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Great Blasket Island, County Kerry, Ireland

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Harbour position?

52° 6.405' N, 010° 30.711' W

Where is that position?

200m off the middle of the beach near the old island settlement.

What are the initial fixes?

The following waypoints will set up a final approach:

(i) South Blasket Sound Initial Fix
52° 6.000' N, 010° 30.000' W
Safe South point fix to Blasket Sound passage. This is upon the alignment 015° (or 195° heading south) upon the site of the old tower on Sybil Point and Clogher Rock, off Clogher Head.

(ii) Middle Blasket Sound Initial Fix
52° 7.500' N, 010° 29.500' W
Safe middle point fix to Blasket Sound passage. This is upon the alignment 015° (or 195° heading south) upon the site of the old tower on Sybil Point and Clogher Rock, off Clogher Head. It is abeam of the north ends of the group of rocky islets.

(iii) An Tra Ban (beach anchorage approach) Initial Fix
52° 6.500' N, 010° 29.900' W


Please note: Initial fixes only set up their listed targets. Do not plan to sail directly between initial fixes as a routing sequence.

What LWS draught is available?

3 metres (9.84 feet).

What are the tides and weather here?

Local HW and LW are about Cobh -0110

Blasket Sound Tides
The tide starts running North at Dover –0120 or Cobh +0430
The tide Starts running South at Dover +0440 or Cobh –0035

Tides in the Blasket Sound twist with the channels, flood North, ebb South, and turn approximately half an hour ahead of the local HW and LW. The speed of the tidal streams in the main channels varies but is generally 1 – 3 kn (on springs) causing overfalls and eddies. Sustained southerlies make the flood run for longer and stronger.

The latest monthly Dover Tides and Cobh Tides courtesy of the National Environmental Research Council. Printable monthly tides for Dublin, Dunmore, Cobh, Galway, Belfast are available from the ISA.

The national weather forecast, Met Éireann and BBC shipping forecasts, plus a very simplified Munster tourist outlook. From an Atlantic perspective a 24 hour North Atlantic synoptic chart that you may ‘right click’ and save to your hard disk. Met Éireann’s Eastern Atlantic chart and the BBC’s surface area forecast plus visible satellite images for Ireland and Northeast Atlantic from Met Éireann. Wind observations, XC UK & Ireland, Windguru wind & wave reports, and Windfinder where you can determine a forecast time. Coastal radio stations (VHF Channel) Weather forecast at 0103 and thence every 3 hours updated every sixth. Cork 26, Bantry 23, Valentia 24. Radio broadcasts on RTE 1 (89.1FM) 0603, 1253, 1655 and 2355.

A free tidal range prediction application for windows, a simple tide monitor plus the rule of twelfths are available in inyourfootsteps.com shared ‘experience’.

What considerations are there?

Great Blasket Island lies approximately two miles from the mainland, at Dunmore Head upon the north side of the entrance to Dingle Bay. The uninhabited island resides within a group of rocky islets that are Ireland’s, and continental Europe’s, most westerly. Great Blasket Island provides an anchorage and white sand beach for landing.

The anchorage is a tolerable with fair to good holding. Normal navigation is required as it is easy by day with a favourable tide. You are ideally looking for good conditions to visit Great Blasket Island.

Please note the tides can be confused and unpredictable at times so a power driven craft is recommended. You should be aware of local magnetic anomalies in this cruising area.

How to get in?

From either initial fix use the marked alignment 015° (or 195° southbound) of the site of the old tower on Sybil Point and Clogher Rock, off Clogher Head, to lead you through the sound.

If approaching from the south keep centre track on this at all times as this is the narrowest point of the sound, between Great Blasket Island’s Garraun Point and Dunmore Head. Here the navigational width is reduced to approximately 1,000 metres. This section is reduced by a narrow strip of rock extending out from Dunmore Head with a conical 44 metres high rock island called ‘The Lure’ at the end. Beyond ‘The Lure’ several dangerous, both covered and drying, rocks extend a further six hundred metres plus to the west-southwest called Scollage and Stromboli rocks.

Once inside the sound the passage becomes partially sheltered by a large number of rocks and islets to the west making for a much more comfortable sail.

When you come up on the Great Blasket Island Initial Fix turn in

The beech is fairly steep so you can get close in at 3 metres that should keep you out of the run of the tide. Holding fair to good in sand, I am always a bit cautious here as there is often a lump in Blasket sound and the tide fairly sweeps through so I am inclined to increase the amount of chain that I would normally let out. The beach is clear as far as I know.

The landing place with a dingy is upon the beach itself. The ferries have moorings just off their landing place on the south side of the beach so they should be kept clear.

What facilities are available?

