The Christmas Eve heading back to the mainland.
Last weekend we made the trip with Ireland's Eye Ferries. As we circled around to the small landing area we looked out at the island with its long deserted beach and ancient ruins, it looked like a quiet, gentle paradise waiting to be uncovered. The reality was pretty different though!
Surprisingly rugged terrain of Ireland's Eye.
Disembarking is a bit hairy; I wouldn't recommend it for anyone with young children or people with mobility issues! Next hurdle was the fiercely aggressive gulls, nesting time is not a great time to visit, they would constantly swoop down at us even though we were nowhere near their nest (we made super sure of this)
Denied access not just once...
... but twice!
Once safely on the island we realised that it's not the dainty little isle we thought it was from the mainland, it's huge! What's more, it's completely overgrown! We tried in vain a number of times to reach the church but the thick vegetation beat us! There must be a way to get there but we encountered brambles and nettles at every attempt!
Beautiful sandy beach.
That white cliff in the background? That's not white it's just covered in birds!
Do not get on the wrong side of these gulls, they are vicious!
We settled on walking along the beautiful deserted beach and then hiked for while up towards the summit of the island. The views were breathtaking and the sound of the gulls was intense, it was only drowned out by the airplanes overhead, the island is directly under the flight path into Dublin Airport!
Clearly no match for the might defenses of the Martello!
Back at the "dock" M tried his best to climb into the Martello tower to no avail while I sat unnoticed by the gulls for a while and used my zoom lens to spy on the newly hatched chicks. The island is quite a sanctuary for wildlife, we seen some cute black baby bunnies, some seals and some not so cute spiders! The island has it's own unique smell too, it's a rather intense sweet fragrance, quite heady! That coupled with the fact that we visited on a dramatic overcast day gave the place a very ethereal feel.
Check out the baby gull at the feet of the adult... awhhh!
No doubt these beautiful flowers are partly responsible for the wonderful scent on the island!
Ireland's Eye was a fun place to visit, next time we plan on bringing a picnic and making a day of it. If you fancy going be sure to wear sturdy shoes and long pants. Stay away from birds nests and stick to the track and of course, most importantly, bring your rubbish home with you!