Overview
For seven years a sitting Taoiseach kept a holiday house on Inishvickillane, and a declassified 1989 plan shows the Naval Service and Air Corps were ready to pluck him off it in an emergency. That tells you most of what you need to know about this island: it is remote enough that getting a head of government on or off it was a logistical problem. Inishvickillane (Irish: Inis Mhic Aoibhleáin, ‘Mac Killane’s island’) sits at the far western edge of the Blasket Islands, just off the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry. It covers roughly 83 hectares and rises to a modest 138 metres, all steep cliffs, windswept heath, maritime grassland and rocky shore. Locals call it ‘The Inis’, and it was long known as the last parish before America. One curiosity for the diary: it will be the first land in Europe to see the total solar eclipse of 23 September 2090.
Ancient ruins and early history
The island’s oldest layer is an early monastic settlement on the south-east coast. The unenclosed site holds the remains of a dry-stone oratory, a graveyard, a leacht with a stone cross, a possible beehive hut and a holy well dedicated to St Brendan. Its most famous feature was an Ogham-inscribed stone set into the oratory’s south wall, carrying the prayer OR DO MAC RUED U DALAC (‘A prayer for Mac-Ruaid, grandson of Dálach’). When it disappeared in 1902 the local papers cried vandalism. In fact it had gone to Trinity College Dublin for study, where it remains.
People lived here only on and off through the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Ó Dálaigh family were the last residents, leaving about 70 years ago. Their stone cabin, with its distinctive lattice windows, still stands alone on the slope. Their descendants still cross from the mainland each summer to graze sheep on the island’s thin pastures.
The Haughey years
Inishvickillane entered modern Irish politics in 1974, when Charles J. Haughey bought it as a private summer retreat and promised to leave its character alone. As Taoiseach he hosted guests here, the French President François Mitterrand among them.
The ownership drew both fascination and rows. In 1989 Haughey introduced legislation to make the whole Blasket archipelago a national park, with compulsory purchase powers; Mr Justice Declan Budd ruled the move unconstitutional in 1998. The same year’s State Papers, since declassified, set out that detailed contingency plan for the Naval Service and Air Corps to retrieve him from the island when government business demanded it.
Wildlife and natural heritage
The island is a stronghold for seabirds and, with four other Blaskets, forms a Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. In the breeding season, May to early July, the western promontories hold colonies of northern fulmar, European storm-petrel and Atlantic puffin. The waters around the island matter for grey seals too.
In 1980 Haughey put a herd of red deer ashore. It peaked at about 100 animals in 2005 and is now kept in check by private cullers to stop overgrazing. The gentle ground and mixed cover make for quiet landscape walking, but keep your distance from nesting sites and watch the sky – the weather here turns fast.
Getting there and practical information
- Boat access: there is no public ferry. You come by private boat, usually chartered from the fishing village of Dún Chaoin, occasionally from Valentia Island. Operators land visitors at the south-east landing area.
- Booking and timing: sea conditions around the Blaskets change quickly. Arrange a charter well ahead and confirm it on the morning of travel. Early crossings tend to find the calmest water.
- Facilities: none. No shops, cafés, toilets or accommodation. Bring all your food, water and supplies, and carry out everything you bring in.
- Admission: free. The island is privately owned, so respect property boundaries, leave the wildlife alone and don’t disturb the archaeology.
- Safety: cliffs and rocky shore can be slick. Wear sturdy footwear, check the tide tables before you land, and stay well back from nesting birds in the breeding season.
Nearby attractions
- Great Blasket Island: the most visited of the group, reached by seasonal ferry from Dún Chaoin, with marked trails, the ruined village and long coastal views.
- Slea Head Loop: the drive around the tip of the Dingle Peninsula, past archaeological sites, cliff viewpoints and the Gaeltacht village of Ballydavid.
- Dún Chaoin: the mainland departure point for Blasket tours, home to the Blascaod Centre, which holds the islands’ literary and cultural record.
- Annascaul: a village inland from the peninsula, known for its lake, trad sessions and links to the polar explorer Tom Crean.
If you can, aim for late spring or early summer to catch the seabirds at their busiest, and pack a waterproof layer whatever the forecast says. Confirm your boat the night before – it is the difference between a crossing and a wasted drive to Dún Chaoin.