Fabulous islands are in reach, just a short boat ride from the West Cork coastline!
Across Bantry Bay and Roaringwater Bay, you’ll find welcoming island communities, extraordinary stories and gorgeous land and seascapes to explore. So why not take a trip?
Welcome to the West Cork Islands
Seven inhabited islands and a garden paradise are strung like jewels along Ireland’s southwest coastline, just waiting for you to explore!
They’re the perfect places to immerse yourself in the communities, landscapes, seascapes, and heritage of beautiful West Cork. Each island is quite different in character from the next. Heir, Bere, Sherkin, Cape Clear, Whiddy, Dursey, Long, and Garnish islands are shaped by the Atlantic waves and their unique island stories. Each one is a fascinating place to experience Cork’s pure exhilarating beauty and the drama of the Wild Atlantic Way.
Take a walk on the West Cork Islands
Take a stroll along island lanes and across vivid landscapes that introduce you to the tranquility and unspoilt natural beauty of the West Cork islands. Dramatic views across Wild Atlantic bays and back to the mainland are sure to take your breath away!
Join us for festivals and events on the West Cork islands!
Find peace on an island retreat or immerse yourself in island life at one of our legendary festivals!
The West Cork islands welcome you to take part in the events we hold throughout the year. From storytelling festivals, art exhibitions, heritage walks, and open-air theatre to parkruns, yoga retreats, and sailing courses, there’s something for everyone across the water. Go on, get out there!
Win A Holiday on a Wild Atlantic Way Island
Be in with a chance to win an incredible holiday to one of 7 Wild Atlantic Islands around West Cork.
Every raffle entry gives you the chance to win one of the 11 holiday prizes, while also helping the Sherkin Island Community purchase the old National School.
Participating islands are Sherkin, Bere, Cape Clear, Dursey, Heir, Long & Whiddy Islands.
Bere Island Children’s Summer Camp 2022 will engage and entertain your children with a range of activities including sports, games and arts and crafts.
August 8th – August 10th 2022
Join this year’s Bere Island Children’s Summer Camp with a host of activities on the programme including arts, crafts and sports. This is a great opportunity for your children to explore new hobbies, make friends and create memories.
The Camp will be held at the GAA Pitch Rerrin and will run each day from 9:30 – 12:30pm
The summer camp is suitable for children aged 6 years to 12 years.
The cost is €5 per child with family discounts available.
For further details and to book contact Tim at timbipg@gmail.com or at 027 75099.
Bere Island Children’s Summer Camp 2022 will engage and entertain your children with a range of activities including sports, games and arts and crafts.
August 8th – August 10th 2022
Join this year’s Bere Island Children’s Summer Camp with a host of activities on the programme including arts, crafts and sports. This is a great opportunity for your children to explore new hobbies, make friends and create memories.
The Camp will be held at the GAA Pitch Rerrin and will run each day from 9:30 – 12:30pm
The summer camp is suitable for children aged 6 years to 12 years.
The cost is €5 per child with family discounts available.
For further details and to book contact Tim at timbipg@gmail.com or at 027 75099.
Heir Island Regatta is an annual fixture on the West Cork sailing calendar and gives visitors a great chance to see sailing skills in use.
The regatta is based at Heir Island Sailing School with the racing taking place within the sheltered waters of Roaringwater Bay. Across all ages, competition on the water is keen, but regatta day is not just about sailing — it is traditionally a day when people come to the island from the surrounding area to watch the action on the water, enjoy a picnic on the beach and join in the BBQ and festive atmosphere on shore.
A number of different types of yacht take part including the local Heir Island Sloops and Heir Island Lobster Boats in addition to smaller sailing boats and dinghies. A kayak race takes place from the shore.
Proceeds raised on the day go to the Baltimore Lifeboat Station and the Heir Island Community Council.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
13:00 – Registration at Heir Island Sailing School
13:30 – The regatta itself will begin with a Skipper’s Briefing at the Heir Island Sailing School
14:30 – Provisional Race Start
Prize Giving, Raffle and BBQ will follow race
ENTRY FEE (payable at Briefing)
Start times and course will be announced by the Race Officer
The following classes are invited to race:
Heir Island Lobster Boats – €20
Heir Island Sloops – €20
Dublin Bay Mermaids / NAT 18 – €20
Glenua 570s – €20
Topaz Dinghies – €10
Mixed Dinghies – €10
Kayaks will race from the shore – Free
Entry fee payable on registration
All participants do so entirely at their own risk
For more information about Heir Island visit their website
Join the Heir Island 5k Run August 11th 2022 and navigate from one end of the island to the other!
Registration Open
Suitable for all levels and abilities, this 5k Fun Run on Heir Island can be walked, jogged, or used as a test for your best time. You’ll enjoy taking in some spectacular scenery as the island offers you views across Roaringwater Bay, Long Island, Cape Clear, Fastnet and Sherkin.
Details
This event is open to everyone, whether you’re running, jogging, or walking, come along and enjoy the views. You will finish with plenty of time to stay and enjoy a picnic on this lovely island.
Car parking is available at Cunnamore Pier and the Heir Island ferry (5 mins) will run continuously on the day.
Free Run Series T-shirt when you pre-register online!
Other Information
The event is part of the West Cork Islands Run Series 2022
If you pre-register online you will receive an Active Islands Challenge t-shirt,
Your entry fee will will help to support the Heir Island Community Council, and the Fun Run is conducted in conjunction with the Cork Sports Partnership.
