Dursey Island - Calf Rock - Cow Rock | Beara Peninsula | West Cork | Ireland | 4K | drone footage

Dursey Island is one of the few inhabited islands that lie off the southwest coast of Ireland. It is situated at the western tip of the Beara Peninsula in the west of County Cork. Dursey Island is 6.5 km long and 1.5 km wide. The island is separated from the mainland by a narrow stretch of water called the Dursey Sound which has a very strong tidal race, with a reef of rocks in the centre of the channel which is submerged at high tides. This peaceful island, with only a handful of semi-permanent residents, is connected to the mainland by Ireland's only cable car.

The Calf Rock is the smaller of the three Islands. Home to the original Lighthouse built in 1866, which was cast iron but was destroyed by an Atlantic storm I’m 1966.

The Cow Rock Island is located 2.5 km from Dursey Island and lies between the Bull and Calf Rock. Another imposing structure with fantastic rock formations. The front of the Cow Rock, where the sea has cut out an arch, resembling an elephant with it‘s trunk in the water more so than a Cow as the name suggests! As you can see the back end of the Cow Rock has a large slab of rock just standing tall with a channel cut through it, one would wonder how much more pounding from the wild Atlantic this will take?

The Beara Peninsula is referred to as one of Ireland’s best kept secrets. The peninsula is divided by the Miskish and the Caha mountains which form a rugged spine down the centre with the raw splendour of the wild Atlantic waves never far from view.