Dursey Island Cable Car and Ireland's Unique Crossing
The Dursey Island Cable Car
Most people don’t even realise that Ireland has a cable car. It’s nowhere near any of the big cities most people visit. But there is one cable car in all of Ireland. And it is an adventure, just getting to it.
The Dursey Island Cable Car offers a short ride over a treacherous sound at the southern tip of the Beara Peninsula. (Thats two peninsulas south of Cork.)
The trip across takes 15 minutes each way.
It is a lifeline for the handful of residents on the island and an adventure for tourists. The Dursey Cable Car was built as a safer alternative to using a boat to cross the dangerous waves on the sound. You can go by boat, but you don’t if you can avoid it.
It’s a very rustic operation. The car takes about eight minutes each way across the sound. It only takes six people at a time. And there’s only one car. So you may find yourself waiting to get back. Oh, and there are sharks below you and far more sheep than people when you get to Dursey Island.
Just getting there is an adventure.
The stunning drive through the peninsula takes your full attention. Narrow, curvy, twisty roads. You gotta go slow, so it takes a while to get to.
Watch for wildlife
Be prepared for Irish traffic jams
The views from above are stunning
Back in the day, this cable car helped move sheep at times. These days actual residents take first priority to tourists. And they usually need at least two of the six seats, because they have to get and bring food from Ballaghboy. And they have to bring their garbage over as well.
Oh, and you are on your own to lock yourself in, when the operator prompts you.
But once you arrive you see that it was worth every twist and turn on that narrow, twisty, road you came in on.
Hear the adventure of the Dursey Cable Car in this episode of Erin’s Isle. Just click the audio bar at the top of this post!