Blasket Islands

Dingle Peninsula


The Blasket Islands (Na Blascaodaí), 5km offshore, are the most westerly part of Ireland. At 6km by 1.2km, Great Blasket (An Blascaod Mór) is the largest and most visited. Day trippers come to explore the abandoned settlements, watch the seabirds, picnic on Trá Bán (a gorgeous white-sand beach near the pier) and hike the island's many trails.

Dingle Boat Tours and Blasket Islands Eco Marine Tours run seasonal boat trips. Confirm ahead as adverse weather can cause cancellations.

All of the Blaskets were lived on at one time or another; there is evidence of Great Blasket being inhabited during the Iron Age and early Christian times. The last islanders left for the mainland in 1953 after they and the government agreed that it was no longer viable to live in such harsh and isolated conditions, although today a few people make their home out here for part of the year.

Note there are no camping facilities on the islands; just a handful of self-catering cottages.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Dingle Peninsula attractions

1. Blasket Centre

3.5 MILES

This wonderful interpretative centre celebrates the rich cultural life of the now-abandoned Blasket Islands. It is housed in a striking modern building…

2. Fahan Beehive Huts

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Fahan, on the roadside 7.5km southwest of Ventry, once had some 48 drystone clochán beehive huts dating from AD 500, although the exact dates are unknown…

3. Famine Cottages

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The 1845-built Famine Cottages (6km southwest of Ventry) were once the home of the Kavanagh family, and the primitive furnishings and cooking utensils…

4. Dingle Peninsula Museum

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Set in a 19th-century schoolhouse, this local museum has displays on the history, geology, archaeology and ecology of the peninsula. It's in the centre of…

5. Reask Monastic Site

7.49 MILES

The remains of this 5th- or 6th-century monastic settlement are one of the peninsula's more evocative archaeological sites, with low stone walls among…

6. Gallarus Visitor Centre

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This privately owned visitor centre and car park is next to Gallarus Oratory. The only reason for paying the fee is to use the car park (the audiovisual…

7. Gallarus Oratory

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Gallarus Oratory is one of Ireland's most beautiful ancient buildings, its smoothly constructed dry-stone walls in the shape of an upturned boat. It has…

8. Kilmalkedar Church

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The Dingle Peninsula's most important Christian site, Kilmalkedar has a beautiful setting with sweeping views over Smerwick Harbour. Built in the 12th…

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