Valentia Island is one of Ireland's most westerly points. It lies off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee. A car ferry also departs from Reenard Point to Knightstown, the island's main settlement, from April to October. Another, smaller village named Chapeltown sits at roughly the midpoint of the island, three kilometres from the bridge. Valentia Island's permanent population is 658. It is about 11 kilometres long by almost three kilometres wide, making it the fifth-biggest island off the Irish coast.
Knightstown Town clock
Telegraph Field, Valentia Island: Foilhommerum is the site of the first permanent communications link between Europe and the Americas. In October 2002, a memorial to mark the laying of the transatlantic cable to Heart's Content, Newfoundland was unveiled atop Foilhommerum Cliff. Made of Valentia slate and designed by local sculptor Alan Ryan Hall Archived 18 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, the memorial marks the importance of the site to telegraph communications with North America from 1857 forward and to accurately linking longitude measurements in North America to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in 1866.
Valentia Harbour from the north shore of Valentia Island (Photo taken at the top of the Catholic cemetery at Kylemore)
Dolmen Rock, western slope of Mt. Geokaun
The Iveragh Peninsula is located in County Kerry in Ireland. It is the largest peninsula in southwestern Ireland. A mountain range, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, lies in the centre of the peninsula. Carrauntoohil, its highest mountain, is also the highest peak in Ireland.
Beach at Rossbeigh in the Dingle Bay
