Overview
In 1866 the first lasting telegraph cable across the Atlantic came ashore at Foilhommerum Bay on Valentia, and a message that had taken ten days by ship could suddenly cross in minutes. That cable ran for a century, and it is the reason this small Kerry island turns up in histories of the modern world. Valentia sits off the Iveragh Peninsula, joined to the mainland by the Maurice O’Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee, and for its size it holds a lot: a 360-degree mountain viewpoint, Ireland’s oldest slate quarry, fossil footprints older than the dinosaurs, and a lighthouse standing on a 17th-century fort.
If you only do one thing
Get up Geokaun Mountain. At 180 m it is the highest point on the island, there is a road to the top with an automatic ticket machine and a small fee, and on a clear day the view takes in the Skelligs, Dingle Bay and the line of the Fogher Cliffs dropping away below you. It is the one thing that works for all ages and abilities, and the one that best explains the island’s shape before you go exploring the rest.
The cable, and older history still
Valentia’s Irish name, Dairbhre, means ‘oak isle’; the anglicised ‘Valentia’ comes from Béal Inse, the mouth of the island. Its position on the edge of the Atlantic made it the natural place to land the cable in 1866, joining Ireland to Heart’s Content in Newfoundland – the site is now on UNESCO’s tentative World Heritage list.
The island’s other claims are just as specific and odd. Fossilised tetrapod trackways on the north coast, discovered in 1993, were laid down about 385 million years ago and are among the earliest evidence of vertebrates walking on land. Charles Lindbergh made his first European landfall here in 1927 after his New York–Paris flight. And in 2021, Ireland’s first recorded walrus turned up asleep on the rocks.
Cromwell Point Lighthouse and fort
The Cromwell Point Lighthouse, built in the early 1840s to a design by George Halpin, is the island’s most photographed building. It has been restored and is open to visitors (around €5 for adults, €2.50 for children), and you can climb to the lantern for a straight look out at the Atlantic. It stands inside the ruins of a 1653 fort – Cromwell’s – with a blockhouse and old gun openings still in place, and a 3.4 m Bronze Age standing stone in the grounds that predates all of it by thousands of years.
The heritage centre
The Valentia Island Heritage Centre, in the old 1861 schoolhouse at Knightstown, is the best place to get your bearings on a wet morning. Three rooms cover island life and schooling, the sea and harbour, and the transatlantic cable, with real artefacts and the story of the people who laid and minded it. It is open April to September only, and doubles as the island’s tourist office. Adults €3.50, family €10.
The slate quarry and Marian grotto
Valentia’s slate quarry opened in 1816 and worked a distinctive purple stone that was shipped worldwide at its height – it was used in the British House of Commons, among other buildings. The quarry closed in 1911, was revived in the 1990s, and its stone is now being considered for international heritage-stone status. A short, uneven path climbs to a Marian grotto set into the rock about 30 m above the entrance, which gives the only public view down into the dark working faces. It is exposed to the wind up there, so bring a layer.
Walks and the coast
Beyond Geokaun, the pick of the walking is the Bray Head Loop at the western end – about 4.5 km, an hour to ninety minutes at a moderate pace, out to a ruined Napoleonic signal tower above the cliffs, with a small paid car park (around €2) at the start. The longer Cullum’s Cup Loop runs to about 7.9 km. Down near the lighthouse, Glanleam has a small, sheltered beach reached by a narrow lane; there is no car park, so it stays quiet.
Valentia Harbour and the old railway
Valentia Harbour is a sheltered inlet looking across to Cahersiveen, Beentee Mountain and the ruins of Ballycarbery Castle. On the far shore at Reenard Point, on the mainland, stood the old railway terminus – opened on 12 September 1893 and closed on 1 February 1960, and in its day the most westerly railway station in Europe. The platform, goods shed and interpretive panels survive at Valentia Harbour railway station, now on the route of the planned South Kerry Greenway. A 2002 slate memorial by the harbour marks the telegraph era.
Wildlife and gardens
The exposed coast is good for seabirds: guillemots and razorbills are common, with the odd puffin in summer, and grey seals haul out on the rocks below the cliffs, with dolphins in the deeper channels. Around Knightstown and at Glanleam, the Gulf Stream lets subtropical planting thrive – tree ferns, bamboo and tender shrubs that have no business growing this far north, sheltered behind the walls.
Getting there and around
- Getting there: cross the Maurice O’Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee by car year-round, or take the car ferry from Reenard Point near Cahersiveen. The ferry runs April to October, a five-minute crossing every ten minutes or so, with a last boat at 10pm in July and August; it does not run in winter.
- Opening times: these are seasonal, and catching people out is the island’s commonest trip-up. The lighthouse opens roughly early March to the start of November, daily, 10am–5.30pm (last entry 5pm). The heritage centre is April to September only. The quarry grotto, the harbour and the coastal walks are free and open all year.
- Getting around: you will want a car. Bus Éireann’s 279A links Killarney and Cahersiveen year-round, and Local Link Kerry’s 287A connects the island to the wider network, but services are sparse.
- Facilities and access: toilets and cafés are in Knightstown. Paths to the lighthouse, the quarry grotto and the cliffs are uneven and steep in places; boots and a waterproof are worth having whatever the forecast.
- Dogs: fine on the outdoor trails and around the harbour, but not inside the lighthouse or heritage centre.
Come early if you can. The best light on the cliffs and the harbour is mid-morning, once the coastal fog has burned off, and both Geokaun and the lighthouse are far better with the island to yourself.