Portmagee & Skellig, Ireland - April 29th to May 1st, 2025

Portmagee is a small fishing village along the Skellig Ring, a side loop off of the Ring of Kerry scenic drive. The village isn’t much more than a short row of buildings along the bay, but it was a great base to explore the nearby Kerry Cliffs and the two Skellig Islands.

Tuesday, we checked out of Rockcrest House B&B and went for a scenic drive to Portmagee. At first we followed the Ring of Kerry, then we turned off onto the Skellig Ring.

Our first stop along the way was the Staigue Ring Fort. The fortification was built between 500 BC and 300 AD. It is stacked stone without any mortar or cement. The circular wall is 12 feet thick at the base and 25 feet high. There are steep steps at several places along the wall on the inside where you can scramble up to the top of the wall for a different perspective.

While we were there, we had a lovely conversation with Leslie and Rob from Oregon. They had also stayed at Rockcrest B&B the night before and were heading to Dingle along the Ring of Kerry. We wish them a great trip!

After a quick stop at an overlook, we headed down to the car park (parking lot) at Derrynane House. From there, we went for a hike, called the Derrynane Mass Path in Derrynane National Historic Park. The trail led us up some rock faces, through some woods, across sheep and cow pastures, and along a beach.

The path also went right by the Derrynane House, where Daniel O’Connell once lived. O’Connell was an influential 19th politician who gained equality for Catholics.

About one third of the trail is on roads, which we really don’t prefer, but there wasn’t much traffic on them, so it was not too bad. There were wonderful views out across the bay and out to the ocean all along the trail.

Part of the trail follows the Kerry Way. The Kerry Way is the longest walking trail in Ireland. It starts and ends in Killarney, traversing over 200 kilometers (124 miles).

Our hike for the day was only 7.4 kilometers (4.6 miles) with an elevation gain of 187 meters (614 feet) which we completed in two hours and twenty minutes. It was hike number 9 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2025.

Our only other stop for the day was at the Skellig Chocolate Factory. It was around 3:30 pm by the time we reached the factory. There wasn’t a lot of activity in the factory, as they were probably cleaning up for the day. However, we did get to sample some nice chocolate. Of course, we ended up buying some to take with us for later.

Our lodging for the night was the Moorings in Portmagee. We had dinner reservations at 6 pm in their restaurant for the next three nights. Portmagee is not very big, so there are only a few restaurants in town. The hotel advised us to make reservations so we did. Perhaps they only say that to get you to commit to eating in their restaurant, but there was only one other restaurant open in the evenings in town, the Fisherman’s Bar & Skellig Restaurant.

We arrived in Portmagee in plenty of time to check in and take showers before going to dinner. There was a large group of people with a tour group (Vagabond) who filled the place, but we didn’t feel overwhelmed. Ann ordered the grilled goat cheese and beetroot salad with fries, while Keith had the scallops, both items on the daily specials board. For dessert, we ordered from the dessert daily specials board. Keith had the dark chocolate foundant with vanilla ice cream rolled in nuts and raspberry coulis. Ann tried the hot cross buns and chocolate bread with butter pudding custard. Everything was delicious.

Wednesday was another warm, sunny day. We had a boat tour reservation at 10 am with Paul Devane Skellig Michael Cruises. The cruise left from the dock right across the street from our hotel.

We ate breakfast at 8 am at the hotel. We didn’t have anything fancy, mainly a croissant, yogurt, fruit, and granola with Ann adding two fried eggs with toast. The fruit was not fresh or as nice as the bed and breakfasts we had been staying at recently, but it was decent.

The boat tour took us around the two Skellig Islands. The one island, Skellig Michael, has a lighthouse and an old monastery, founded between the 6th and 8th centuries, up a long flight of stone stairs on top of the jagged, rocky cliffs of the island. Many people might recognize it as the island in the Star Wars movies the Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.

Usually, some boat tours are allowed to land on the island, when weather conditions allow, so visitors can climb up the stairs to the monastery. But no landings were allowed while we were there, so our tour just circled the two islands.

The other Skellig island, called Little Skellig, is a nature reserve and bird colony. It has one of the largest colonies of northern gannets in the world. Almost every nook and cranny contained a nesting bird, with swarms of birds flying around. It was an impressive sight.

On the way over to the two Skellig islands, our boat passed near Puffin Island. We could see some puffins in the water, but they were still a good distance from us. You can recognize the birds as puffins in Ann’s pictures, but the pictures are pretty fuzzy.

During our boat tour, Ann used her Peak Design wrist strap (paid link) with her Canon Powershot camera attached. It worked out pretty well. It gave Ann a little more peace of mind that her camera wouldn’t end up on the bottom of the ocean. If only there was something to keep the water spray from ending up on her camera lens, it would have been perfect. She was constantly wiping the lens off with a lens cloth, so we’ll see how well the pictures turned out.

