Garinish Island. Glengarrif’s Precious Gem
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| Leaving the Blue Pool for the island. |
Garinish Island, officially known as Ilnacullin, and often spoken of as Garnish Island, is a small island of rare beauty, nestled in the sheltered coastal harbour at Glengarriff in Bantry Bay and nowadays in the hands of the OPW.
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| In the Italian Garden |
We were lucky with the weather last week and made it our first port of call on the opening day of our short stay, using the Schull Harbour Hotel as our base. As usual, we headed for the Blue Pool from which the eponymous ferry company operates. Unusually, the ferry does not take credit cards, while the island entry point does.
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| The Temple |
The boat took us close to Seal Island on our way out, and there were all sizes of seals lounging in the sun. Soon, we landed at Garinish and paid the nominal entry fee. There is also a little café here selling soup, scones, rolls, cakes, coffee, teas, hot chocolate and cold drinks.
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| Italian Garden |
There is a recommended route, but don’t worry if you take a wrong turn, as you’ll soon find your way. It is not very big. The big attraction is the Italian Garden, its beautiful little building, ornamental pool, lawn and walled garden so pleasing to the eye.
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| Caha Mountains in the distance |
Not all the walking is so easy, though. There are many steps up to the Martello tower, but do persevere as the views are stunning. There is also a designated viewpoint nearby if you don’t feel like taking the narrow internal staircase to the top of the tower.
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| English Border in Walled Garden |
From the tower, head down to the Happy Valley and the Jungle (which has many imported trees and shrubs, some from South America, New Zealand and China, almost as international as the mix of tourists that know visit the beautiful place).
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| Casita Lawn |
Be sure also to visit the popular temple, reached via an avenue of Italian cypress and giving superb views out to the sea and the Caha Mountains.
As I said, the island is quite small and you won't get lost. Probably best to buy the Visitors Guide (Ilnacullin, by the OPW at the entry office) and, if you follow this, you’ll enjoy your visit even more.
Having enjoyed our time there, we headed to the little harbour and soon our Blue Ferry boat arrived to take us back after a delightful 90 minutes or so in the shade and the sun.
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