Clare Island is a mountainous island guarding the entrance to Clew Bay. It is famous as the home of the Pirate Queen, Grace O'Malley.
Southwest of Clare lies the uninhabited Caher Island and the inhabited Inishturk.
Clare Island is the largest of the 365 Mayo offshore islands, being 5 miles long and 3 miles wide, and is located 3.5 miles from the mainland.
Boasting a rich topography of spectacular cliffs and inland mountain terrain, It is an ideal destination for nature lovers who will enjoy viewing large colonies of sea birds and alpine flora.
As well as the amazing scenery there are artefacts of neolithic and bronze-age archaeology. Visitors can explore on foot or by taxi or you can rent a bike in Glen (beside the pier) for €10 for the day.
The island has a hotel, a few bed & breakfasts, a shop and post office and a yoga and meditation centre. It has its own primary school but children go to the mainland for secondary school education.
Access is by frequent daily ferry services from Roonagh Pier (near Louisburgh). The crossing takes 20 minutes and costs €15 return, and you get a map of the island with your ticket.
The island has an active community which hosts a number of festivals throughout the year including the well known Singles Weekend, which is for people aged 30+ and includes the
Ballroom of Romance, computer and blind dating, romantic walks on the
Island, etc.
  | Clare Island has an important cultural heritage. Through the Middle Ages, it was part of the lands of the O'Malley family. The ruins of an O'Malley tower-house, known as Grace O'Malley's castle because of its most famous resident, are close to the pier at the eastern edge of the island. The small 14th century Cistercian Abbey near the south coast of the island was founded by the O'Malleys and contains the O'Malley Tomb, a disputed burial site of Grace. The abbey contains important examples of rare medieval wall and roof paintings. |
Although the summer sees an influx of visitors the normal population is less than 150, but everywhere there are traces of past generations.
Old potato ridges, or lazy beds as they are sometimes referred to, can be seen along the landscape. These are historic evidence of the 19th century population explosion, and subsequent famine when the island's population of 1600 was reduced by half.
In 1588 a ship from the Spanish Armada was wrecked on Clare Island and its men were killed by the O'Malleys.
A very prominent landmark of the island is the Clare Island Lighthouse, established in 1806 by John Denis Browne, the 1st Marquess of Sligo.
Situated in the most picturesque location on the whole Irish coast, and perched near the edge of a high, sheer cliff, it commands a grand-stand view of one of the most rugged stretches of sea-board.
On September 29 1813, a fire, caused by careless disposal of the oil-lamp wicks, destroyed part of the tower and the lantern. The rebuilt light was ready in 1818, with further building being added. In 1834 the tower was struck by lightning.
The cylindrical masonry lighthouse tower is 118 metres (387 ft) tall and 11 metres (36 ft) across. On September 28th, 1965, after 159 years of continuous use, the lighthouse was taken out of service, as fog often obscured its beam. It was replaced by the modern Achillbeg Island lighthouse on the south side of Achill Island.
The building was sold to an Irish-American couple, and later to a Belgian couple, Robert and Monica Timmermans, who invested a lot of money to bring the old house up to a liveable state. It was used as a rental home by them, with such local VIPs as the television star Ray D’Arcy and Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith staying there. It was sold again in the late 1990s to Lady Georgina Forbes.The optic from the inside of the original lighthouse is now on permanent display at the gift shop of The World of Glass in St. Helens, Lancashire. |   |
