Four of the eight here can be reached on foot. North Bull Island sits at the inner end of Dublin Bay, with the Clontarf promenade and its Art-Deco shelters running out along the shore; the island is a national nature reserve of dunes and salt-marsh, with five kilometres of Dollymount Strand and over 300 recorded bird species. Royal Dublin, a Harry Colt links, occupies the same sandbank, reached across a wooden bridge from Clontarf. Shenick, off Skerries, has a Martello tower you can walk out to at spring low tide.
The boat trips run from the north county. Ireland’s Eye is a mile off Howth, a 15-minute crossing from the West Pier, with a 2.5 km loop walk of about two hours; not every sailing lands, so ask before you pay. Rockabill, four miles off Skerries, holds Europe’s largest roseate tern colony, so landing is banned in the breeding season, though Skerries Sea Tours runs 75-minute trips from late April to early October. Lambay, three miles off Portrane, is private and open only on a pre-arranged tour.
Dalkey is the only southern entry. The village, the harbour and the 14th-century castle are walkable together, and the island 300 metres offshore holds a 7th-century church, an 1804 Martello tower and a herd of feral goats. Seabird interest peaks in summer at Ireland’s Eye and Rockabill; the Bull Island shore works in any weather.
A flat bayside promenade of Art-Deco shelters running out to Bull Island, with the 1014 battlefield and a UNESCO biosphere reserve at the end.
An affluent seaside village with a working harbour and 14th-century castle, facing an uninhabited island of feral goats, a Martello tower and a ruined church.
A 54-acre seabird island a mile off Howth, reached by a 15-minute ferry from the West Pier, with a 2.5 km loop walk taking about two hours.
A private island three miles off Portrane with red-necked wallabies, a Lutyens castle and cliffs of guillemots, open only on a pre-arranged tour.
A national nature reserve that built itself from trapped sand, holding dunes, salt-marsh, five kilometres of Dollymount Strand and over 300 recorded bird species.
8 of 8 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Clontarf, dublin
The 1014 Battle of Clontarf broke Viking Dublin, and Brian Boru died here after the win. Today it's a flat bayside promenade of Art-Deco shelters running out to Bull Island, a UNESCO biosphere reserve where over 180 bird species have been recorded.
Dalkey, dublin
Dalkey is an affluent seaside village on Dublin Bay, with colourful Georgian houses, a working harbour and a rare 14th-century castle where costumed actors stage its history. Three hundred metres offshore, uninhabited Dalkey Island holds a 7th-century church, an 1804 Martello tower and a herd of feral goats.
Howth Harbour, dublin
Ireland's Eye is a 54-acre island a mile off Howth, reached by a 15-minute ferry from the West Pier. It holds the ruins of an 8th-century church and an 1803 Martello tower, and its seabird colonies – guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and puffins, with gannets on the offshore stack – make it nationally important. A 2.5 km loop walk takes about two hours. Not every ferry lands on the island, so check before you pay.
Off the coast of Portrane, dublin
A private island three miles off Dublin, home to around a hundred red-necked wallabies (Dublin Zoo stock from the 1950s), a Lutyens castle with Jekyll rose gardens, and cliffs holding tens of thousands of guillemots. You can only visit on a pre-arranged tour.
Bull Island, dublin
North Bull Island didn't exist 200 years ago; it built itself from sand trapped behind a wall raised to stop Dublin Port silting up. Today it's a national nature reserve of dunes, salt-marsh and the five-kilometre Dollymount Strand, with over 300 recorded bird species and a sea wall you can walk out to the lighthouse.
Rockabill, dublin
Rockabill is two granite rocks about four miles off Skerries, topped by a black-and-white lighthouse first lit in 1860. The larger rock holds Europe's biggest roseate tern colony, roughly 80% of the northwest European population, so landing is banned through the breeding season. Skerries Sea Tours runs 75-minute boat trips out to it from late April to early October.
Clontarf, dublin
Royal Dublin is Ireland's third-oldest golf club, a Harry Colt links on North Bull Island reached across a wooden bridge from Clontarf. Founded in 1885, it pairs a restored Victorian clubhouse with fast fairways, deep pot bunkers and views over Dublin Bay to Howth Head.
Skerries, dublin
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