What To Do on Beara Peninsula: Ireland's Quieter Ring Road

Now we come to my favorite drive in all of Ireland, The Ring of Beara. It's wilder and much less travelled than its famous neighbor, the Ring Of Kerry, but it just as spectacular. The roads are too narrow for the tour buses that clog the Ring of Kerry during the high season. I can't guarantee that you won't be stuck behind a local farmer on his tractor though. This is a working part of rural Ireland. Just bide your time and nod a friendly smile when you pass.

I've often had stops on the Beara Peninsula all to myself, which is good for the soul and selfies.

You'll be high on the Beara. Literally. The best view in the whole of the peninsula is from the top of a steep hill at a Tibetan Buddhist Retreat complete with gold covered temple. You'll need a spiritual mind to get you through the cable car crossing to Dursey or over the Healy Pass.

The Ring Of Beara Route

This route is using Bantry as your hub. You can start the Ring of Beara either in Glengarriff in Cork, or on the Kerry side in Kenmare.

How To Get Around

Some folks walk the 208km Beara Way. Some cycle the 138km Beara Way Cycling Route and more recently, some folks make a horse do all the work on Ireland's first ever horse trails, the Beara Bridle Way. Most people drive though. It can be done in a day or a week. Depends on your speed and vibe.

Glengarriff

The town of Glengarriff is a bit touristy for me, so I don't spend too much time here. The Blue Pool is the thing to do here but it's always been too crowded when I've visited. I'm getting grumpier in my old age and the less people around the better for me!

Garnish Island

Garnish Island is a 37 acre island that anyone who loves horticulture or photographing it should visit. It has its own microclimate, which produces the tropical plants we don’t normally get on our cold island. Getting there is part of the experience, you'll take a boat and there’s a seal colony nearby. May or June are the perfect times to catch full bloom. It’s not open all year, so check before you go.

Not far outside Glengarriff is Zeltand pier. There's some coves by the pier here where locals in the know like to go swimming in the crystal blue waters. Sheelane Island is just a few hundred meters away. We don't have Z in the Irish language, so I'm not sure where the name came from. The road can get tight down here, so if it's a really warm day, don't go. This remote pier will be busy and need ATC for the cars.

You'll pass Ardrigole, where you can take the Healy Pass. We'll look at that later from other side.

Castletownbere

Castletownbere is a true working fishing town with a port full of large fishing trawlers that bounce along the wild Atlantic waters so we can have some fish and chips. My family were fisherman in just the last generation so I know that hardworking and brave people work these boats. When I walk alongside the boats, I'm thankful that I get to tap at a keyboard with soft hands for a living.

MacCarthy's Bar in town was made famous by a book of the same name, written by the sadly passed Pete MacCarthy. It's very funny and worth reading before you come to Ireland.

I mentioned the Beara Bridle Way already, there's a chance to trek some of it from here with Lios Lara Riding Stables.

Bere Island

Bere Island is a 15 minute ferry ride over from Castletownbere. You should stay the night on the island and become the 201st resident of the island, even if only for one night. The 7.5km trail around the island has beautiful views over Bantry Bay, the Beara and Sheep’s Head Peninsulas, as well as the Ardnakinna Lighthouse.

You could take the morning ferry over, do the walk, ferry home, pint in MacCarthy's and some fish so fresh that it might still be moving. This is yet another area that's so easy to drive by in 5 minutes, but if you stop and look, there's so much to see and do.

If you are around the area on a Saturday morning, you have to go to Bere Island and do the weekly 5km local run/walk with the islanders. Doesn't get more local than that! It's free and all are welcome.

Dzogchen Beara

I've travelled around Ireland so much that nothing surprises me anymore. Until one day this Summer I was driving around my beloved Ring of Beara when I saw a sign for Dzogchen Beara Buddhist Meditation Centre. I've been following Dzogchen online since my midlife crisis really kicked in, so I did a slightly irresponsible sharp turn to finally visit it.

What I found at the top of a hill so steep and winding that I thought it was the Healy Pass blew me away. A magnificent golden temple, I could have been in Kyoto, not Cork.

The views are as breathtaking as the hill it sits on. Bere Island lies straight ahead. Sheep's Head is across the bay. And there's even an animal sanctuary at the end of the path. Peace on earth!

You can rent a cottage here. If I was a writer, I could see renting a cottage for a month in the offseason and knocking out a masterpiece here.

