The tiny island is home to just six permanent residents, and has more sheep than people, while its only entry and exit point takes you soaring 250m above the Atlantic Ocean
The Island is only accessible via one unusual route – in the air (Image: Chris Hill via Getty Images)
Far removed from the rest of civilisation, this tiny island has been frozen in time, with nothing but fragments of a life that once thrived and a handful of people who still call it home.
Off the coast of West Cork in Ireland sits Dursey, a charming island steeped in history but offering little else. Ever since the stunning landscape acquired a new form of transport, visitors have been able to travel across from the mainland in a distinctive way and discover a place that appears to have ceased to exist.
This tranquil island is home to approximately six permanent residents, with around 15 houses that are deemed habitable and up to seven farmers.
Their livestock stays on the island, and the owners who traditionally inherited the land continue to spend a few nights on the island but never remain. This means there are likely more sheep inhabiting Dursey than there are people.
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It’s understood that when people who live in Dursey have children, they have no option but to have a primary home on the mainland, to enable schooling and access to other facilities.
Unique attraction
Dursey is home to a rare form of transport in Ireland, and the country’s one and only cable car. It carries travellers 250m above the Atlantic Ocean, across to the island, surrounded by nothing but verdant green hills.
Starting from Ballaghboy, Cork, on Ireland’s mainland, the aerial voyage transports you to Dursey in a mere seven and a half minutes.
Throughout the journey travellers can absorb the breathtaking coastal views as the minuscule speck of land gradually grows larger before them.
Built in 1969 as a reliable and secure link between the island and Cork’s mainland, as the surrounding waters are considered far too hazardous for regular boat crossings.
The stretch of water is known as the Dursey Sound and has proved erratic over the decades, with rapid tidal surges. Beyond this, submerged rocks encircling the landmass also render it a perilous voyage and generally unsafe for travellers.
After experiencing the cable car journey, one visitor posted on TripAdvisor: “For us this was the most beautiful part of Ireland.
“We took our mountain bikes over in the cable car, and luckily for us, the weather was glorious. We saw almost all of the island and spent ages staring at the views. We just haven’t seen anything to top it despite travelling the whole way round Ireland.”
Another expressed their admiration for the island, posting: “I absolutely loved Dursey Island. It’s a stunning place, delightfully remote and serene. It is the last place in Europe that the sun sets, a cool fact for you!”.
Historic ruins
Its rugged terrain is also home to numerous equally weathered historical ruins, dating back as far as the 17th century. The most notable of these historic structures is O’Sullivan Beare Castle, which was almost completely razed during the Nine Years’ War in 1602.
Very little of it survives today, and the devastation inflicted by English forces also resulted in a massacre of local residents. One visitor claimed: “Dunboy Castle was very cool, though some information on the site would have been helpful – similar to the plaques found elsewhere. The ruins are overgrown, and you almost stumble into them. “.
Another attraction is the 19th-century Napoleonic-era signal tower. It stands quietly on the island’s highest point, originally built with the purpose of warning against French invasion.
Yet it has remained in ruins since the mid-19th century, abandoned and forgotten by history.
Commonly known as the Church of Kilmichael, it comprises the monastic church and graveyard lying in ruins on the quiet island. It’s believed that the church was established by monks from Skellig Michael but was likewise destroyed in the infamous siege of 1602 by Sir George Carew’s army.