For the boat ride, Keith took dramamine and had a ginger chew. The boat we rode on was small. Even though the seas were pretty calm that day, you could feel the waves, especially when the captain stopped the boat so he could explain what we were looking at. With the medication, Keith was fine.

After returning from our two and a half hour cruise, we had a light lunch at the Skellig Seafront Restaurant. Keith had a toasted ham & cheese while Ann ate the chicken ciabatta. We sat outside, enjoying the warm temperatures and sunshine.

From there, we walked across the bridge to Valentia Island to check out the Skellig Experience Visitor Center. For seniors, the entry into the exhibits was 5 euros per person. Even though we had already gone on the boat tour, we learned even more about the islands from the exhibits. They explained the history of the monastery, the wildlife, and the lighthouse.

Then we decided to walk up to the Bray Head Signal Tower. We could see it from the Skellig Experience, but it was an hour’s walk away. We should have grabbed a water bottle before starting out, but we didn’t. The temperatures reached up to 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and we were exposed to the sun the whole way. However, there was a cool sea breeze that kept us comfortable and from sweating…too much.

The views at Bray Head were wonderful. We had a great view of the Kerry Cliffs and the Skellig Islands from there. However, we would recommend driving up to the car park (parking lot) and walking from there instead of walking from town. The road up to the car park was barely wider than one vehicle in most spots, so we had to watch out for traffic and get out of the way so they could pass.

By the time we returned to town, we had walked 9.7 kilometers (6 miles) with an elevation gain of 127 meters (416 feet) in two hours and twenty minutes. It was hike 10 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2025.

Back in town, we stopped at the grocery store, O’Connells, for a soft serve ice cream cone. We found a bench to sit down and enjoy our refreshing treat with a nice view of the bay.

After refreshing ourselves with a shower back at the room, we went down to dinner. It was nothing very special this time. Keith had their New Yorker pizza (pepperoni), while Ann had the chicken curry. The curry came with poppadum. Poppadum (or papadam) is a crispy Indian snack made by frying bean flour until it is very crispy, similar in texture to a pork rind.

After breakfast at the Moorings, we drove south about 20 minutes to go on a hike. It was called Bollus Head and Ducalla Loop. The route was along the coastline. It started out on a road, but then entered sheep and cow pastures as it headed up to the top to a signal tower. There were lovely views of the coastline along the way.

There were two structures at the top. The Napoleonic Tower, called Bray Tower, was a ruin of a stone building. Most of the signal towers were in use during the early 19th century. They dotted the coastline, being used as a communication system to respond to the threat of a French invasion.

For us, the loop hike was 7.6 kilometers (4.7 miles) with an elevation gain of 332 meters (1089 feet) which took us two and a half hours to complete. It was hike number 11 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2025.

On the way back to Portmagee, we stopped to check out the Kerry Cliffs. The cliffs are on private land and they charge 5 euros per person to walk out along the cliffs. However, it was definitely worth the price. The 1000 foot cliffs were the best coastline scenery we’ve seen so far this season. You can see them from the Bray Head signal tower, but it is too far away to really appreciate the cliffs beauty. Be sure to go in the afternoon so the cliffs are lit by the sunshine, assuming the sun is shining that day.

On the property are also three beehive dry-stone huts, replicas of traditional Celtic structures in the area, known as Clochán. It is unknown when the beehive huts were first constructed, but some of the new ones date back to the 12th century, like the ones found at the monastery on Skellig Michael.

We were comfortable on our hike in just our hiking shirts. It was a bright, sunny day. However, when we arrived at the Kerry Cliffs, there was a strong, cold wind. Even bundled up in our jackets, we were cold.

Upon returning to Portmagee, we went to the Skellig Seafront Restaurant again for lunch. This time Keith had the chicken ciabatta while Ann had the hake fish and chips with mushy peas. Instead of sitting outside, we stayed indoors to stay warm. The restaurant has walls of glass, so we still had a nice view of the pier and bay.

We hung out in our room until dinner. Our room is on the bay side of the hotel, with three large windows giving us nice views of the bay.

For the third time, we ate at the Moorings. This time Keith had the beef and Guinness stew with mashed potatoes along with a pint of Guinness, since it seemed appropriate to be paired with the stew. Ann chose the tortellini with spinach and chicken. Our meals were very filling and we couldn’t finish them, so we skipped dessert. Back in our room, we did manage to have a little bit of our Skellig chocolate. There’s always room for a thin mint, right?

We both enjoyed Portmagee for different reasons. Ann liked all of the nearby activities, like hiking, seeing the Kerry Cliffs, and the boat tour over to the Skellig islands. Keith liked those things as well, but he was content with the quiet little village itself. He probably could have spent several days just sitting at the Skellig Seafront Restaurant, eating his fish and chips, watching the boats go in and out of the harbor, or watching one of the locals paint their boat.

Check out our related video: Portmagee & Skellig, Ireland

(Ann)