Picture this: You arrive at a small pier in a tiny harbor and a guy with a boat picks you up. He drops you off ten minutes later on an uninhabited island and goes back to the harbor, leaving you alone on the island. Yep, that’s how I spent my morning today on Dalkey Island. I wasn’t alone the whole time. About an hour after I arrived, more visitors were dropped off, but for one glorious hour. I was alone on an uninhabited island in the Irish Sea.
As always, I needed some breakfast for the journey. Last night, I walked past Cellar 22 near St. Stephen’s Green and immediately knew I would be having breakfast there today. Because what did I behold on the menu but Dulce de Leche crumpets. I mean, I obviously needed to see what those were all about. Homemade crumpets, toffee, crème fraîche, and fresh strawberries… Do I really need to say how delicious they were? It was plenty of fuel (and sugar) for my adventurous day.
I took the DART train 30 minutes south to Dalkey and quickly walked through the cute town to Coliemore Harbour where the boat picks up passengers to Dalkey Island. The boat is a tiny motorboat which costs €10 per person. While Ken the Ferryman has passed away, his son, Neil, now runs the small ferryboat back and forth from Coliemore Harbour to Dalkey Island. I showed up a little before 10AM and told him I wanted to visit the island. His response? “Let’s go!”. I donned a life vest and soon we were off.
Home to a seal colony, tons of seagulls, three goats, the ruins of an old church, a Martello tower, and a former gun battery, Dalkey Island sits just two kilometers from Coliemore Harbour. The boat trip takes less than 10 minutes and Neil pointed out the lazy seals in the water and warned me about the goats by the Martello tower, then he was off and I was on my own to explore the island.
There are a series of paths worn into the ground, but you can just wander anywhere. Just be careful to avoid the rabbit holes and animal droppings! I couldn’t stop smiling as I started walking around. Lest you think I was in the middle of nowhere, there was a large cruise ship a couple of miles away, a few boaters and kayakers nearby, and Neil could see over to the island dock from the harbor. I mostly just walked along the rocks by the shoreline taking pictures, but I did climb around the gun battery and peek inside the church ruins. The small Muglins Lighthouse nearby kept my photographic attention.
I took the boat back to the mainland and then walked the scenic route back to the center of town, stopping at Dillon Park and Sorrento Park. Once in town, it was time for food. I walked up and down the main road before ending up at Finnegan’s for a meal of fish and chips, cider, and a meringue with cream and berries.
After lunch, I walked down to Bulloch Harbour and then looped around Bulloch Castle back into town before climbing Killiney Hill.
Killiney Hill is about 500 feet tall and straddles Dalkey and Killiney. There are several entrances, all of which require a steep climb to reach the obelisk at the top. From the top, there are stunning views up and down the coast, from Howth to the north to the Wicklow Mountains to the south. Since I was already at the top, I decided to just keep going and walked down the Killiney side, eventually ending up at the Killiney DART station, where I got on a train back to Dublin.
My dinner tonight was a ham and cheese toastie and cider at Doheny and Nesbitt, a pub near St. Stephen’s Green. I stopped in a souvenir shop to pick up a postcard for my classroom wall and then took the tram back to my hotel so I could repack my suitcase for the flight home tomorrow (which is already delayed). My sixth and final day in Ireland may just have been my favorite one.
Traveling with Laura 