Long Island

Long Island (Irish: Inis Fada, meaning “long island”) lies in Roaringwater Bay off the coast of West Cork, a short distance south of the town of Schull in County Cork. It is the third largest of the scattered islands known as Carbery’s Hundred Isles, after Sherkin Island and Clear Island, and, true to its name, stretches roughly 4.8 kilometres in length while measuring only about 0.8 kilometres across at its widest.

The island is reached by a regular passenger ferry from Colla Pier, which lies about 600 metres away just outside Schull, and the crossing takes only a few minutes. Services run more frequently in the summer months, typically five days a week, and are reduced to around three days a week over winter. At Long Island’s eastern tip stands Copper Point, marking the entrance to Schull harbour. Completed in July 1864, it stood for well over a century as an unlit stone daymark; a light was not established there until 1 June 1977, and it was formally reclassified as a lighthouse only in the years that followed.

Today Long Island is home to only a small permanent community, recorded as 17 residents in 2022. This is a striking contrast with 1841, when 305 people lived here; the abandoned cottages and ruins dotted across the island are a quiet reminder of that earlier population. With its shingle shoreline, gentle walks and abundant birdlife, the island makes a peaceful spot to spend a day amid the scenery of the south-west coast.