Overview
Glashedy Island is an uninhabited quartzite outcrop sitting about a mile off Pollan Strand, on the north-west coast of County Donegal, roughly 6 km south of Malin Head. It is a townland in its own right, within the civil parish of Clonmany, but nobody lives on it and nobody really lands: the sea around it is genuinely dangerous, with rocks and breakers running as far as 1,000 metres out on every side and shoals to the north lying in barely three fathoms. So this is a landmark to admire from the shore, not an island to visit. Seen from Ballyliffin it is unmistakable – a dark, near-treeless wedge rising to about 36 metres out of the Atlantic.
History and lore
It has not always been called Glashedy. The island was Seale Island until the early 17th century, appears as ‘Glasseve’ in the Civil Survey of 1654, and only takes its present name in Crow’s maps of the Donegal estates in the late 1760s.
Its exposed rocks have wrecked ships. On 24 November 1841 the schooner James Cook, running from Sligo to Glasgow with a cargo of oats, struck near Glashedy and broke up. The master and nine of the crew drowned. One man, James Fitzgerald, managed to scramble onto the island and clung on for two days before he was taken off by the coastguard from Rockstown, at Urris. Another vessel, the Harmony, was lost on the same rocks in January 1845.
The island also had a quieter, more profitable use. Through the 19th and early 20th centuries its caves served as a hide-out for poitín-making, and in August 1900 a combined RIC and Coast Guard party rowed out and found a cave fitted up as a still-house – several hundred gallons of ‘wash’ (the fermented mash distilled into poitín), the distilling gear, and a store of fuel and provisions to keep the operation going.
Then there is the folklore. A local tale holds that a magic island appears between Glashedy and Pollan Strand once every seven years. If a mortal can throw a handful of clay and strike it, the island will stay above water for good and pass into their possession – but take your eyes off it while you stoop for the clay, and it vanishes again.
The island itself
Glashedy is all quartzite, treeless and battered, its cliffs dropping straight to reef-strewn water. There is a small sandy beach on the western side, oddly bright against the dark rock. The island has been grazed by sheep on occasion, and the waters around it were once worked for seals; otherwise it is left to the weather and the tide. That bareness is much of its appeal for photographers – nothing on it competes with the sky, the sea and the changing light.
Where to see it from
The obvious and easiest view is from Pollan Strand and the Ballyliffin dunes, where the island sits square on the horizon. For a higher vantage, the Wild Alpaca Way farm on the Knockamany Bens, above Malin Head, looks out over Glashedy along with Five Finger Strand, Malin Head and the Isle of Doagh. The farm, run by John McGonagle and family since 2019, offers guided alpaca walks over its high ground; it is working farmland rather than a surfaced trail, so wear proper footwear and expect a bit of a climb.
On landing: don’t. The reefs make the approach hazardous even for local boats, and there is nothing on the island to reach. Admire it from the coast.
Getting there and practical tips
The Wild Alpaca Way sits near Malin Head, at the northern tip of the Inishowen Peninsula, reached by car off the R238. There is parking on the farm. In the busy summer months it is worth ringing ahead to check availability, as the walks and the seasonal café keep variable hours.
Contact details
- Phone: (00353) 87 666 5106
- Email: wildalpacaway@gmail.com
- Social media: @wildalpacaway on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram
- Nearest town: Carndonagh (about 8 km south)
Couples wanting a symbolic ceremony with the island as a backdrop can contact celebrant Catriona Doherty at (00353) 87 816 5962 or catrionadohertyfreelance@gmail.com.
Nearby
Pollan Bay, a few kilometres away, draws windsurfers and kite-surfers to its long sands. Malin Head and Five Finger Strand are both within easy reach for a coastal walk, which makes for a full day tracing the top of Inishowen with Glashedy in view for much of it.