Hi, and welcome to another instalment of my Travel Journal. This one is going to be a little different in tone. When I think of Valentia Island, I see it as a place I feel rather than a series of boxes I tick. In this week’s post, I want to capture the essence of the Island and how it makes me feel.
How it started
Some years ago, I was looking for a weekend away in Ireland when via AirBnB, I stumbled across Glanleam House and Glenleam Beach. At that moment, I became slightly obsessed with the Island and wanted to visit.
It would be nearly a year before I would get there. In the meantime, I had carefully tended and grown Valentia into a mythic land that lay off the coast of Ireland.
Nearly a year later
We eventually made our way there in late August ’22 in our small campervan. Arriving late in the evening, we headed to Portmagee and the bridge connecting Valentia with the mainland.
Portmagee
So Imagination!
I don’t know what I was expecting, but the magical Island of my imagination looked the same as Ireland. I kept repeating, ‘Nope, that can’t be it,’ to Alan, while he smiled, bemused at my crazy notions.
I had visions of a patchwork of emerald green shades covering the land and mountains, flowing into the sea with a golden halo of light over its silhouette. This was different from the Island I was arriving on.
Nevertheless, I fell in love immediately. Valentia Island is remarkable, sitting out in the Atlantic Ocean, adjacent to the mainland, watching the Skellig Islands float like hazy mirages on the horizon. The lights of Portmagee flicker, creating a mesmeric dance at twilight, reminding the islanders they are nearby. Or the majestic Cliffs of Kerry sweeping up into the sky above the village, proud and strong, protecting the narrow stretch of Ocean running between the coastlines.
Since my first visit, we have been back twice. Each time, I fall more in love with the land, the sea and the air there.
I am sitting at the bottom of Bray Head, watching the Orange moon sink into a purple-tinged horizon creating the haloed effect I first imagined.
Hiking up to Bray Head, I sit in peace as the rocks and grass spill away into the sea and rise as the fiercesome jagged Skelligs from the Ocean floor.
I am imagining the ideas and thoughts the Skelligs conjured in the minds of those who came before me.
Swimming in the sea at Glanleam Beach, I float on my back, gently moving with the tidal flow.
Valentia Lighthouse is in the distance, and Beginish Island is nearby as the sea drifts around into Knight’s Town.
Bray Head Tower Walk
Valentia is an Island to be walked, breathed in and touched.
Legends & Myths
Recently, I discovered the Island is connected in Irish mythology to Mug Ruith, a powerful blind druid who could grow to an enormous size, turn men to stone and blow up storms from his breath. He was said to travel in a flying machine that deafens anyone who hears it, blinds anyone who sees it, and kills anyone it strikes. In legend, he has the power to control the four elements of nature, fire, earth, air and water. He was also the father of Tlachtga, a powerful Druidess. She is connected to The Hill of Ward and Samhain, which became Halloween.
Quick guide
But now, for the more practical stuff, the Island can be accessed via the Maurice O Neill Memorial Bridge from Portmagee or by taking a ferry from Reenard Point to Knight’s Town.
We always take the bridge across. From this direction, when you arrive on the Island, Bray Head sits to your left and Knight’s Town to your right.
The Bray Head car park is our usual go-to place to stay in the campervan. At 10e a night, it has spectacular views back to Portmagee, towards the Kerry Cliffs and out to the Skelligs.
In the morning, boats head out from the village to the Skelligs for day trips. It also means that straight after breakfast, we can go for a hike up Bray Head.
After lunch, we take a trip around the Island, visiting the Geokaun Mountain and Cliffs, before heading to the Lighthouse.
The Lighthouse is worth a visit. Sitting out on jagged rock formations, its white boundary wall encompasses the Lighthouse and the Keeper’s house, with a small green patch of grass strikingly contrasting the dark grey gnarled rock it is built on. I particularly enjoyed visiting the house and seeing how the Lightkeeper and his family lived.
Valentia Island Lighthouse
Glanleam Beach
Followed by a swim at Glanleam. The beach is surrounded by subtropical gardens with Glanleam house at the centre. To access the beach, head towards the house, stopping before the gates. There is very little parking, and everyone leaves their cars on the road. Follow the turn to the right down a narrow curved track.
After a swim, head into Knight’s Town for dinner, and watch the ferry crossing from Reenard Point.
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