The islands on this list divide neatly. Off the ocean edge of the Iveragh and Dingle peninsulas sit the ones that need a boat and a settled forecast: Skellig Michael, rising 218 metres from the Atlantic with 618 stone steps up to its beehive cells and St Michael’s Church, sails from Portmagee between May and September under strict visitor limits. Great Blasket is a 20-minute ferry from Dunquin, about four hours ashore among the ruined village of the Irish-speaking community resettled in 1953, with grey seals on the white strand.
Several cannot be landed on at all. Beiginis in the Blasket Sound is the grey seals’ main pupping ground, best seen from a boat out of Dunquin or Ventry, or from the pier itself. Puffin Island is a BirdWatch Ireland reserve closed to visitors, its puffins and Manx shearwaters viewed from summer tours out of Portmagee, and Tearaght, the most westerly island in Ireland, is circled rather than landed on. The Kerry Cliffs outside Portmagee are the dry-land alternative: €5 in, and a 10-minute walk to the nearest mainland view of the Skelligs.
Inland the going is easier. Inisfallen, the wooded island on Lough Leane whose monks wrote the Annals of Inisfallen, is a boat ride from Reen Pier beside Ross Castle, and Church Island sits in Lough Currane a couple of kilometres east of Waterville, also boat-only. Neither has facilities, so bring what you need and check the last boat back.
A UNESCO-listed monastic settlement 218 metres above the Atlantic, reached by a limited number of summer boats and a climb of 618 stone steps.
A 20-minute ferry from Dunquin puts you ashore for about four hours in a Gaeltacht village abandoned in 1953, with a free guided walk.
The Blaskets' main grey seal pupping ground and an Arctic tern nesting site, watched from a Dunquin or Ventry boat rather than landed on.
Boat-only ruins in Lough Currane, where a roofless Romanesque church and eleven cross slabs surround a carved musician playing a bowed lyre.
Home to the monks who wrote the Annals of Inisfallen, this wooded Lough Leane island is a short boat from Reen Pier by Ross Castle.
23 of 23 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Off the Iveragh Peninsula, kerry
One of Europe's most remote monastic sites, Skellig Michael rises 218 metres from the Atlantic, hosting a UNESCO-listed early Christian settlement. Climbing its 618 stone steps reveals beehive cells, the ruined St Michael's Church and thriving seabird colonies, while strict visitor limits protect this singular landscape that also served as a Star Wars filming location.
Dunquin, kerry
The Blasket Islands, off the tip of the Dingle Peninsula, held a tiny Irish-speaking community that was resettled on the mainland in 1953, leaving behind some of the finest writing in modern Irish. A 20-minute ferry from Dunquin lands you on Great Blasket for about four hours among the ruined village, the white-strand seal colony and a free guided walk. Sailings are weather-dependent and the landing is by small boat, so come with a backup plan.
Dunquin, kerry
A low-lying, uninhabited island in the Blasket Sound off the Dingle Peninsula, Beiginis is the main pupping ground for the Blaskets' grey seals and a nesting site for Arctic terns. There's no landing and no need for one: the seals and the birds are best seen from a boat out of Dunquin or Ventry, or from the pier itself.
Church Island, kerry
Church Island sits in Lough Currane, a couple of kilometres east of Waterville, and you can only reach it by boat. On its 1.8 hectares stand a roofless 12th-century Romanesque church, beehive cells, eleven cross slabs and a carved sandstone block showing a musician with a bowed lyre – the one thing to seek out.
Lough Leane, kerry
Inisfallen is a 21-acre wooded island in Lough Leane, reached by boat from Reen Pier beside Ross Castle. Its ruined abbey was home to the monks who wrote the Annals of Inisfallen, a record of Irish life from AD 433 to 1450. Red deer swim over from the mainland to graze, and there are no facilities on the island, so bring what you need and check the last boat back.
Portmagee, kerry
The Kerry Cliffs rise over 1,000ft above the Atlantic just outside Portmagee, the nearest mainland vantage point to the Skellig Islands. It's a privately run site: €5 gets you in and parked, and a 10-minute walk reaches three viewpoints, the left one best for the Skelligs. On site there's camping, 24-hour toilets, a café and resident alpacas, donkeys and horses.
Fenit Harbour, kerry
Little Samphire Island Lighthouse has guarded the mouth of Tralee Bay since its light was first shown in 1854. Summer boat tours run the 20 minutes out from Fenit Harbour for a guided look around the station – weather permitting – past grey seals hauled out on the rocks and within sight of the bronze St Brendan on neighbouring Great Samphire.
kerry
Set against the dramatic backdrop of the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, Lough Currane’s deep, cold waters attract fly anglers from across Europe. Beyond the fishing, visitors can explore ancient monastic ruins, paddle calm sheltered bays, and follow scenic trails through Kerry’s rugged western landscape.
Portmagee, kerry
Portmagee is a row of colourful houses along a working pier on the Iveragh peninsula, and the main port for boats out to Skellig Michael from May to September. The Kerry Cliffs are a few minutes' drive south for the same island views without the sailing, and the Bridge Bar runs trad sessions and set dancing on summer weekends.
Portmagee, kerry
Puffin Island is a steep, uninhabited nature reserve off the Iveragh Peninsula, run by BirdWatch Ireland and closed to visitors – landing needs a research permit. Thousands of pairs of puffins, Manx shearwaters and storm petrels nest here between spring and early August, best seen from a summer boat tour out of Portmagee.
Killarney, kerry
Ross Island is a wooded peninsula on Lough Leane in Killarney National Park, dotted with copper-mine workings dating to around 2400 BC, some of the oldest in northwest Europe. Flat, free trails wind past the shafts and out to lakeside viewpoints, all a short walk from Ross Castle. The castle's own guided tours run from March to November.
kerry
The Skellig Coast is the ocean-facing edge of the Iveragh Peninsula, where boats run out to the monastic rock of Skellig Michael and the 32 km Skellig Ring threads past Gaeltacht villages and old stone forts. The whole region is a Gold Tier dark-sky reserve, among the darkest places in Europe.
Iveragh Peninsula, kerry
The Skellig Ring is the quiet alternative to the Ring of Kerry, looping the southwest tip of the Iveragh Peninsula on roads too narrow for tour coaches. It links Waterville, Ballinskelligs and Portmagee before crossing to Valentia Island, past clifftop views of Skellig Michael, medieval abbey ruins and a Blue Flag beach.
Off the Dingle Peninsula, kerry
Tearaght is the most westerly island in Ireland and the British Isles, a twin-peaked rock about 5 km off the Dingle Peninsula. Its lighthouse, first lit in 1870, sits above the steepest funicular railway in Europe, now abandoned. No one may land, but AquaTerra's boat tours circle the cliffs past nesting shearwaters and storm-petrels.
Dún Chaoin, kerry
A handful of islanders on the Great Blasket produced three of the classics of modern Irish literature, then left the island for good in 1953. This Office of Public Works centre at Dún Chaoin tells their story with photographs, manuscripts, a recreated cottage and a clifftop platform facing the islands they left.
Valentia Island, kerry
Just off the Iveragh Peninsula, Valentia Island packs a remarkable amount into a small footprint. Walk or drive up Geokaun for the island's best view, trace the 1866 transatlantic cable landing at Foilhommerum, and climb to the Marian grotto above Ireland's oldest slate quarry.
Derrymore, kerry
Maharee Islands, kerry
Skellig Ring, kerry
Atlantic Ocean, kerry
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Reenard, kerry
Kenmare Bay, kerry
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