Ireland runs out here, and it does so with a flourish. Mizen Head is the south-western tip of the island, a ragged headland of dark rock and heather above a sea that is rarely calm, and the road ends at the point where there is nothing between you and Newfoundland but ocean. From the clifftop you can see the Fastnet Rock far out to the south-west, a lonely pinnacle with a lighthouse, which was the last sight of Ireland for many emigrants and is often called Ireland's Teardrop.
The way here is long and slow. From Durrus or Schull you follow narrow regional roads through Goleen and Crookhaven, past stone walls, whitewashed cottages and fuchsia hedges that glow red in late summer. The surface is patchy, the road is often single track with passing places, and the corners are blind, so you need to ride with the expectation of a tractor around every bend. Do not expect to hurry. The reward is the changing light, with the sea turning from slate to turquoise as clouds move across, and the sudden glimpse of white beach at Barleycove, where dunes and a lagoon sit in a gap in the cliffs.
The old signal station at the end of the point has been turned into a visitor centre, reached by a footbridge across a deep gully, with the sea churning white beneath it. The station was built to give mariners a weather report and to watch for ships in trouble, and the arched concrete bridge, completed in the early twentieth century, is a fine piece of engineering. The cliffs here are full of seabirds, and if you are lucky you may see whales or dolphins out at sea, especially in late summer. Opening times for the visitor centre vary with the season, so check before you go.
Be realistic about supplies. There is little fuel on the peninsula, and the nearest big towns are Bantry and Skibbereen, so fill the tank before you commit. Cafes at Crookhaven and Goleen are small but welcoming, and in summer a bowl of chowder and brown bread is the right thing. Weather is the great variable. A calm bright day here is a rare joy, but the wind can be ferocious, so take a good jacket whatever the forecast says. Spring and early autumn are quieter than high summer.