Dursey Island and Cable Car

The only way to reach this West Cork island is by crossing the Dursey Sound 26 meters above the sea on the only cable car in Ireland, which transports both human and cattle.

The island, 6.5 km in lenght and 1.5 km in width, sits at the westerntip of the Beara Peninsula, in West Cork. The island shows traces o pre-historic human presence and monks from Skellig Rock are said to have founded a monastic church on the island. However, the most infamous historic episode is bound to Oileán Beag (The Small Island), where in 1602 following the battle of Kinsale English soldiers set to fire and sword the island and its population.

A more recent site of interest is the signalling tower at the top of Dursey Island, built at the beginning of the 19th century during the Napoleonic Wars, this tower still stand as a landmark for hikers. Close to the island’s cable car station, instead, can be found a plaque in memory of four German soldier who died in 1943 in a plane crash Lutwaffe Junkers JU88.