Use the black arrows at the top to move through this guide. Each stop on the tour has its own page with these buttons:
- Discover – read the story of the place.
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At the bottom, you can listen to the audio guide instead of reading.
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Enjoy the tour and if you have any questions, just ask the crew!
Welcome aboard and thanks for joining the trip. As we head out from Portmagee into the Harbour, you’re travelling through waters shaped by centuries of fishing, trade, and exploration. This channel has carried monks on their way to Skellig Michael, smugglers hiding their cargo, and scientists laying the first telegraph cables across the Atlantic. Every headland and island has its own story, passed down through generations of people who lived and worked along this coast.
The landscape changes constantly with the weather, from bright calm mornings to misty days when the islands seem to appear out of nowhere. Whatever the conditions, there’s always something to see. During the tour, you’ll hear about the history, wildlife, and landmarks that make this one of the most interesting and distinctive corners of Ireland, where old traditions, natural beauty, and local life all meet on the edge of the Atlantic.
Lifejackets: SOLAS-approved, stored inside the wheelhouse; additional personal flotation lifejackets available on request.
Life Rings: Two orange lifebuoys mounted on the roof of the wheelhouse.
Liferaft: Stored at the rear of the boat, automatically inflates if deployed in an emergency.
EPIRB (Emergency Beacon): Mounted on the wheelhouse exterior, transmits distress signal directly to the Coast Guard.
Flares: Kept inside the wheelhouse, accessible to the crew.
Fire Extinguishers: Located in the wheelhouse and near the engine compartment.
First Aid Kit: Stored in the wheelhouse - ask the crew
VHF Radio: Equipped with Digital Selective Calling (DSC) for direct contact with Valentia Coast Guard.
Your safety is our top priority throughout the trip. SOLAS-approved lifejackets are stored inside the wheelhouse, with personal flotation lifejackets also available on board. You don’t need to wear one during the tour, but if you’d prefer to, please ask the crew.
Two life rings are mounted on the roof of the wheelhouse, and a liferaft is stored at the rear of the boat, ready to automatically inflate if deployed in an emergency. The boat is also fitted with fire extinguishers, a first-aid kit, and marine radio equipment for direct contact with the Coast Guard. While on board, please remain seated when the boat is moving, hold onto handrails if you stand, and avoid leaning over the sides. If you feel unwell or have any concerns, please let the skipper or crew know immediately.
Formerly called An Caladh (“the ferry”), the area served as the main crossing to Valentia Island and appeared on early maritime charts.
In the early 1700s, it became known as Portmagee after Captain Theobald Magee.
Magee’s marriage to Bridget Morgell of Dingle’s merchant family established the name locally.
The “Old Year” festival, first held in 1727 after a visit from a French ship, remains an annual New Year’s Eve tradition.
Fishing and trade expanded through the 18th–19th centuries; the pier was extended in the late 1800s.
The name Portmagee appears in 19th-century official records
Population (2022): 116 permanent residents
Portmagee is one of the most colourful and welcoming villages on the Kerry coast. The bright houses along the harbour make it look almost like a postcard come to life. Today, it’s known for its seafood, music, and friendly pubs, but its story began with a touch of adventure. The village is named after Captain Theobald Magee, a former soldier who turned to smuggling in the early 1700s. He made his fortune moving brandy, silk, and tobacco through these waters, often under the noses of the customs men. The authorities were not too pleased about it, but the locals respected him immensely, viewing him as a Robin Hood type figure who looked after his own community in difficult times.
After his death, the Magee family remained in the area, and over time the harbour became known as Magee’s Port or Portmagee. Those bold beginnings still shape the village’s character today, a place that keeps its sense of adventure while greeting visitors with the same warmth and charm it always has.
1911: First campaign launched for a fixed bridge to Valentia Island.
1914–1950s: Plans delayed by the two world wars and funding shortages, though local committees kept lobbying for decades.
Late 1960s: Government finally approved construction, backed by Kerry County Council and island residents.
1971: Bridge completed and opened as the Maurice O’Neill Memorial Bridge, named after a local man executed in 1942 for republican activities.
