Qualla: Great Island

Great Island: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Zairon, CC BY 4.0. In October 2017 Storm Ophelia knocked down trees across the only road bridge to Great Island, and 12,000 people were stranded. Ferry and rail services shut. For most of a day, the island that holds Cobh and Cork's deep-water cruise port had no way on or off. The reason is geographic: the Belvelly Bridge, built in 1803 at the narrowest part of the channel, is the only road in. A railway crosses through Fota Island to reach Cobh and Rushbrooke. A small ferry runs from near Carrigaloe to Passage West on the mainland. That's it. Ireland's second-largest island - after Achill - is one storm away from being an actual island whenever the wind gets serious.

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Image: Zairon | CC BY 4.0

Great Island: The Great Island of the Barrys

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jonathan Wilkins, CC BY-SA 2.0. The ancient name was Ard-Neimheadh - the 'high' or 'important' island of Neimheadh, the legendary leader described in the 11th-century Lebor Gabala Erenn as having led a group of prehistoric invaders to the area. The archaeology supports a long settled past: ringforts, fulacht fi...

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Image: Jonathan Wilkins | CC BY-SA 2.0

Great Island: Cobh and the Sea

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit psyberartist, CC BY 2.0. Cobh - called Queenstown from 1849 to 1920, in honour of Queen Victoria - is the only sizeable town on Great Island and the reason most visitors come. The deepwater harbour and proximity to the open Atlantic made it Britain's most important southern Irish naval base for two centu...

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Image: psyberartist | CC BY 2.0

Great Island: The Cruise Ships

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dbee01, CC BY-SA 4.0. Tourism replaced what shipbuilding lost. The Port of Cork's berthing facilities at Cobh form the only dedicated cruise-ship berth in the Republic of Ireland - cruise lines that want a southern Irish stop come here. As of 2019, the port company was pursuing a redevelopment of the ...

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Image: Dbee01 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Great Island: Marshes, Whales, and Kingfishers

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jonathan Wilkins, CC BY-SA 2.0. Great Island is not just towns and dockyards. Cuskinny Marsh Nature Reserve, managed by BirdWatch Ireland on the eastern shore, holds kingfishers, cormorants and dozens of other species across its tidal habitats. Marlogue Wood, operated by Coillte, covers part of the south. The G...

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Image: Jonathan Wilkins | CC BY-SA 2.0

Great Island: A Single Bridge

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The Speckled Bird, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Belvelly Bridge was built in 1803, at one of the narrowest crossings in the Cork Harbour channels. It has carried the only road traffic onto the island for more than two centuries. Belvelly Castle stands beside it - the 14th-century Hodnett tower house that watches the crossi...

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Image: The Speckled Bird | CC BY-SA 4.0