I stayed in a 200-year-old lighthouse and visited a pirate's tomb on Clare Island
The cliffs of Clare Island, Co Mayo.
“That’s where I’ll be going,” Carl O’Grady says as he brushes one hand through his grey beard and gestures his other hand towards a family grave outside Clare Island Abbey. “In on top of my mam.”
I notice a sizeable proportion of the graves that overlook the sea carry the O’Grady name and I ask Carl how he feels about knowing his final destination.
“I’m delighted! I’m rooted here,” he replies.
Carl’s family has lived on the island for generations and played important roles in many of the local stories: “And, sure, you can’t beat the view.”
“What county is Clare Island in?” would make for a good pub quiz question. Despite the name, it’s part of Co Mayo and sits at the entrance to Clew Bay with Louisburgh and Croagh Patrick on the mainland to the southeast and Achill Island to the north.
Some 138 people live here, according to the 2022 census, and that balloons in the peak summer months when tourists and family reunions make their way to this quiet outpost, but I’ve come in late May to experience it at a gentler pace.
Granuaile’s Castle stands on a pinch of high land at the pier and the story of the family who lived here is central to the history of the island. The O’Malley family ruled the kingdom of Umaill and around the 1560s, something unexpected happened: Grace O’Malley rose to the head of the clan, bucking centuries of patriarchal tradition.
Her achievements were left out of the Irish annals, but they were so monumental that they survived through storytelling. Known as the ‘Pirate Queen’, O’Malley was a tremendous sailor who used her ships to launch raids and collect money owed. But it was her journey up the River Thames to Greenwich in London to meet Queen Elizabeth I, where she successfully negotiated the release of her captured son, that gave her an almost mythical standing in Irish history.
“There’s two things up there that don’t make sense. Can you spot them?”
Carl has now brought me inside Clare Island Abbey, a medieval structure built to bring education and status to the kingdom. A stone tomb, which some believe to house the body of O’Malley, sits at the back of the abbey under a painted, vaulted ceiling. The ceiling is flaking, but scenes of feasts and hunts are easily spotted; Carl explains that paintings like these were quite common at the time, but not many have survived as well as the ones here. My eyes follow the story until I spot the first unusual figure, a dragon, and then below it another, this time a creature with three tails.
“People have come from all over the world to study these. Nobody knows exactly what they mean, but they all agree they must mean something,” he says.
Almost 600 years after being painted, the secret code remains a mystery.
This isn’t my first visit to Clare Island. I cycled from Westport to Roonagh Pier with a friend in 2022, and we explored the island by bike. We made our way up to the lighthouse on the northernmost part and I made a deal with myself that if I ever came back, I’d stay at the lighthouse. Here I am, almost four years later, coming good on that deal and rattling my way up the gravel road in Carl’s jeep towards the sea cliffs. Clare Island Lighthouse was previously a very high-end place to stay for people with much deeper pockets than me, but it’s shifted its approach in recent years to something more akin to a B&B.
“Ah, we should’ve made the change a long time ago,” claims Katrina Moen, who runs the accommodation here.
I’m delighted they did, as it’s more accessible to more types of travellers now. I’m staying in Cliff Corner, one of the six bedrooms, and step outside through the back door that opens out to a walled garden that plunges down on the other side to the sharp cliffs below and out across to the sheer cliffs that rise into the distance. Living on an island means compromise is a part of life. It’s harder to get goods over from the mainland, so making do with what you’ve got becomes the norm — yet I can’t find a compromise at Clare Island Lighthouse.
My room is a warm and comfortable refuge from the wind and the kitchen is stocked with affordable meals, drinks, and snacks. This is a true destination accommodation: It’s a place you go to and don’t leave until you have to.
The highlight is, of course, the lighthouse itself. It’s stood on this spot since 1806, surviving fires and storms until it was decommissioned in 1965 and lives again as part of the accommodation. Holding on to the metal handrail, I wind my way up the steps to the top where the bulb once shone and meet Carl again.
People on Clare Island have had to adapt in order to stay here: Katrina is also an artist; the mechanic is the taxi man; and Carl, as well as knowing every story on the island, also runs Clare Island Whiskey.
The whiskey world is a hard one to break into and Carl has looked to his home to create a unique Irish single malt spirit. Like many generations before him, he turned to the sea and ages his creation in barrels on a boat where the constant, four-year rocking motion helps to extract more flavour from the cask. I’m not a whiskey drinker, and maybe I’m being won over by the setting, Carl’s stories, and the wind whistling through the open windows, but I find myself picking up on the different notes of flavour and properly enjoying whiskey for the first time.
Wavy hills lead down from the lighthouse back towards the pier and I find a sheep track that I follow towards a sheltered cove. Each step makes me appreciate being from Ireland: The May weather chops and changes from sunny to cloudy, lambs bleat as they find their feet on the soft bog, and an incredible seascape — worthy of the ferry crossing alone — reveals itself as I get closer to the cove.
There’s a beauty on the island that’s only enhanced by the effort required to get here. Water so clear it’s almost invisible washes over the slip, creeping its way landward for high tide while red sea urchins wait in rock pools and sheep brave the steep slopes for fresh grass. I take a seat. I do nothing but sit on the steps down to the sea. An unfamiliar calm enters my mind and my breath relieves the tension in my body. I’m in complete contentment, both with the present moment and with whatever is waiting for me back across the sea on the mainland.
Visiting Clare Island, on the Wild Atlantic Way, has shown me how to slowly and meaningfully connect with a part of my home; I just needed to take my time, know where to look, and who to talk to.
- Take the ferry from Roonagh Pier to Clare Island. There are up to 11 crossings per day in each direction from May to September and the 20-minute journey can be taken with Clare Island Ferry Co and O’Malley Ferries.
- The Anchor Bar & Bistro is close to the pier and acts as the meeting point on the island where you can find pub grub and regular live music.
- Experience the island’s creative side at Beth Moran Handweaver, whose works have been gifted to royalty and can be bought in her shop.
- Stay updated with the latest inspiration on places to visit on discoverireland.ie
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