Beara Peninsula
Rugged Peninsula Shared By Cork And Kerry, With The Ring Of Beara Loop, The Healy Pass And Ireland'S Only Cable Car, To Dursey Island; Part Of The Wild Atlantic Way · Castletownbere, Cork
The Beara Peninsula is the long, rocky finger of land between Bantry Bay and the Kenmare River, shared by Cork and Kerry, and the Ring of Beara is the driving loop around it. It is the quieter sister of the Ring of Kerry to the north: bare mountains of the Caha and Slieve Miskish ranges, small fishing ports, painted villages and stone circles, and far fewer coaches. The highlights are the Healy Pass, a road of hairpins over the county border with views down to Glanmore Lake; Glengarriff and the island gardens of Garinish; Castletownbere, one of the biggest fishing ports in Ireland; the old copper mines and bright houses of Allihies; and, at the western tip, Ireland's only cable car, swinging over a rough sound to Dursey Island. People come for scenery without the crowds, for walking on the Beara Way and for the wild far end of Ireland. The honest caveats: roads are narrow, public transport is thin, the weather is often wet and misty, and you need a car and a full day at least.
The Ring of Beara loop from Glengarriff or Kenmare via Adrigole, the Healy Pass, Castletownbere, Allihies and Eyeries; Dursey cable car at the western tip, Castletownbere, Cork, Ireland
A drive open all year, best from April to October. The Dursey cable car runs daily on set hours that are longer in summer, with priority for islanders and livestock and long summer queues - confirm current hours. Garinish Island ferries and gardens run roughly April to October (confirm). The Allihies Copper Mine Museum is seasonal (confirm). Glengarriff is about 1.5-2 hours by car from Cork city; Kenmare is about 30 minutes from Killarney. Buses reach Glengarriff and Castletownbere only a few times a day - confirm. Book rooms early in July and August.