The last lighthouse before America
Inishtearaght, the westernmost of the Blasket Islands off the Dingle Peninsula, holds the most westerly lighthouse in Europe – Iceland and the Azores aside. Its Irish name, An Tiaracht, means simply ‘the westerly’. From the lantern, 84m above the spring high-water mark, the light flashes white twice every twenty seconds and reaches 19 nautical miles out into the Atlantic; the next land that way is Newfoundland.
Set your expectations before you go: nobody lands here. As one writer put it, there are no tourists, no walking routes and no visitor centre on Inishtearaght – just a stark rock facing the full weight of the Atlantic. The lighthouse is seen from the deck of a boat, on a handful of weather-dependent sailings each season, and that is the whole experience. If the wildlife and the engineering are what pull you, it’s a remarkable few hours; if you want to set foot on a lighthouse island, this isn’t the one.
Siting a light on an impossible rock
Where to put a western light was argued over for years. From the 1840s the Ballast Board (Dublin’s lighthouse authority) and Trinity House in London disagreed: Trinity House favoured the Great Foze Rock further out, while the Ballast Board held that Foze was too exposed to survive winter gales and pressed for Inishtearaght. The Board of Trade settled it in the Ballast Board’s favour in 1863.
Building it was its own ordeal. Engineers had to blast a platform out of the rock and cut steps into the north and south faces just to land materials. The work took roughly six years, and the light was first lit on 1 May 1870 – the same day the upper light on Skellig Michael was switched off. Keepers and their families then lived out here in near-total isolation until the station was automated in 1988.
Europe’s steepest railway
The island’s strangest survival is a funicular railway – the steepest and shortest in Europe, at a 1.88:1 gradient over just 100 yards. Built in 1913–14 to haul the heavy fog-signal cylinders up from the landing, it ran on a 3ft 3in gauge track set into a concrete runway, powered first by an air winch and, from 1980, by a Lister diesel engine. The fog signal is long gone, but the rails and concrete are still there, rusting on the cliff – a piece of industrial archaeology in one of the least reachable spots in the country.
Wildlife
Inishtearaght matters for its seabirds. It carries internationally important breeding colonies of Manx shearwater and European storm-petrel, with Leach’s storm-petrel also recorded; puffins nest on the slopes too. The shearwaters and petrels are birds of the dusk, gathering offshore before coming in to their burrows after dark. Since April 2024 the island and its surrounding waters have been part of Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ireland’s first marine national park – a 70,000-acre reserve, most of it sea, that also takes in the Skellig Michael light. On the way out, the boat passes Great Blasket and one of Ireland’s largest grey seal colonies, and keeps watch for dolphins and the occasional whale.
Booking and tour information
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Departure points | Cahersiveen Marina and Knightstown, Valentia Island |
| Operator | Kerry Aqua Terra (vessel: Skellig Bounty) |
| Duration | About 3 hours |
| Price | €80 per person, age 10 and up. Maximum 12 passengers |
| Dates | Released through the season, set by weather and sea conditions |
| Booking | Advance reservation required via the operator’s website |
| Mobility | Not suitable for restricted mobility; you cannot land on the island |
| Facilities | Toilet on board; nothing on the island. Parking at the departure marinas |
Tours are entirely weather-dependent – the captain confirms timings in advance and will not sail if the Atlantic swell is too heavy, so build flexibility into your trip and don’t pin a single day on it.
Practical tips
- Bring: a waterproof jacket, non-slip shoes for the deck, binoculars and a zoom lens. Spray and wind are constant out here.
- Light: morning sailings tend to give the clearest light on the eastern cliffs for photography.
- Sea sickness: if you’re prone to it, take something beforehand – the open crossing can be lively even on a settled day.
- No landing: the visit is a viewing cruise. The closest you’ll stand to the tower is the rail of the boat.
Nearby
- Blasket Islands: the same waters hold the rest of the archipelago, and most sailings pass Great Blasket, with its cliffs, ruined village and bird colonies.
- Valentia Island: the Knightstown departure point is worth time in its own right, with the Skellig views and the island’s own maritime history.