The islands of Ireland: Cape Clear is an enticing island

Observed mistily above the Sherkin hills from the Beacon at Baltimore, Cape Clear is an enticing island and by far the largest in Roaringwater Bay, writes Dan MacCarthy

At 45 minutes journey by ferry from Baltimore, the ferry trips to its shores is one of the longest to an island in the country — around the same time as the journey to Inismór in Co Galway or Tory Island, Co Donegal.

The distance from the mainland is the main reason that it has survived as a Gaeltacht, running as it does regular summer courses for speakers of all abilities to improve their cúpla focal.