The island is uninhabited apart for a few summer visitors. Apart from a good well at the top of the village and the services of a ferry to the island, operates from the nearby Dunquin pier during summer months, there is nothing but a few summer cottages and the ruins of the original inhabitants.

What emergency contacts are there?

Valentia Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) VHF Ch 24 & MF 1752 kHz covers this costal area. Cork (26), Mizen (04), Bantry Bay (23), Shannon (28) and Galway (04) provide relay stations. Coastguard Radio is always called on a working channel. Emergencies are worked on 16, 67 and working channel.

Alternatively, or if ashore, phone 999 or 121 (free) and ask for ‘Marine Rescue’. Gardai (police), Fire and Rescue are also available on this number. Valentia (MRSC) may be called on +353 669 476 109

Why visit here?

In fine weather Great Blasket Island is a most rewarding cruising location from both a cruising and historical interest perspective.

The uninhabited island extends five miles to the southwest, rising to 292 metres at its highest point (Croaghmore). However it was not always uninhabited and Great Blasket was abandoned as recently as 1954.

Earlier in the century, when 215 people lived there the island produced a remarkable number of gifted writers who brought vividly to life their harsh existence and who kept alive old Irish folk tales of the land. The best-seller, translated as 20 Years A Growing by Maurice O' Sullivan, and a masterpiece, The Island man by Thomas O'Crohan. An Old Woman's Reflections (by Peig Sayers, 1939) is a book that most all Irishmen studied at one time in school. In this century some 60 books, mostly in Irish, have been written in the immediate area.

Life was harsh in the historical village, huddled against the hillside for shelter on the east side of the island above the beach anchorage. All supplies had to be carried by boat, and in the days when the only means of transport was a canvas covered curragh or naomhóg, the islanders were sometimes marooned for weeks at a time, especially in the stormy winter months.

Numbers dwindled over the years as emigration took its toll, but the final decision to evacuate the island came when the turf supply (the only source of fuel on the island) became scarce. The last inhabitants of the island were re-settled on the mainland, mostly in the parish of Dunquin where there is now a heritage centre. Now the Great Blasket only has summer homes and there also one on lnishvickillane. Apart from the few maintained for use by summer visitors, all the other houses have now fallen into ruins deteriorating annually by each passing winter storm. Although there are plans to repopulate Great Blasket Island which is a National Historic Park it is most likely that one day there may be nothing left but piles of stones and the traces of pathways.

The tide races in the sounds, including Blasket Sound, have a fierce reputation that date back to the Spanish Armada. In the storms of September 1588 four escaping ships, including one of the largest ships of the fleet, were driven through the narrow unmarked passage close north of Great Blasket Island. The first ‘Recalde’, executed an utterly remarkable feat of seamanship, and got into shelter under Great Blasket Island, followed by a second the ‘Bautista’. Both of these vessels eventually got back Spain.

Two other compatriot vessels the ‘Ragusa’ and the ‘Rosa’ tried to join them but were wrecked. The Rosa drifted and then simply sank on striking what is believed to be Stromboli Rock where it has been located. The Ragusa was in distress and sank after it is believed striking Dunbinna reef.

Any security concerns?

You will have no security issues off Great Blasket Island.

What navigational resources are available for this area?

The large scale Admiralty 2789 ‘Dingle Bay and Smerwick Harbour’ Scale of 1:60,000, including ‘Continuation of Castlemaine Harbour’ Scale of 1:60,000 and ‘Smerwick Harbour’ Scale of 1:40,000 covers this area. 2790 Ventry and Dingle Harbours Scale of 1:15,000 covers the ‘Blasket Islands’ Scale of 1:37,500 in more detail.

Imray C56 & C55 scale of 1:170,000 overlap here. Ordinance Survey of Ireland, Discovery Series Map ref No. 70 Kerry, scale 1:50,000. The Pilot ’Sailing Directions - Irish Cruising Club - South and West Coasts of Ireland’’ covers this in great detail.

How can I get this offshore?

If you are receiving a mobile signal you can access all of our information via a standard mobile phone internet browser. We provide a streamlined version of the site at www.liyfs.com, which is a shortcut to our 'Lite' site called Lite.InYourFootSteps.com, that is simplified and optimised for speed. Here are the phonetics to pass the address on via VHF: WWW.LIYFS.COM, I SPELL... LIMA... INDIA... YANKEE... FOXTROT... SIERRA... DOT.COM. Similarly, if you have limited or expensive internet capabilities, you may switch to the 'Lite' site www.liyfs.com for faster more efficient access.

Alternatively you may print a hard copy to have aboard. Either print this page with text, illustrations and photos, but without the internet menu, layout, backdrops and Google maps, or economise upon printer consumables and print this page with text only.

With thanks to:

Burke Corbett, Gusserane, New Ross, Co. Wexford.

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