Overview
Valentia’s lighthouse was built inside a Cromwellian fort. When engineers put up the white tower at Cromwell Point in the late 1830s, they reused the ramparts of Fleetwood Fort, thrown up in 1653 to guard the harbour mouth – so the star-shaped fort walls, two old cannon and the 19th-century lighthouse now share one compound at the north-eastern tip of Valentia Island. It’s a stop on the Skellig Coast stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way, and from the balcony on a clear day you can see across to Skellig Michael and the Blasket Islands.
A layered history
The fort came first. Fleetwood Fort was built at Cromwell Point in 1653; state papers record repairs through the 1660s before it was stood down in 1669. Nearly two centuries later the site was chosen for a harbour light. Maurice Fitzgerald, the Knight of Kerry, applied for one in 1828, Trinity House sanctioned it in 1837, and the cut-stone tower – built into the old fort walls to save on the work – was first lit on 1 February 1841.
The light was automated in 1947 with a carbide-water acetylene generator, and electrified in 1966. Its character today is Fl WR 2s – a half-second flash every two seconds – with the white beam carrying 17 nautical miles and a red sector warning ships off the rocks out to 15.
Older still is the standing stone inside the grounds: a 3.4-metre Bronze-Age monolith known as Glanleam. Nearby, a set of fossilised tetrapod footprints record some of the earliest four-legged animals known to have walked on land in Ireland.
Visiting the lighthouse
The lighthouse opened to visitors in 2013, run as a community partnership between the Valentia Island Development Company, Kerry County Council, the Commissioners of Irish Lights and the South Kerry Development Partnership. A guided tour takes in the fort, the standing stone and the restored keeper’s house, which now holds a small museum and a tearoom in the old kitchen serving homemade cakes.
The climb is the thing. A granite spiral stair leads up to the lantern room and out onto the balcony for the full 360-degree sweep of the Iveragh Peninsula, the Atlantic and the islands. It’s genuinely worth doing – but the steps are steep and narrow, so it isn’t for anyone with limited mobility or very young children. Downstairs, the visitor centre covers the lighthouse machinery and the transatlantic telegraph cable that came ashore on Valentia in 1866, connecting Ireland with Newfoundland. Collecting a stamp here counts towards the Great Lighthouses of Ireland passport.
The exposed headland is good for seabirds: puffins, razorbills and kittiwakes nest on the stacks nearby and can be watched from the balcony or the tearoom window. A short drive away, Geokaun Mountain gives the island’s highest views over Dingle Bay, and kayak and paddle-board operators run from Knightstown in summer if you want to see the fort from the water.
Practical information
- Opening hours: daily 10.00–17.30 (last entry 17.00), 2 March to 1 November. Closed November to February. It’s an exposed spot, so high winds can shut it at short notice – check before setting out.
- Admission: adults €8.50, seniors and students €7.50, children up to 12 €5.00, family (2 adults + 3 children) €25.00, groups of 10 or more €6.00 per person. Booking online adds a small fee.
- Getting there: Valentia Island is reached by the bridge from Portmagee or the seasonal ferry from Reenard Point. The road out to Cromwell Point is narrow and steep, and signposted from Knightstown.
- Parking: free parking at the lighthouse; at busy times there’s more parking about 200 m before the site, opposite the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
- Booking: worth pre-booking in peak season to be sure of a slot.
Come on a clear day if you possibly can. The view is the whole point, and it’s the first thing the weather takes away.