A day trip to Ireland’s Eye
After the successful trip to the National War Memorial Gardens back in February, Peter Donegan’s garden group had a second outing last Sunday to Ireland’s Eye. The island is just a mile off the coast of Howth, spanning 53 acres, and is inhabited by a whole host of of birds including these very pretty puffins:
Apart from the birds, the island holds the ruins of a Martello Tower (see above) and an 8th century church, as the island was formerly a monastic settlement.
Ireland’s Eye is perfect for a day out in the summer, its not too big or high that even the most unfit will find it very manageable to make their way round. Although I’d recommend boots or some ankle protection as the island consists mostly of mossy grass, and if you diverge from the path you can quickly get caught up in nettles and thorns – these are unavoidable if you’re visiting the church ruin.
The island can be accessed by ferry from Howth east pier. The ferry runs from 10.30am to 6pm, takes 15 minutes and is €15 return with discounts for children and families – see islandferries site. Howth DART station is just a few minutes walk from the pier.
Apologies for the gratuitous over addition of images, they’re all so pretty I couldn’t cut any out. Photographs courtesy of Jennifer, Peter and Sarah.
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Lovely post, gorgeous pix!
The photos do look fab, I had no idea that Ireland’s Eye was quite so big-it looks a lot smaller from the pier ?
Cheers, clearly I’ve a good eye for fleecing other people’s photographs.
Niamh, it’s not that big at all, Peter’s coastal picture at the end there makes it look a lot bigger than it actually is.
Nice writeup and useful tips regarding brambles and thorns : )
Thanks for the link back too.