Overview
For a wild island, Ireland’s Eye is remarkably easy to reach: a 15-minute ferry from Howth’s West Pier drops you on 54 acres of cliff and grassland that feel a long way from the city skyline you can still see across the water. The draw is the birds. Guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and puffins crowd the cliffs, gannets nest on the offshore stack, and grey seals haul out below – a nationally important seabird site less than half an hour from Dublin. There’s also an 8th-century church ruin, an 1803 Martello tower, and a 2.5 km loop walk that takes about two hours. The island (Inis Mac Neasáin in Irish) sits a mile off the Howth peninsula in County Dublin.
Getting there and ferry options
Boats leave from Howth’s West Pier, and there are three operators – but they don’t all do the same thing, so read before you buy:
- Ireland’s Eye Ferries: a one-hour tour on which landing on the island is possible. Adult €30, child €15.
- Island Ferries: a 45-minute tour that also lands on the island, with the last boat back at 18:00.
- Dublin Bay Cruises: a one-hour eco tour that circles the island without landing, from €20 – fine for young children or anyone with mobility limits, but no use if you actually want to walk the island.
If your plan is to land and do the loop, that means Ireland’s Eye Ferries or Island Ferries; the Dublin Bay Cruises trip stays on the water. Landing slots are limited to protect breeding birds, so groups in particular should book ahead. Arrive a good 15 minutes before departure.
What to see and do
- The Martello tower: built in 1803, one of the chain thrown up along this coast against a feared French invasion. It gives the best views back over Howth and the Dublin shore.
- Cill Mac Neasáin church ruins: the stone gables of an 8th-century monastic church, standing above the bracken – the reason the island carries the Mac Neasáin name.
- The Long Hole: a rock cleft on the east side, a fine viewpoint and, less happily, the scene of a famous Victorian murder (see below).
- The Stack and Carrigeen Bay: the sea stack on the north-east tip is where the gannets nest; the south-facing Carrigeen Bay has a small sandy beach with tide pools.
- The summit: a short pull to the island’s high point, 69 m, for a full circle of the Irish Sea, Dublin Bay and the city.
If you’ve only time for one thing after landing, walk out to the north-east tip for the gannet stack – the noise and smell of a working seabird colony is the thing you’ll remember.
History and lore
The name is a Norse-and-Irish mangling. The island was ‘Eria’s island’, and Viking settlers tacked on their word for island, ey, giving something like ‘Eria’s ey’ – later misheard and Anglicised into Ireland’s Eye. Around AD 700 three sons of Nessan, of the royal house of Leinster, founded the monastery here, and monks are thought to have made the Garland of Howth, an 8th-century gospel manuscript now held at Trinity College Dublin.
The island’s darker turn came in September 1852, when Maria Kirwan’s body was found at the Long Hole. Her husband, William Burke Kirwan, was convicted of her murder in a trial that gripped Victorian Ireland and is still argued over.
Wildlife and conservation
The seabird colonies are the point: guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, cormorants and gulls on the cliffs, puffins in the burrows, peregrine falcons overhead, and gannets out on The Stack. Grey seals breed below the cliffs. The puffins are the seasonal draw – the first of 2026 was recorded on 19 March – and they’re gone again by late summer.
The island carries a stack of protections: Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, proposed Natural Heritage Area, County Geological Site, and it lies within the Dublin Bay Biosphere. In practice that means one thing for visitors: keep to the paths and well away from nesting birds, especially in the ground-nesting season.
When to come:
- April–June: puffins and the start of the gannet breeding season; early mornings are clearest.
- July–August: grey seals most active around Carrigeen Bay – bring binoculars.
- September: migrating gulls and terns keep the skies busy.
Practical information
- Getting to Howth: the DART reaches Howth in about 25 minutes from the city centre, and it’s a five-minute walk to the West Pier. There’s parking near the pier if you drive.
- The walk: the loop is about 2.5 km and takes roughly two hours at a relaxed pace over uneven, rocky ground.
- Come prepared: it’s exposed and windy, so wear shoes with grip and a windproof layer. There are no facilities or toilets on the island – bring water and food, and take all your litter home.
- Tides: the south-facing beach at Carrigeen Bay can cut off at high tide, so check the tables before going down to the lower shore.
Nearby attractions
Back in Howth, you can extend the day with:
- The cliff walk and sea-stack views on the Black Linn Loop.
- Aideen’s Grave, the dolmen up on the Howth headland.
- The Bailey Lighthouse on the south-east point.
- A short drive north to Ardgillan Castle for its gardens and coast views.
Aim for a calm, dry morning: the crossing is short and the birds and light are both at their best early. And book a landing ferry rather than a cruise if walking the island is the whole reason you came.