Overview
Inishbofin (Irish Inis Bó Finne, ‘Island of the White Cow’) lies off the County Galway coast, sheltered behind Cleggan Bay, roughly 10 km out. It runs about 5.5 km long by 3 km wide, with around 180 people living here year-round. Cars stay on the mainland: this was Ireland’s first Eco Certified island, and the working assumption is that you swap the engine for a bike and let the ferry timetable set the pace of the day.
Getting to the island
The Inishbofin Island Discovery ferry runs from Cleggan Harbour, three times a day in summer and once a day in winter, a crossing of 30 to 40 minutes. From Galway City, Citylink buses connect with the morning sailing. Cars don’t cross, but there’s paid parking at Cleggan, either the private lots near the pier or the County Council car park a bit further back; a taxi from Clifden to the pier takes about 15 minutes and runs €10–15. You can bring a bike across for €10, or hire one on the island from Kings Bicycle Hire, which does mountain and hybrid bikes with helmets and route maps.
A harbour worth fighting over
People have been on Inishbofin for thousands of years, but the harbour is the reason it kept ending up in the history books. In the 7th century Saint Colmán founded a monastery here that lasted into the 10th; the medieval church ruin in the graveyard above the sea, variously dated to the 13th or 14th century, is what remains of that lineage.
The pirate queen Grace O’Malley (Gráinne Mhaol) is said to have used Dún Gráinne on the western cliffs in the 16th century, even stringing an iron chain across the harbour mouth, though the fort’s foundations are centuries older than her. During the Confederate Wars of the 1640s the harbour served as a strategic supply base, held by a garrison under the Earl of Clanricard. Then in 1652 Cromwell’s forces took the island and built the star-shaped Cromwell’s Barracks at the harbour entrance, using it as a prison for captured Catholic clergy. His troops felled every tree for timber and fuel, and the salt air stopped anything growing back, which is why the island is bare to this day.
Walking and cycling
The terrain is flat and forgiving. Three waymarked loops run from the pier:
- Westquarter Loop (8 km, about 2 hours) passes Inishbofin’s blowholes, one of the few in Ireland, and Trá Gheal beach.
- Cloonamore Loop (8 km, 2 hours) skirts East End Bay and St Colman’s ruins.
- Middlequarter Loop (5 km, 1.5 hours) opens up views to Achill and the Twelve Bens.
On the water, guided sea kayaks and paddleboards go out from the harbour, and dive clubs use some of the clearest coastal water in the country. Dumhach Beach and East End Bay both hold Green Coast awards.
Wildlife
Stags Rock has a resident seal colony, with a quieter group near Inishgort. From April to July, birdwatchers come for puffins, Manx shearwaters, Arctic terns and the corncrake, one of Ireland’s rarest breeding birds. Early morning and late afternoon are best, especially when the tide drops and the rock pools open up.
Food, music and island life
For its size, Inishbofin eats and drinks well: a handful of restaurants and bars, from waterfront dining at The Beach and the family-run Doonmore Hotel to the Inishwallah food bus and its Asian-Irish coastal cooking. Trad sessions run year-round and spill out the pub doors in summer. The Heritage Museum, open since 1998 in ‘the store’ at the old pier, is worth an hour on a wet afternoon: island houses, fishing and farming gear, and more than 200 photographs. This is a football island too, host of the All-Ireland Islands tournament in 2008 and 2017, and home of Galway senior goalkeeper Ruairí Lavelle. The year’s set-pieces are the Inishbofin Arts Festival in early May and the Bia Bó Finne Food Festival in October.
Practical notes
- Time the barracks with the tide. Cromwell’s Barracks is only reachable safely at low water, so check the tables before you set out.
- Book the ferry ahead in peak summer; capacity is limited.
- Pack waterproofs and a layer. The coastal paths are exposed and the weather turns fast, even in July.
- There’s no central booking desk for beds, so contact guesthouses and self-catering hosts directly.
- Leave no trace: as an Eco Certified island, it runs on visitors sticking to paths and taking waste home.
Hire a bike at the pier, take the Westquarter loop out to the blowholes, and time the run back so you can walk out to the barracks on the ebb tide.