Club Outing – Dalkey Island

The first outing of the Autumn was a trip to Dalkey Island. On a hazy Saturday morning (7th September) 11 members met to take the short boat trip over to the island. There was a short delay as the ferryman, Neil had to wait for a higher water level before bringing his boat from Bullock Harbour to collect us at Coliemore. The trip over was very pleasant and we landed at a small jetty. On the way we saw a number of seals hanging out on the rocks. The first thing that struck us when we arrived was the quiet and peacefulness of the place.

There was a small herd of goats who had regular disagreements over who could stand on the highest rock and who could court a lucky/unlucky female.
Following the path from the jetty there is the ruin of a 600 AD church and further along is the Martello tower.

After an hour, the sun broke through the haze and the temperature rose. There was a steady stream of sail boats moving between the mainland and the island and a group of divers dropped anchor just off shore.

The views were stunning, from Bray to the obelisk at Killiney Hill to Howth and beyond.

It was very interesting to see the mainland from the island, which itself is so regularly photographed.

It was a great way to spend a morning and it’s definitely a trip worth doing if you haven’t been there yet.

Some images (click on an image to open in full-screen mode) from the outing can be seen below: