Portmagee
A single row of brightly painted houses along a working harbour at the far west of the Iveragh Peninsula, Portmagee is the main jumping-off point for boats to Skellig Michael and the hub of the Skellig Ring. Named for an 18th-century smuggler, this small, sociable village punches far above its size in seafood, music and craic.
There isn't much to Portmagee - a quay, a bridge, a single bright terrace of houses looking across the channel to Valentia Island - but few small villages in Ireland pack in as much life. It takes its curious name from Captain Theobald Magee, an eighteenth-century merchant and army man who put the deep, sheltered inlet here to profitable use running contraband spirits, tobacco, tea and cloth between the Continent and this discreet corner of Kerry. The village's Irish name, An Caladh, 'the ferry', recalls its older role as the crossing point to Valentia - a job now done by the causeway bridge, opened in 1970 and named for Maurice O'Neill, a local man executed in 1942.
Today the harbour's business is visitors, and above all the Skelligs. Portmagee is the principal departure point for the boats out to Skellig Michael, whether you've secured one of the coveted landing tickets or are taking an eco-cruise to circle the rocks and their seabirds. On a summer morning the quay is a cheerful scramble of lifejackets and skippers calling names; by evening it settles back into a fishing village, the day-trippers gone. Even in high summer, though, plenty of sailings are scratched at short notice when the Atlantic gets up, so the village is well used to weather-stranded travellers making the best of an extra day.
That is when Portmagee is at its best. The pub life here is genuinely good - The Moorings and Bridge Bar on the waterfront is the heart of it, with fresh seafood and traditional music sessions that spill out into the night. The village guards its traditions too: a New Year's Eve procession of 'the Old Year' is said to have been walked here for the best part of three centuries.
Practically, Portmagee sits at the western end of the peninsula on the R565, about an hour's drive from Killarney and squarely on the Skellig Ring, so it pairs naturally with the nearby Kerry Cliffs and a loop over the bridge to Valentia. Parking along the front is straightforward outside the boat-departure rush; come with a night booked and you'll see the place empty out and come into its own.
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