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O’Malley Ferries Ltd. is proud to welcome you to our Clare Island home to share these wonders and the great Clare Island hospitality. Céad Míle Fáilte! |
Clare Island’s magnificent silhouette dominates the Atlantic horizon in Clew Bay, County Mayo.
Located at a convenient distance of 3 miles (5 kilometres) from Roonagh pier on the Mayo mainland, Clare Island’s spectacular natural beauty and unique history and culture makes it a highlight of any trip to the west of Ireland. |
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Clare Island’s beautiful sandy beach, surrounding the main harbour and Granuaile's Castle, is our greatest natural amenity.
This beach was awarded the “Blue Flag” for safe and clean beaches, which makes it an ideal playground for children, and provides for safe swimming. Clare Island Beach was also awarded the “Green Flag” for water safety and quality and it is the only offshore island in Ireland and UK to have both these flags. |
Clare Islands' remarkably varied terrain offers the ideal territory for both serious hill-walkers and the casual visitor out for a stroll.
One of the most pleasant ways to explore Clare Island is with a bicycle on the many beautiful paths and boreens.
Bicycles are available for rent at the harbour on Clare Island.
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On the West and North sides of Clare Island, the spectacular Cliffs offer the Bird-watcher a wonderful opportunity for viewing nesting sea-birds.
The most numerous of the island's seabirds today are kittiwake, fulmar, guillemot and the greater black-backed gull.
Clare Island is a site of international importance for the chough. It is not uncommon to see flocks of fifty or more birds at the western end of Clare Island.
Clare Island is Ireland's fourth and newest gannetry. One pair of gannets began breeding on a low stack northeast of the Tower since 1975. Breeding has continued ever since despite the unusually isolated and exposed position of the site. There are now three pairs breeding. Gannets can often be seen feeding between Clare Island and Roonagh. |
Ravens and peregrines nest on the northern and western cliffs. The cliffs and the western end of Clare Island in Toremore, are also important for barnacle geese which use them as important winter feeding.
Quite recent breeders are cormorants on Beetle Head, Shags breed from the lighthouse around to the south-east coast.
Visitors include: great northern diver, common and arctic terns, glaucos gull (rare), as well as a gyr falcon which was a very rare visitor in 1996.
Puffins still breed but in very small numbers as well as the black guillemot. Herring gulls, Greywagtail, reed bunting, sedgewarbler, linnets and grass hopper warbler are breeders as well as snipe. The latter can be heard drumming in the northern and eastern parts of Clare Island. Other breeding wading birds include ringedplover, oystercatcher and common sandpiper. Turn-stones and purple sandpipers are winter visitors. The numbers of blackbirds and robins have increased noticeably, perhaps due to the increase of vegetation cover now being planted near houses.
Swifts breed in large numbers, stone chats are very common; skylarks are not uncommon. Of the passerines, the commonest are meadow pipit and wheatear. A colony of treesparrows has established itself since 1982.
Kestrel, sparrow hawk, and peregrine are Clare Island's birds of prey: the peregrine nesting in a traditional eyrie in the cliffs at the western end, near the Tower on Clare Island.
There are a large numbers of lapwings. |
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A variety of other things-to-see, such as megalithic court tombs, stone-age cooking sites, holy wells and doon forts await you on Clare Island.
Clare island possesses one of the most diverse geologies in all of Europe and incidentally is the location of Ireland’s oldest fossil. In 1909, the first major biological survey in the world of a specific area began on Clare Island. It was coordinated by the famous naturalist, Robert Lloyd Praeger.
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What makes Clare Island particularly important is its structure which is dominated by a ridge running from east to west that reaches 1520 feet at Croaghmore. This ridge forms precipitous cliffs on the seaward side, which are an important site for breeding sea birds. The landward side of the ridge is a steep, heathery slope that is home to a variety of rare arctic – alpine flora. It is these two factors that make Clare Island an area of international scientific importance.
Clare Island has a long history of habitation dating back to, at least, 3500 B.C. Clare Island’s undulating landscape is everywhere marked by remains of tillage from pre - famine times when its population reached its greatest number – 1,700 people in 1841. The rich archaeological history of Clare Iisland can be viewed in the Iron Age huts and field systems, 10 promontory forts, 45 fulachta fiadh (or burnt mounds) & a 5000 year old court cairn.
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The Clew Bay Archaeological Trail has signposts to some of these sites for your exploration. |
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O'Malley Ferries, Strake, Clare Island, Westport, Co.Mayo. Eire.
Tel: +353 98 25045 Fax: +353 98 26976
Mob: +353 86 6000204 / +353 86 8870814
Email: enquiry@omalleyferries.com |
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