Sheep's Head Peninsula

Sheep's Head is the slimmest of the five West Cork and Kerry peninsulas, a ridge of sandstone barely three kilometres wide in places running twenty-five kilometres into the Atlantic between Bantry Bay and Dunmanus Bay. It has no large town, no major attraction and very little traffic, and that is what people come for. The Sheep's Head Way, a 90-kilometre waymarked route developed by the local community in the 1990s, is the thing it is known for and won a European destination award for sustainable tourism. At the far tip a path of about four kilometres return crosses bare rock and lake-dotted bog to a small automated lighthouse on the cliff edge, with the Beara peninsula visible north and Mizen Head south. Roads on the peninsula are narrow and winding, services are minimal - a few pubs and a cafe at the end - and phone coverage is patchy.

What you actually see

• The lighthouse walk - four kilometres return over bare rock and bog to the tip.
• The Sheep's Head Way - 90 kilometres of community-built waymarked route.
• The two bays - Bantry to the north, Dunmanus to the south, close together.
• The emptiness - no towns, no coaches, very little traffic.

When to go

April to October. It is fully exposed to Atlantic weather and the tip walk is unpleasant in wind or rain. Facilities are seasonal - the cafe at the end closes out of season.

Honest expectations

Narrow winding roads with passing places. Very few services on the peninsula. The lighthouse path crosses uneven wet rock and bog and is not suitable for poor mobility. Patchy phone coverage.

Nearby

Bantry is at the base; the Beara peninsula is north and Mizen south.