Coney Island, Taken from the back of Trostan on the crossing to Maghery country park
Coney Island, Taken from the back of Trostan on the crossing to Maghery country park Courtesy Jonathan Rodgers at Wikipedia

Coney Island (Lough Neagh)

📍 Toome Canal, Antrim

🏛️ Attraction

Last updated: 26 June 2026

Overview

Coney Island is a nine-acre, thickly wooded island in the south-west corner of Lough Neagh, about a kilometre off Maghery in County Armagh. It’s one of roughly 80 islands in the lough – not the only one, despite what you’ll read elsewhere – but it is the one with the history: people have been landing here since the Mesolithic, and the artefacts found nearby at Toome Bay are among the oldest in Ireland. The National Trust has looked after the island since 1985, and a single cleared path now loops through the trees past a caretaker’s house.

The catch is getting there. There’s no ferry and no bridge, so unless you have your own boat, a visit means a booked charter and a half-day on the water. If you turn up at Toome without that arranged, do the free Toome Canal walk to the loughshore instead and save the island for a planned trip – it’s the right call, not a consolation prize.

Getting to the island

Access is by private charter or your own vessel; there are no scheduled public sailings. Abhainn Cruises runs a charter from Newferry marina on the River Bann that costs £85 per person for groups of six or more, and it must be booked in advance (call +44 (0)7845 370231). Budget the best part of a day: the trip runs about five hours, cruising down through the Lough Beg nature reserve past Church Island, under the two bridges at Toome, along Toome Canal into Toome Bay and out across the open lough. The same skipper worked on the Game of Thrones shoots filmed on the canal, which is most of the running commentary.

One firm rule: no dogs, however small or well behaved. The island is a protected nesting site within the Lough Neagh National Nature Reserve, and dogs are banned outright. There’s ample parking at the Lock-Keeper’s Cottage in Toome and at Newferry marina.

On the island

The island wears its long history in a handful of features along the path: a 13th-century Anglo-Norman motte, raised to command the lough; a round tower dated to the 16th century; St Patrick’s Stone; and a summer house built about 120 years ago by the 7th Lord Charlemont. None of it is signposted or staffed, which is part of the appeal – this is a quiet, half-wild place, not a visitor attraction.

It is, above all, a bird reserve, with an important heronry in the canopy. Time a visit for spring and the woodland floor comes up in bluebells, wood anemone and foxglove. There are no shops, toilets or refreshments anywhere on the island, so bring what you need and carry all your rubbish back to the boat.

The free alternative: the Toome Canal walk

You don’t need a boat to get a feel for this corner of Lough Neagh. From the Lock-Keeper’s Cottage car park in Toome, a flat, accessible 2km (1.2-mile) path runs south along the canal bank to the loughshore, passing the remains of the old railway bridge over the Bann and the Lower Bann sluice gates, and ending at a spiral viewpoint over Toome Bay. The Lock-Keeper’s Cottage itself is a Waterways Heritage Centre with a café, and the town centre – with public toilets and shops – is a ten-minute walk from the car park. Information panels along the way fill in the canal’s sand-trade and railway history.

Practical information

  • Getting to Coney Island: Private charter (Abhainn Cruises, £85pp for groups of six-plus, pre-book on +44 (0)7845 370231) or your own boat. No scheduled ferry.
  • Toome Canal walk: Free, open access, 2km flat path from the Lock-Keeper’s Cottage car park to the loughshore.
  • Parking: Ample at the Lock-Keeper’s Cottage, Toome, and at Newferry marina.
  • Dogs: Banned on the island (ground-nesting birds). Keep them under control on the canal walk.
  • Footwear: Waterproof boots for the island, where paths are uneven and muddy after rain; the canal walk is easy underfoot.
  • Accessibility: The Toome Canal walk is flat and accessible. The island, with its grassy slopes and stone ruins, is not suitable for wheelchairs.
  • Facilities: None on the island. Café at the Lock-Keeper’s Cottage; toilets and shops a ten-minute walk away in Toome.

Nearby

  • Lough Neagh – The largest lake in the British Isles, with marinas and fisheries around its shore.
  • Lough Neagh Fisheries Visitor Centre, Toomebridge – The working eel fishery across the bridge from the Lock-Keeper’s Cottage, with a bookable heritage tour.
  • Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy – The poet’s life and work, about 15 minutes’ drive away.