Wild Atlantic Way: Kinsale to Cliffs of Moher

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kinsale

   Kinsale is a small harbour town on the south coast of County Cork, and it has been around long enough to have seen plenty of drama. The Battle of Kinsale in 1601 ended in defeat for the Irish lords and their Spanish allies and is often treated as the real end of the old Gaelic order. The star-shaped Charles Fort, built later in the seventeenth century, still guards the harbour mouth, and you can walk its ramparts for a view across the water.

   Read the complete Kinsale write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kinsale is where the day begins. Next is Mizen Head.

2. 2. Mizen Head

   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.

   Read the complete Mizen Head write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mizen Head comes up about 115 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dingle.

3. 3. Dingle

   Dingle is a small harbour town at the western end of County Kerry's Dingle Peninsula, with fewer than two thousand people but about as many pubs as you could want. The streets slope toward the water, shops and houses are painted in strong colours, and the harbour is full of fishing boats. This is a Gaeltacht area, where Irish is still the everyday language for many families, so you may see signs in Irish first, and the town's Irish name, An Daingean, appears on the road markers.

   Read the complete Dingle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 300 km into the recorded legs you reach Dingle. Next is Cliffs of Moher.

4. 4. Cliffs of Moher

   The cliffs rise sheer out of the Atlantic for about eight kilometres along the west coast of County Clare, reaching just over two hundred metres at their highest point, and on a clear day the whole line of black shale and sandstone glows in the afternoon light. They are Ireland's most visited natural attraction, and they deserve it, although a good many of the visitors arrive by coach at the same hour, and the car park gets busy. The main viewing area is a small piece of the whole, and the further you walk along the coastal path, the quieter and wilder it becomes.

   Read the complete Cliffs of Moher write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cliffs of Moher closes the day.