Qualla: Sherkin Island

Sherkin Island: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Locals will tell you that when the frost covers the lawns of Baltimore, the grass on Sherkin across the bay stays green. It is the kind of claim that wants verifying and probably can't be, but it is true that Sherkin Island -- two and a half miles long, mostly low, lying just south-east of the Baltimore harbour mouth -- sits in a slightly milder pocket of the Atlantic than its mainland neighbour. The island had a population of 111 at the last census. It has one pub, a Roman Catholic church, a community centre, a B&B, two ruined medieval buildings, an automated lighthouse from 1835, and -- since 2016 -- one of the more unusual music festivals in Ireland.

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Sherkin Island: The Abbey

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Franciscan friary stands above the Abbey Strand, looking back at Baltimore across the channel. Locally it is just "the Abbey," and it dates to about 1460. A short walk from it lay Dún na Long, the seat of the O'Driscoll clan, the family that controlled this coastline through ...

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Sherkin Island: From a Thousand to a Hundred

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Sherkin once supported about a thousand people. The decline began with the Great Famine in the mid-19th century, when the population of West Cork collapsed across the board. The fall on Sherkin was steeper than the national average and the recovery never came. Today's 111 residen...

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Sherkin Island: Open Ear

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Sherkin Regatta, held in late July or early August, is the island's busiest day of the year -- a rowing regatta drawing competitors and supporters from across the West Cork islands and the mainland, with food stalls and children's events and music spilling out around the pier...

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Sherkin Island: The Crossing

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Baltimore-Sherkin ferry takes between ten and fifteen minutes, depending on the boat and the conditions. Onward to Cape Clear -- the Gaeltacht island further out, where Irish is still the everyday language -- takes about forty minutes. Sherkin has camping but no rubbish dispo...

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