Bere Island Projects Group have programmed the following events for Heritage Week Bere Island.
National Heritage Week, an initiative by the Heritage Council, celebrates all things heritage. It brings together communities, families, organisations, cultural institutions, academics and enthusiasts, to build awareness about the value of heritage and support its conservation.
Event Listings
Heritage Week Bere Island
Recording Our Bere Island History
Thursday 18th August 2.30pm to 4.30pm
Location: Bere Island Heritage Centre
National Heritage Week runs from Saturday 13th August to Sunday 21st August
As part of the Burren Beo Trust’s Heritage Keepers programme, Bere Island Projects Group are recording an oral history of Bere Island, preserving the stories and voices of the island’s past for the future. For National Heritage Week 2022 we are launching Recording Our Bere Island History, making available a number of interviews that have already been recorded, outlining our ongoing plans for the project and members of the project will be on hand to give advice on best practice in recording an oral history interview.
Event Type
- An exhibition or display
- A training event or workshop
- A talk, conference or reading
- Suitable for families
- Car parking available
- Fully wheelchair accessible
- Vision impaired friendly
Wild Child Day at Lonehort Battery Bere Island
Saturday 20th August 1:00pm
Location: Lonehort Battery Main Gate
A guided tour for children (and their parents) of Lonehort Battery, Bere Island, the largest of seven gun batteries on the island. Surrounded by a deep, dry moat Lonehort Battery contains two coastal artillery guns, along with a network of underground tunnels. Led by licensed tour guides there will be lots of fun activities and the opportunity to learn about what life was like for those who were stationed at Lonehort during World War One. The battery is also home to a variety of wildflowers and butterflies and we will aim to see how many we can identify on our tour.
Booking is essential on 027 75099 or at bipginfo@gmail.com
Event Type
- A guided or specialist tour
- Suitable for families
- Specifically an event for children
- Car parking available
Enjoy a parkrun the Wild Atlantic Way when you join us on Bere Island for our weekly, timed 5k run!
The views across Bantry Bay are spectacular, and the event is suitable for all abilities: walk, jog or run and test yourself against your best time … It’s up to you!
The event takes place at the GAA club Rerrin village, Bere Island, Beara, Co. Cork, and it’s free to enter. To collect your time, you’ll need to be a registered parkrunner, and bring your barcode. You can register online here.
Every week we grab a post parkrun coffee in the Bakehouse cafe, Rerrin village, on the island – please come and join us!
Travel to the Bere Island parkrun
Two ferries run to Bere Island. One runs from the pontoon, just outside Castletownbere, into Rerrin village, just 5 minutes walk from the parkrun startline. It leaves at 8am during June, July and August only. See here for details.
The other leaves Castletownbere for the island’s West End at 9am each Saturday throughout the year. From there, you can join the weekly parkrun bus service. Call Colum on 086 2423140 to book the ferry and bus for a special deal of €10.
Accommodation
To find out more about accommodation available on Bere Island, see http://bereisland.net
Heritage Week | Whiddy Island
National Heritage Week runs from Saturday 13th August to Sunday 21st August
National Heritage Week, an initiative by the Heritage Council, celebrates all things heritage. It brings together communities, families, organisations, cultural institutions, academics and enthusiasts, to build awareness about the value of heritage and support its conservation.
Event Listings
She Gathered Seaweeds on the Seashore
13 August, 11:30am – 1:30pm
Location: Event begins on the strand by Whiddy Island’s pier at low tide
As part of Heritage Week | Whiddy Island “She Gathered Seaweeds on the SeaShore” will be led by Frances Gallagher, aquatic biologist, and Carrie O’Flynn, historical re-enactor and period costume maker.
Frances will share her knowledge of Bantry Bay’s seaweeds and their uses as food and soil improvers. She will then guide you in gathering small seaweed pieces for specimens. As the tide comes in, you will move to the marquee by Bank House for a practical session spreading the seaweed specimens on paper with careful guidance from Frances.
Carrie will show the equipment that Ellen would have used over 200 years ago and there will be images of Ellen’s seaweed specimens and drawings to examine.
More information available here.
This Heritage Week event is free & no booking required.
Ferries leave Bantry’s Main Pier at 11am, returning at 1:45pm, 3:45pm and 5:45pm. €6.50 return
Event Type
-
- A guided or specialist tour
- Suitable for families
Letters from the Sea:
Seaweed and cyanotype workshop
13 August, 3pm – 5pm
Location: Community Hall, Whiddy Island, Bantry
Inspired by the work of Anna Atkins (1799-1871), artist Sybille Neumeyer is inviting you to explore the poetic encounter of seaweed, water and light through cyanotypes (an early photogram technique using sunlight sensitive paper).
In dialogue with, and supported by the local community Sybille researched the protection of marine ecologies, climate change and relationships with the sea, while experimenting with sound recordings and algae in West Cork last year during the Glenkeen Garden “Art/ Nature” residency by Crespo Foundation. The Ellen Hutchins Festival is delighted that she has offered to run this very special workshop for them. Carrie O’Flynn, historical re-enactor, and Madeline Hutchins, researcher on Ellen, will also contribute to the session.
More Information available here.
Cost: €30 per person (plus ferry)
Places must be booked and paid for in advance
Event Type
- A training event or workshop
- Natural Heritage event
