The time I visited Bere Island

Oh Lord, but west Cork is far away; honestly, west Cork is far away from west Cork. It had always seemed just that bit too far away from wherever I was, but a writer’s retreat on an island I’d never visited proved enough to finally get me into the car. Once enticed, I loaded up an audiobook, drove as far south nearly as I could go, swung a left and hopped on a ferry Bere Island-bound.

Bere Island is a beautiful, tranquil island that sits in Berehaven harbour at the mouth of Bantry Bay, a little over a mile from the mainland. Though the writer’s retreat that took me to such far-flung parts was top-class, it was the island’s history and landscape that filled my head with ideas, notions and the seeds of stories (the magnificent weather did no harm either).

It’s a miracle I came home at all.  

Bere Island is located in the Beara Peninsula in beautiful west Cork. There’s wonderful beauty to be seen down there – driving to end of all those peninsulas, turning corners to find striking views, castles and stories dotted along the way. There’s also great peace; because the place is so bloody far away, less tourists go there[1]. Should one take the voyage to west Cork upon themselves, to Castletownbere specifically, Bere Island is only a few minutes of a sailing, and the ferries take cars so there’s no loading and unloading at the piers.

The island sits at the mouth of Bantry Bay – more of which anon – and between Bere Island and the mainland is Europe’s deepest harbour, Berehaven. Running almost parallel to the island are the Caha Mountains and though they are on the mainland, they seem to tower over the island as if guarding or protecting it. In the mornings when I swam, the water was perfectly still, like a sheet of silk draped between piers, the touch of my toe sending ripples flurrying through it.

In 2016 Bere Island had a population of 167 people[2]. It has BnBs, hotels, a shop and post office, a heritage centre that is a credit to the local community, a pub or two and a primary school. Secondary school children attend the secondary school in Castletownbere, which is daily commutable at less than ten minutes.

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The British took a serious interest in the harbour of Berehaven, of which Bere Island is a part, when in 1796 the French, at the behest of Wolfe Tone, nearly succeeded in invading Ireland via Bantry Bay (the plan was foiled by – surprise, surprise – the weather). From then on, the area was heavily fortified and though the defeat of Napolean lessened the area’s defensive importance, by World War 1 Berehaven was an important part of the British and US war effort. A little later, between 1920 and 1921, IRA volunteers were interned on Bere Island. In 1921, part of the deal of Irish independence was British retention of three Irish ports, one of which was Berehaven[3] and until 1938 Bere Island was half Irish territory and half-UK territory; an invisible international boundary running through it’[4].

Imagine it! In an Ireland plagued by emigration and unemployment and general lack of opportunity, imagine living in a place where British and US fleets docked! Imagine, a hundred years ago, squadrons of young men about the place, spending freely, looking for craic and excitement! In an Ireland where excitement was at a premium, imagine the craic that was had playing baseball with American soldiers. Imagine being a woman, seeing all these handsome or exotic men every day. Where armies are, money is spent and as John Ware writes in History Ireland, there was much to be made for anyone selling anything, from bottled beer to rides in a jaunting car[5].

As our tour-guide Ted shared these stories, as he showed us armouries, shipwrecks, cannons and shared local tales, my head whirred with all the stories the island inspires. By the end, I was convinced we should all be writing novels of prison escapes, shipwrecks, doomed love affairs and diplomatic incidents (and then selling them to Netflix and making miniseries of them all).

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The lovely islanders I spoke to didn’t beat around the bush; island life is imperfect (just like any other life) and winters can feel long, but all acknowledged they live in an exceptionally beautiful place and are fortunate for that. Sometimes I forget that; there are times when I don’t see the scenery, when I throw my hands up in frustration at the less wonderful aspects of island life, so their positive realism was important to hear and heed. 

They mentioned too how much they’re looking forward to the return of the all-islands football championship[6] – not for the football, but to meet other islanders, see what other islands are doing, see what ideas they might take home.  

Bere Island and Inis Meáin share similarities; roughly similar populations, located amidst stunning landscapes, similar sized primary schools, both struggling to hold on to young people, both popular secluded spots for tourists looking to get away from it all. Given Bere Island’s nearness to the mainland, it is interesting that its population is roughly the same as Inis Meáin’s, the latter not exactly commuter friendly (Bere Island doesn’t have a plane service though)[7]. Bere Island isn’t a Gaeltacht island and, apart from the military housing built by the British, the island generally has a more modern look to it and doesn’t retain the traditional feel that Inis Meáin does.

All of Ireland is astonishing in the sunshine, but west Cork especially so, where vivid green fields jarred against an ocean almost sapphire in its blueness, the masses of land and sea interrupted only by the juttings-out of Dursey Island, Sheep’s Head, Three Castle Head and the Beara Peninsula itself. The wanderer doesn’t have to go far in west Cork to gain a sense of being at the very edge of worlds.

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Though it’s nearly five hours from Castletownbere to Ballinlough, I think I’ll be making the journey again. I loved viewing another island with the slightly-knowing eye of one who also lives on an island. And whilst I wouldn’t write that everything is perfect and rosy all the time on Bere Island (or any other island), for the few days I was there it was indeed perfect.

Must see if they’re looking for any teachers for 2022….

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[1] It was five hours home from Castletownbere, a good three of them were spent getting out of Cork. That said, the famous Beara Way begins down there, goes up through Roscommon and Leitrim up to Cavan, and I definitely plan to walk or cycle it someday, tracing the 17th Century march of Dónal Cam O’Sullivan Beare, the last great Chieftain of West Cork and South Kerry. Interested? https://www.bearabreifneway.ie/

[2] Island populations taken from 2016 census, found here; https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/31da3-populated-off-shore-islands/

[3] The three ports retained by the British for defence were Queenstown (Cobh), Berehaven, Lough Swilly. They remained in British possession until 1938.

[4] O’Sullivan, Ted, Bere Island: a short history (Cork, 1992), p.23.

[5] Ware, John, ‘Bantry Bay in the First World War’ in History Ireland, (November/December 2015), Volume 23,

[6] This is an annual GAA tournament that has been on the go since 1998 bringing together nine islands along the western seaboard – Bere Island and Whiddy Island from West Cork, Arranmore off Donegal, and Inis Mór, Inish Meáin, Inis Oírr, Inishbofin, Inishturk and Clare Island. It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID.

[7] in 2016, 187 people lived on Inis Meáin and 167 on Bere Island.

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