Built of reinforced concrete and steel, spanning about 300 metres with a rotating swing section for vessels, unused since 2004.
Carries two lanes of traffic, giving a permanent, year-round road link between Valentia Island and the mainland.
Before the bridge was built, the only way to reach Valentia Island was by ferry across the narrow channel near Portmagee. The service carried people, livestock, and supplies, but strong tides and bad weather often brought travel to a halt. The need for a permanent link grew over time, leading to the construction of the Maurice O’Neill Memorial Bridge, named after a local man executed in 1942 for his involvement in republican activities.
The bridge opened in 1971 and marked a major step forward for the island, transforming daily life, trade, and tourism. It is about 300 metres long and made of reinforced concrete with steel supports resting on solid columns anchored into the channel floor. At its centre is a rotating swing span designed to open for larger boats, though it has not operated since 2004 due to mechanical issues. Smaller fishing boats, and boats like the one you are on now, can still pass safely underneath it at low tide.
1854: Valentia chosen as the European terminal for the first transatlantic telegraph link.
1866: A permanent connection established between Valentia and Heart’s Content, Newfoundland, Canada.
1868: The Cable Station built and run by the Anglo-American Telegraph Company.
1890s: Valentia site expanded with workshops, signal rooms, and staff housing for more than 50 workers.
1923: Telegraph operations upgraded with improved cable insulation and repeaters.
1966: Centenary celebrated
1969: Telegraph service closed as satellite links replaced cables.
2016: 150-year anniversary prompted a UNESCO World Heritage nomination for the Valentia site.
Along this part of the shoreline are the stone buildings of the old Valentia Cable Station, a site that helped change how the world communicated. In 1866, after several years of failed attempts, engineers successfully laid a telegraph cable from Valentia Island to Heart's Content in Newfoundland, Canada. For the first time, messages could travel between Europe and America in minutes instead of weeks by ship.
The project involved local workers and international engineers using ships, reels, and new technology that pushed the limits of the time. Inside these buildings, operators tapped out Morse code carrying news, trade details, and personal messages across the ocean floor. The work here made Valentia one of the most connected places on Earth. The buildings you can see here today are the same ones used more than 150 years ago, now serving as homes but still marking an incredible moment in global history.
c. 7th century: Founded as an early Christian monastic site, likely serving monks travelling toward Skellig Michael.
10th–12th centuries: Continued use as a small hermitage and burial place.
17th–20th centuries: Island reused as a burial ground for infants, known locally as a cillín.
1950s: Archaeological interest first recorded; early surface surveys noted chapel remains.
1988–1992: Formal excavations by the National Monuments Service uncovered stone structures, brooches, tools, and shell deposits.
2001: Designated a Recorded Monument and placed under heritage protection.
Its name comes from the Irish “Oileán Lócháin,” meaning the Island of Lóchán. Although the island covers less than half an acre, it holds over a thousand years of history. It was home to an early Christian monastery dating back to around the seventh century, almost a millennium before the village of Portmagee was established.
A small community of monks lived here in stone huts, seeking prayer and solitude, and it is believed the island served as a spiritual stop-off for monks preparing themselves for the sea journey to Skellig Michael. The chapel and burial ground were built carefully by hand from local stone, and the remains can still be seen today. Archaeological excavations have uncovered brooches, tools, shells, and small graves that reveal details of daily life and worship. Long after the monks were gone, the island continued as a burial place for infants and remains today a protected heritage site and an enduring link to Ireland’s early Christian past.
1854: Plans drawn to connect Europe and America by undersea cable; Foilhommerum Bay chosen as the Irish launch site.
1857–1858: Five attempts made; finally achieving a temporary connection between Valentia and Newfoundland, sparking worldwide celebrations.
1865: The Great Eastern, the world’s largest ship, attempted again but the cable snapped mid-Atlantic.
1866: A new cable successfully laid, and the 1865 line recovered, creating two working transatlantic links. Queen Victoria’s message to President Andrew Johnson marked the achievement.
