West Cork Islands

Go on, get out there!

Activities

Bere Island Heritage Centre

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Bere Island Heritage Centre is the best place to learn more about Bere Island’s fascinating past

The heritage and information centre is the focal point for the conservation and enhancement of Bere Island’s unique heritage.

It is home to The Bere Island Experience Exhibition detailing the unique history and lifestyle of Bere Island, as well as temporary themed exhibitions throughout the year. It is an important reference, meeting, and information point for both islanders and visitors.

The craft shop showcases local books and crafts, and it’s a lovely place to stop for refreshments.

‘Bere Island Experience’ Exhibition

The absorbing exhibition gathers together artefacts and photos that tell the story of Bere Island and its fascinating military history. The Heritage Centre is also a great resource for anyone interested in exploring the old school rolls, or their island heritage. A range of geneaology books are available here if you’re looking to trace family links to Bere Island. The St Michael’s Graveyard Database is also stored at the Bere Island Heritage Centre.

Workshops and Courses

The Heritage Centre hosts school and group tours of Bere Island, and is a stop on the Bere Island Heritage Bus Tour. It also plays host to workshops, courses, and retreats throughout the year (see the Bere island events calendar).

The meeting room is available for hire, and Bere Island makes a wonderful backdrop to your West Cork event or workshop, offering a taste of island life to your visitors!

Office & Internet Facilities

If you’re looking for office services and internet facilities on Bere Island, you can call in to make use of internet access and printing services. If you’d like to try hot-desking on Bere Island, you’ll find this an idyllic base for your time working in West Cork. Office space can be hired on a hourly, daily or weekly basis.

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Walk on the West Cork Islands

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West Cork’s islands are home to a range of walks that encourage visitors to explore landscapes, seascapes, and communities on the westernmost edge of Europe.

Walkers are spoilt for choice on Bere Island, with routes of varying difficulty guiding visitors along picturesque byways and through more rugged terrain. The walks form part of the Beara Way and guide you past sites which reveal Bere Island’s rich military heritage. Guided heritage walks and bus tours are available throughout the summer, and, however you choose to explore Bere Island, the views back across Beara, the Slieve Miskish and the Caha mountains are simply breathtaking. Walks begin at both ferry points: Rerrin village (East End) accessible from the pontoon ferry, and Oileán na gCaorach (West End), accessible from Castletownbere.

Dursey Island – connected to the mainland by its famous cable car – is home to another Beara Way walk, and Whiddy Island is also linked to national walking trails, with a Sheep’s Head Way loop walk traversing the island. Just a short ferry ride from Bantry, the island is a wonderful place to take in views back across the harbour town, and over the Sheep’s Head and Beara peninsulas, with the Bank House pub forming a more than suitable starting and ending point for your journey.

The islands in Roaringwater Bay are all perfect destinations for walkers who want to escape into nature. Sherkin, Heir, Long, and Cape Clear islands are easy to reach from the mainland with ferries available variously from Baltimore and Cunnamore. Once you’re out there, marked trails and island paths weave their way around the islands which are havens for wildlife, wildflowers, and hikers alike.

Each island has its own distinct character and story to tell, and an island walk is the perfect way to learn more about these jewels on West Cork’s coastline.

For information on guided walks and walking weekends throughout the year, see our events calendar, or contact 027 75099. Bespoke tours, includine accommodations, meals and guides, can be organised for groups of eight or more.

Information on travel to the West Cork islands is available here.

Sherkin’s ‘Island of the Arts’ Tour

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Art Exhibition Sherkin

At a time when there’s a lot of talk about the hidden gems of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, Sherkin Island in Roaringwater Bay has something genuinely unexpected to offer.

The West Cork island is a thriving hub for artists: you’ll find gallery spaces in kitchens and bedrooms, as well as garden workshops and the island’s community hall here.

A visual art degree programme is even delivered on Sherkin Island by the School of Art, Design and Printing at the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Now as part of the Taste of West Cork Festival 2015 – and following on from a summer of local exhibitions – the islanders are running a day tour which will take you into Sherkin’s studios to meet the artists and see them at work.

It’s a great opportunity to connect with Sherkin’s creative community, and you’ll quickly see why people are inspired by the landscape of the island and the quality of West Cork’s light.

Spaces on the 12th September tour are limited, and early booking is advisable. Online booking is available, or contact Aisling on 087 7669657.

Whiddy Island joins the Bantry Blueway

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Bantry Blueway Whiddy Island

(see full-sized image here)

Bantry Bay Blueway has become Ireland’s first water-based trail, designed to tempt visitors out onto the waters of the Wild Atlantic Way to explore Bantry Bay and Whiddy Island.

The trail invites visitors out onto Bantry Bay to enjoy a host of activities like kayaking, paddleboarding and sailing available in the area. On Whiddy Island, and around the bay, you’ll find information boards with trail maps, safety details, and tips on equipment hire and tuition.

The three trails available are graded for beginners, intermediate, and advanced kayakers, so people of all ages and abilities can get out onto the water.

The famous bay runs approximately 35 km (22 mi) from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 miles) wide at the head, and 10 km (6.2 mi) wide at the entrance. Two of West Cork’s inhabited islands – Bere and Whiddy – are located within Bantry Bay.

The project has been developed over the last number of months by the Bantry Bay Port Company in partnership with Waterways Ireland, the Irish Sports Council National Trails Office, Canoeing Ireland, BIM and Fáilte Ireland. The Blueway is a welcome initiative that will help to draw more visitors out to Whiddy Island to make the most of their visit to the exhilarating Wild Atlantic Way.

