the signs. It’s a small Irish-speaking fishing village on the north coast of the Dingle Peninsula, in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht, strung along the shore of Smerwick Harbour with Mount Brandon at its back. Irish is the working language here, not a heritage exhibit, which is much of the point of coming.
Set your expectations right: this is a quiet, lived-in Gaeltacht, not a resort. It’s the largest of the local fishing ports, but that means a pier, a couple of shoreside pubs and a post office, not a strip of attractions. What you actually come for is what’s around it – the walks, the music, and some of the oldest stone buildings in the country a few minutes up the road.
The one thing to do: Gallarus Oratory
If you do a single thing from here, make it the Gallarus Oratory, about a kilometre off. It’s a tiny early Christian church built of dry stone with no mortar, corbelled into the shape of an upturned boat, and after roughly 1,200 years it’s still watertight – widely reckoned the best-preserved early Christian church in Ireland. It was put up around the 7th or 8th century. A short walk away stands Gallarus Castle, a 15th-century tower house of the Knight of Kerry, from the Geraldine dynasty.
For more in the same vein, Kilmalkedar, a little north, is a roofless 12th-century Romanesque church with a sundial, a tall stone cross, an alphabet stone carrying both Latin and ogham, and an ogham pillar reading Anm Maile Inbir Maci Brocann. It pairs naturally with Gallarus on the same loop.
Walking and the headland
The land here is flat and the lanes are quiet, which makes it good cycling and easy walking country. The Dingle Way and the old pilgrim route, the Saints Road, both pass through, and the archaeological sites are close enough to string together on a bike.
For a climb, Ballydavid Head rises to 247 metres – a Marilyn, in hill-walkers’ terms – with the whole Atlantic edge laid out from the top. Smerwick Harbour itself is the gentler option: a sheltered, low-key shore for an unhurried walk when the wind is up, which on this coast is often.
Music, the harbour and the regatta
The social centre is Tigh T.P.’s, a pub with benches looking straight out over the harbour and a long-running spot for live music; through the summer you’ll find trad sessions most nights across the local pubs, and impromptu ones can break out any time of year. The shoreside pubs do bar food, and with the Atlantic on the doorstep the seafood is the thing to order. In summer the pier hosts a regatta built around races of naomhóga – the traditional tarred-canvas rowing boats of the west coast – and seasonal sea-angling and boat trips run from here too.
One modern landmark you can’t miss: the RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta studio and transmission mast just outside the village, which broadcasts Irish-language radio to the country.
Practical information
- Getting there: Ballydavid sits on the R559, the road that loops the western tip of the peninsula back to Dingle. There’s roadside parking near the harbour and along the main street.
- Public transport: Local Link Kerry Route 268 runs a loop from Dingle out through Gallarus, Murreagh, Baile na nGall and Feohanagh and back, Monday to Sunday – useful, but check the timetable, as departures are limited.
- Amenities: Shops, supermarkets and a pharmacy are in Dingle town; most accommodation is self-catering holiday homes and cottages, so book ahead for July and August.
Don’t try to schedule the place. Leave the car at the pier, walk out to the headland, call into T.P.’s for a pint over the harbour, and detour to Gallarus on the way out – that’s a full, good day in Baile na nGall.