Valentia Island

About this place

Valentia Island is one of Ireland's most westerly points, lying in Dingle Bay off the Iveragh Peninsula in south-west County Kerry, about 10 km in a straight line west of the town of Cahersiveen. It is about 11 km long and almost 3 km wide, the fifth-largest island off the Irish coast, and around 660 people live there. The island is linked to the mainland by a bridge at Portmagee, and a car ferry runs from Reenard Point to Knightstown, the main village, from April to October. Valentia was the eastern end of the first commercially successful transatlantic telegraph cable to Newfoundland in 1866, and cables operated from here for a hundred years. In 1992 fossilised tetrapod footprints from the Devonian period were found on its north coast, among the oldest signs of vertebrate life on land. The towering Fogher Cliffs drop into the Atlantic, the white Cromwell Point lighthouse stands on a rocky spit at the harbour mouth, and green fields and pastures cover the hills. From Geokaun Mountain and Bray Head the views on clear days reach the Skellig islands and the Dingle Peninsula. Exploring the island is free, and the weather changes quickly, so bring a rain jacket. The fossil footprints are reached down a short path; take care on the slippery rocks.