Islands of Ireland

Tory to Clear Island: Two Weeks

Ireland's outlying islands are many and varied, and offer the visitor an insight into a traditional lifestyle rarely seen in the Western world. Start at the barren and remote Tory, off Bloody Foreland in Donegal, a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) area with a school of primitive painters and a wonderful spot for bird-watching. Joined to the mainland by a bridge, Achill, in County Mayo, with its deserted Famine village and dramatic cliffs, is Ireland's largest offshore island and is renowned for its water sports. Inishturk, just south of Achill, with fewer than 100 inhabitants, gets very little tourist traffic despite its sheltered sandy beaches. Off the coast of Galway, the three Aran Islands are probably Ireland's most visited. The largest, Inishmór, has some fine archaeological remains, including the magical fort of Dún Aengus. The middle island, Inishmaan, favourite of the writer JM Synge, is a pleasure to walk around with its stone walls and tiny fields. The smallest and least visited, Inisheer, has some wonderful wild walks.

Some very special islands to visit are Europes most westerly. On the Blasket Islands, off Kerry, uninhabited since 1953, you can spot puffins, seals and porpoises. Skellig Michael, off Caherciveen in Kerry, a Unesco World Heritage site and home to a 7th-century monastery, is a breathtaking, truly spiritual place and a highlight of any trip to Ireland. Ornithologists and orators alike will enjoy Clear Island, also called Cape Clear Island, off the western coast of Cork, famous for its Manx shearwater and its lively Storytelling Festival in September.