1873 to 1894: Additional cables laid to strengthen and expand the network.
A memorial now stands at Foilhommerum Bay, commemorating one of the greatest engineering feats of the 19th century.
This is Foilhommerum Bay. Between 1857 and 1858, five attempts were made to lay a telegraph cable beneath the Atlantic, linking Ireland with North America. The first four failed, with cables snapping or sinking into the deep. But the fifth, in August 1858, succeeded and a signal finally reached Newfoundland. Queen Victoria sent a message to President Buchanan that began, “Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, goodwill to men.” It was a moment of global wonder, often compared to the excitement when man first landed on the moon. Celebrations were so lively in New York that City Hall was accidentally burned down by people setting off fireworks.
Unfortunately, after only three weeks, the signal failed, due to excessive voltage. Then, in 1865, after years of setbacks, engineers tried again using the huge ship, Great Eastern, but the cable broke mid-ocean. Undeterred, they returned the next summer, laid a new cable, and recovered the broken one, leaving two working lines that changed the world forever.
1815: Bray Head Tower built during the Napoleonic Wars as part of a coastal defence network.
One of around 80 signal towers constructed across Ireland between 1804 and 1816 to warn of possible French invasion.
Built from rough-cut local limestone, the tower stands over 200 metres above sea level, offering panoramic views of the Skelligs and the Kerry coast.
World War II: Local volunteers laid white stones spelling “ÉIRE” beside the tower to mark Ireland’s neutrality.
Now a Discovery Point on the Wild Atlantic Way, the tower remains a popular stop for visitors and walkers.
2025: A €2.1 million restoration began to conserve the 200-year-old structure and add a new viewing platform for visitors.
Bray Head is one of the most striking headlands along this stretch of the Kerry coastline, its rugged cliffs standing high above the sea with panoramic views across to the Skelligs, Puffin Island and Dingle. At the summit stands a square stone tower, built around 1815 during the Napoleonic Wars. It was part of a chain of lookout posts placed around the Irish coast to watch for any sign of a French invasion that never came. The tower was manned by soldiers who kept watch and sent signals using flags or smoke to nearby stations.
During the Second World War, locals marked the ground beside the tower with large white stones spelling the word “ÉIRE,” to let pilots know they were flying over neutral Ireland. Around eighty of these signs were created nationwide. The one on Bray Head remains one of the best preserved, maintained today by volunteers who continue to keep this piece of history visible. The tower itself was completely renovated in 2025.
The Kerry Cliffs rise over 300 feet (about 90 metres) above the Atlantic, making them among the highest sea cliffs in Kerry.
Composed mainly of Old Red Sandstone and siltstone, they formed over 350 million years ago.
Their current shape was carved by glaciers during the last Ice Age, leaving sheer faces and deep inlets.
The cliffs support large seabird colonies including guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, and kittiwakes, nesting each spring and summer.
Privately owned, the site now features viewing platforms and walkways for visitors.
On clear days, there are distant views of Puffin Island and the Skelligs.
The cliffs are a Wild Atlantic Way Discovery Point and one of South Kerry’s best-known natural attractions.
The Kerry Cliffs rise more than 300 feet, about 90 metres, above the Atlantic and are among the most striking landmarks on Ireland’s coastline. Formed over 300 million years ago, the cliffs are made mostly of sandstone and siltstone, layers that were once riverbeds and mudflats when this part of Ireland lay close to the equator. Over time, pressure from shifting continents folded and lifted those layers to form the steep faces seen today. During the Ice Age, glaciers carved deep valleys through the landscape and helped shape the rugged coastline that remains.
The Atlantic Ocean continues to erode the rock, gradually cutting new ledges and crevices with every storm and tide. The cliffs are also home to large colonies of seabirds, including guillemots, razorbills, and kittiwakes, which nest and raise their young here each summer, adding life and sound to this ancient stretch of Kerry coastline.
Puffin Island is a protected bird reserve managed by BirdWatch Ireland.
The island covers about 1.5 hectares and is separated from the mainland by a narrow sound.