Useful Information

Check out the Bantry Bay Blueway Guide here.

The Whiddy Island Pontoon and access gangway are suitable for craft of up to 3mtr draft. Full operating rules are available here. Contact the Harbour Office, Wolfe Tone Square, Bantry (+353 (0)27 53277 or harbourmaster@bantrybayport.com for details and charges.

For more details about exploring the Bantry Blueway from Whiddy Island, contact Tim O’Leary on 086 862 6734.

Bere Island Walking Weekends

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Bere Island Walking Weekends Ireland 2015

Bere Island, Co Cork is holding a series of Walking Weekends this autumn! The first will be held on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27st September 2015, with another taking place on 24th-25th October.  On a mellow autumn afternoon, there’s no better place to be than walking the hills of Bere Island.

Explore the length and breadth of this historic island, which was once a former strategic military base during WW1, and lies at the southern most reaches of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Bere Island is part of the Beara Way and, together with a series of looped walks and wild open terrain, offers up to 6 hours of continuous walking with spectacular scenery. The hills of Bantry Bay shelter the southern side of the island and flanking the northern side is the rugged Caha Mountain range.

Bere Island caters for all levels of walker, and the walking weekends are perfect for anyone looking to meander along quiet roads and lanes, and for those seeking a more challenging walk through open heathland. Guided walks will be available over the Bere Island walking weekends. A local historian who will lead walkers to Ardnakinna Lighthouse on the western most point of Bere Island, across the hills to the Holy Year Cross on the island’s highest point, carrying onto the standing stone which marks the centre of the island, before climbing up to one of two remaining Martello towers, and then back to Rerrin village.  

A second walk will take in the flatter, eastern loop of the island past military fortifications from WW1. Maps and suggested routes will also be available to those who wish to walk under their own steam. Wind down at the end of the day with a hot shower and a hearty, well-earned meal at your accommodation, and then finish off the day in one of the island bars.  

If you can play a musical instrument, bring it along and join in the session! For those who want to take in even more of this beautiful island, take an evening stroll and watch the sun set over the hills of Beara.

Book Now: Special Offer

For €120 pps – to include 2 nights B&B (Friday & Saturday night), one evening meal, 2 packed lunches and return ferry trip for foot passengers.

To book, please contact one of the accommodation providers involved in this offer:

Ardagh Holiday Village
Tel: 086 8091204

Bere Island Holiday Homes
Tel: 027 75995 / 021 437 2531/ 086 8845709

The Hotel
Tel: 027 75018 / 086 1628344

Lawrence Cove Lodge
Tel: 027 75988 / 086 1513612

Travel Details

Bere Island is approximately 2 hours by road from Cork City, and Cork Airport. Two ferry services ply between the island and mainland with numerous trips each day. For ferry details contact Bere Island Ferries 086 2423140 or Murphy’s Ferry 087 2386095.

Bus Éireann operate between Cork City Bus Station and Castletownbere. www.buseireann.ie A private bus service also operates between Cork City and Castletownbere contact Harrington’s Bus Service on 027 74003 / 087 2678388.

Birthday Celebrations Planned for Bere Island Parkrun!

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Birthday Invitation

The Bere Island parkrun reaches a major milestone on August 29th when its weekly parkrun reaches its first birthday

It’s a chance to reflect on a very successful year for the parkrun’s founders who are delighted to see it become part of the fabric of island life.

“So many people have supported us to make this work,” says John Walsh of the Bere Islands Projects Group, “from the ferry operators who make sure our runners get here on time and run a bus service to get people across from the island’s west end, to the volunteers who help with the marshalling and the practicalities of recording each runner’s time.”

“The islands minister Joe McHugh, and Noel Harrington TD, have given us great support too, and we couldn’t have got the project off the ground without fantastic help from the Cork Sports Partnership, the HSE (Healthy Ireland) and Matt Shields, the parkrun Ireland manager.”

The free weekly timed 5k event has attracted some formidable runners over the last 12 months including Irish Olympians Sonia O’Sullivan and John Treacy – CEO of the Irish Sports Council – and parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt. Running groups from Dublin and London have travelled to West Cork to take part, and the parkrun has provided a welcome boost to the island’s tourism industry as regular runners from across the world look to add unusual destinations to the list of places where they’ve completed their weekly run.

The Bere Island parkrun – one of three in Cork alongside events in Clonakilty and Macroom – recently broke the 100-runner barrier in style, with 140 participants, including tourists and islanders, taking part on the last Saturday of July. The numbers reflect a growing interest in running, evident in the numbers of people who took part in West Cork Island Run Series events on Bere, Cape Clear, Whiddy and Sherkin islands.

“The event is going from strength to strength,” says John, “but we wouldn’t be making that progress without the help we get each week from our volunteers.”

“The beauty of the parkrun is that everyone can take part”, says Carol Murphy who organises the event’s volunteer rota each week. “It brings islanders and non-islanders, young and old, runners and walkers together. There’s always a great atmosphere, particularly after the event when everyone rewards themselves with tea and scones at the Bere Island Bakehouse!”

“We’re hoping to have a great crowd on the 29th August to help us celebrate our first birthday in style.”

To take part, register at http://www.parkrun.ie/bereisland/. Once you have registered, bring your barcode to the parkrun event on Bere Island, or to any of the parkrun events on offer worldwide. See the West Cork Islands events calendar at https://westcorkislands.com/calendar for details.

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