Ireland's Eye is an uninhabited island off the north coast of the town of Howth. Aside from ruins of a church and a tower, there is no other sign of habitation on the island. If you have to go to the bathroom while you are there, you better be prepared to squat in some bushes. If you need some water, you better have brought it with you.
If you don't own your own boat, you can take the ferry that goes out once an hour from late morning to early evening. The ferry cost €15 per person (approximately $20) for a ride there and back whenever you were ready.
You can view all the blog entries I have wrote about our Dublin vacation by clicking here.
This is a Google Satellite image of the island. It was not as level as the majority of the satellite image makes it appear.
View of the island from Howth's harbor.
The ferry's web-site only had a vague description of where it was located, so, we managed to walk right past it. We ended up walking down the pier frantically looking for it because we didn't want to miss the first ferry out (which we did).
If you are ever in or near Howth, you MUST get a panini from Il Panorama Cafe. The meat is freshly shaved for each sandwich and it was so freaking delicious. I am quite surprised to say the best food we had on our entire Ireland trip was a cold cut sandwich!
Our ferry captain.
Their two ferries. They had us climb onto "Pinalia" and then climb over to "Christmas Eve."
View of Howth from the ferry.
View of the island from the ferry.
The very legit stairs to exit the ferry onto the island.
Bye ferry!
The remains of the tower.
Our picnic spot.
The island's beach and the view of Howth from the island.
My favorite photos from the trip are ones like this from Ireland's Eye where Timmy is almost lost in the landscape of the island.
We wanted to climb one of the largest mountains of the island but this guy wasn't having it; after the third time he dive-bombed our heads we realized it was intentional.
More photos to come later in a second post!
You need to be very careful with the seagulls in nesting season. They will attack if they think their young are threatened. What you need to do is get a stick and hold it over your head as they go for the highest point. I am from Howth and scuba dived around Ireland's eye many times. Look up the history and learn about the murder that took place there at the turn of the last century.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips! You are very lucky to have lived in Howth; I would love to be able to.
DeleteMemories of a life time. Your photos are great, thanks for sharing them with us.
ReplyDeleteThanks, and thanks for commenting! :)
DeleteUm, for a second I thought your ferry captain was holding a godam hand cannon. But then I realized it was a newspaper or something.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, your photos are breathtaking. I hope that these scenes were so overwhelming that you can close your eyes and feel like you're there again.
Haha, that would have been pretty bad ass.
DeleteThanks! I can't stop looking at the photos because they help take me back to the awesomeness of being there.