All around the grounds were happy, serene and smiling people. I was ready to give up my earthly goods, don the robe and sign up for the lifestyle, but they nearly too calm and smiley, you know the way. So I didn't.

Very unique. Look ahead to see if they have any meditation event or workshops on.

Dursey Island

From golden temples to aerial cows, Dursey Island is a small island that is reachable by Ireland's only cable car and the only cable car that traverses open seawater in all of Europe. They used to transport cows onto the cable car but mercifully those days are over.

As the cable car dangled above the churning waters of the Dursey Sound, I wished I was a cow who wasn't allowed on it anymore. But the island's walking trails and views make it worth the rocky journey.

Dursey Island is 6km long and 1.5km wide. Take the cable car over, explore the Dursey. but be sure not to miss the last one home or you'll be spending the night on an island where sheep significantly outnumber humans.

You can have a local guide walk you around, which is always the best way to learn about a place. Carina is a local who does guided walks.

Allihies & Eyeries

This may sound like a 70s folk group, but they're a string of villages that look like someone went wild with a paint brush, these villages are filled with colorful houses.

Allihies got its start from copper. The old copper mines were once the lifeblood of this village. The museum is worth visiting just for the views from their cafe as it sits between the mountains and the ocean.

The mines left another gift: Ballydonegan Beach, man made compliments of the crushed quartz from the mining days. On a sunny day, those old crystals sparkle by the sea to give even the palest of Irish skin a hint of rouge to match the colorful houses.

Harrington's in Ardgroom typifies rural Ireland. They are (deep breath) the post office, the petrol station, the grocery store, the coal supplier, the taxi service, the off license and the cafe. I always stop here for a coffee and coal.

Kilmackalogue

Just after you leave Ardgroom, you cross into the Kingdom, the county of Kerry. So it's only right you have a pint. Fortunately, Helen's of Kilmackalogue is just the spot for seafood, scenery and stout. It may look basic, but it's a craic filled gem of a place. Many is the summer evening I've sat on the benches outside, sipping a pint, looking out over the bay, watching while the sun decided to finally start setting around 10pm.

Healy Pass

The Healy Pass is the kind of road that makes you question who thought building it was a good idea. It zigzags up and over the Caha Mountains between Cork and Kerry, 

The pass connects Adrigole in Cork to Lauragh in Kerry. Mountains with boulders teetering over the narrow road rise up on either side as you navigate hairpin bends and dodge wandering sheep. We don't do roadside barriers in Ireland, so enjoy the view of the valleys below, while keeping in mind that one mistake and you'll quickly be part of the valley, forever.

It's delightfully terrifying. If you have another driver, casually engineer it so that it's their turn to drive this leg. Even better if it's your spouse.

At the summit, there's a small parking area where you can catch your breath and take in views that stretch from Bantry Bay to the Kenmare River. The wind will blow your phone out of your hand though. On a rare clear day, you can see both sides of the peninsula.

Decisions Decisions

The Healy Pass is not part of the Ring of Beara, rather inconveniently. It cuts from one side of the Beara Peninsula to the other. So you'll have to make a decision or two before taking it. I'm writing this guide for those of you using Bantry as your hub, so you'll drive the Healy Pass to get home. It does mean missing the final bit of the Ring, but you've seen the best bits.

But if you are moving onto Kerry and not returning to Bantry, then you would finish up the Ring of Beara, which means missing the Healy Pass. That's a shame because it's spectacular. You could just 15 minutes from Lauragh up to the Healy Pass Scenic Viewpoint and come back to Lauragh and continue to Kerry. You just won't qualify for the "I survived the Healy Pass" certificate.

Léim an tSagairt

If you're nervous on the Healy Pass, don't even think about driving Léim an tSagairt, the Priest's Leap. A very narrow, steep, two way road between Glengarriff and Kenmare. Really, don't drive it! It's for experienced and slightly crazy locals only. I did it, just for research purposes for you my lovely readers. Never again!

Get Lost

We'll point you in the right direction, but the real adventure is when you wander off on your own. Because in Ireland, there's no such thing as a wrong turn. Just don't ask the locals for directions unless you've got time for a chat.

9 More Cork Day Trips

There's 5 day trips in our central Cork guide. And we have 5 more Cork day trips in our West Cork guide. You'll be speaking like a Cork native if you do all ten!

Have Questions?

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