Far From the Madding Crowd

A trip to Dursey Island to climb the westernmost peak in the Slieve Miskish range is memorable. What other island offers a hair-raising arrival via cable car, the only one in Europe to cross open sea? Cnoc Bólais could easily be combined with climbing Lackacroghan, but check the daily cable car times (winter has a different timetable).

The cable car that takes 6 people, lifeline for the handful of islanders who live in 3 small hamlets, departs Ballaghboy and takes about 10 minutes to cross Dursey Sound where treacherous swells send the seaweed into an underwater frenzy and waves foam and snarl onto jagged rocks. Suspended in this tiny box, my eye caught a small vial of holy water and a copy of psalm 91, reassurance for travellers shaken to see the sinister swirling of the sea through gaps in the floorboards. A sign prohibiting the opening of the door mid-journey seems unnecessary! And to think that livestock were transported in this tin box until recent health and safety legislation confined this to history!

On Dursey follow the National Loop Walk signposts incorporating sections of the Beara Way and Dursey Loop, which traverses the hilly spine of the island returning along a sealed road passing through the hamlet of Kilmichael. Signposting is patchy so bring a map. The trail is moderate, eroded in places with some boggy sections and areas of slippery rock. Allow around 4 hours.

In 1841 Dursey supported 340 people. Many of the old homesteads nestled in the island’s valleys are deserted, unroofed and at the mercy of the elements, the patchwork quilt landscape of small stone walled field systems containing cattle and sheep and open hillside is chocolate box pretty. Save for one man who passed by in an ancient Land Rover held together by bits of blue rope, the place seemed unsettlingly deserted, far from the madding crowd indeed. The Napoleonic signal tower atop Cnoc Bólais is the island’s most prominent feature. Commenced in 1804 in the style of the medieval forts of O’Sullivan Beare, it was never completed. The views from here are awesome: the jagged canine-like Skelligs rise from the restless Atlantic, the lighthouse on Bull Rock gleaming in the sun like a cigarette stump; north, the inky grey peaks of the Iveragh peninsula; south, the ragged Mizen and Sheep’s Head peninsulas; east, the sinuous spine of the island bedecked in autumnal russets, beyond which lie the majestic fins of ribbed rock above a thin ribbon of coloured houses at Allihies.

Return to the cable car along the road via the cluster of cottages at Kilmichael, where rose scented lanes sport bright red hips the size of Japanese lanterns and startled chickens flee into the hedgerows. Leave the road to explore the graveyard and ruined St. Mary’s Abbey containing the vault of the O’Sullivan Beara clan, many of whom were massacred by the English in a field named ‘Pairc an Air’ (Massacre Field) during the C17th. From here it’s just a few minutes amble to the cable car. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1001/comment/14840/

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Spectacular Dursey

Once leaving the cable car on Dursey Island the best route is to take an immediate right and follow the Beara Way signs over the hills all the way to Dursey Head. On this route you will climb three peaks in total, the highest being the last one, Cnoc Bólais. An old watch tower sits at the summit and the views on a clear day are truly spectacular. All of Dursey stretches out behind you. Weather permitting, one can see all the way from Mizen Head to the Skelligs and beyond. From hear the path descends toward Dursey Head with yet more breathtaking seascapes taking in The Bull, The Calf and The Cow rocks. I sat for some time at the very tip of the island taking in the tranquility. The easiest return is via the gravel road which runs most of the islands length and sticks to the lower ground, though the views are just as impressive. A teriffic days walking taking around 4 hours in total. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1001/comment/6133/

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One island, zero pubs!

Heading over to Dursey Island is a novelty in itself as you get to cross over on Ireland's only cable car.There is the option to do a sort of a looped walk on the island. We went over the mountain trail which leads up to the signal tower on top of Cnoc Bolais. As good a place as any for a bit of lunch, then continue down to the western most side of the island which is worth it for the views. Then follow the low road back to the cable car. Great scenery and surreal to see all of the abandoned houses in contrast to the 10 still inhabited houses on the island. A must for anybody hiking the islands of Ireland. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1001/comment/20134/

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Where does the Cable Guy go?

Took the Cable Car out to Dursey Island, for a quick cicuit of the Beara Way and a visit to the summit of Cnoc Blais. Follow the Berra Way markers out and the road back.

Interestingly, the Cable Car does not run between 10.30 am and 2.30 pm & again between 4.30 pm and 7.00 pm. This caused much confusion to the hoards of tourists, who were awaiting on the Cable Car arriving back at the Ballaghboy side, whilst my wife and i sat munching some Green & Blacks chocolate, in the cable car on the Dursey side. And no, it was not Jim Carrey when he arrived! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1001/comment/6002/

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