It supports major colonies of puffins, Manx shearwaters, storm petrels, razorbills, and guillemots, which nest in spring and early summer.
Puffins arrive around April and depart by August after breeding season.
The island’s steep cliffs and grassy burrows offer safe nesting away from predators.
1980s: Designated a Wildlife Sanctuary and placed under State protection.
1990s: Incorporated into the Skelligs Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Birds Directive.
Access is restricted to licensed researchers to protect nesting habitats.
Puffin Island is a protected bird sanctuary managed by the Irish Wildbird Conservancy and separated from the mainland by a narrow sound. Every spring and summer, it becomes one of Ireland’s busiest nesting sites, home to thousands of seabirds. Puffins are the most recognisable residents, known for their colourful beaks and quick dives for sand eels and small fish. The island also supports large colonies of Manx shearwaters and storm petrels, along with razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes, and cormorants.
Because of its importance as a breeding ground, landing is only permitted with the consent of the Conservancy, which generally restricts access to scientific researchers. Depending on the weather, you may see or hear the birds overhead, along the cliffs, or out on the water, a clear sign of how alive and thriving this protected seabird habitat remains today.
Located about 12 kilometres (8 miles) west of Portmagee.
Formed over 350 million years ago, they are made of Old Red Sandstone and slate, part of the same ancient range as the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, including Carrauntoohil, Ireland’s highest mountain.
Little Skellig holds over 30,000 pairs of northern gannets, one of the largest colonies in the world.
Declared a Bird Sanctuary in 1880 and later included in the Skelligs Special Protection Area (SPA).
Skellig Michael was settled by monks from about the 6th to the 12th century, who built beehive huts, terraces, and steps from local stone.
1821–1826: Two lighthouses constructed on the south-west face; the upper light closed in 1870.
1996: Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for cultural and natural significance.
In the distance are the two Skellig Islands, Little Skellig and Skellig Michael, rising sharply from the Atlantic. Little Skellig is home to around 30,000 pairs of gannets, making it one of the largest gannet colonies in the world. The white colour of the rock comes from the sheer number of birds nesting there and the natural build-up of guano over time.
Skellig Michael, the larger island, is world-famous for its early Christian monastery built high above the sea. Founded around the 6th century, it was home to monks who lived in stone beehive huts, climbing more than 600 steps to reach their place of prayer and shelter. They survived on fish, seabirds, and collected rainwater, and even endured Viking raids during the 9th century. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised for its remarkable preservation and historical importance. More recently, it became a film location for Star Wars, bringing new attention to this extraordinary and remote place.
1970: Ryan’s Daughter filmed on the Dingle Peninsula, helping establish Kerry as a cinematic landscape.
1981: Excalibur shot scenes near Derrynane, drawing attention to South Kerry’s dramatic coastlines.
1992: Far and Away, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, filmed mainly around Dingle and Tralee.
2009: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince used Lemon Rock, near the Skelligs, for sea-cave scenes.
2014–2015: Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens and Episode VIII – The Last Jedi filmed on Skellig Michael and around Portmagee and Valentia.
2015: The Lobster, starring Colin Farrell, filmed in Sneem and parts of Killarney.
South Kerry continues to attract documentaries, adverts, and film crews for its unspoiled scenery and Atlantic light.
This coastline has become one of Ireland’s most recognisable screen backdrops. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens was filmed on Skellig Michael in 2014, followed by Episode VIII – The Last Jedi in 2015, with cast and crew based around Portmagee and Valentia. Locals still talk about Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, learning to pull a pint in The Bridge Bar, the wrap-party session at The Moorings, and boatmen ferrying equipment and crew to the island. The Irish Navy also lent support during filming, helping transport personnel and supplies. Portmagee village now celebrates every year with the May the 4th Sci-Fi Festival.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince also has a connection to this area, with Lemon Rock, a small sea stack near the Skelligs, appearing briefly in the sea-cave sequence. Together, these productions, along with documentaries and commercials, have put Portmagee, Valentia, and the Skellig Coast firmly on the cinematic map.
