Island · Co. Mayo
The mountainous island guarding the entrance to Clew Bay — home of Gráinne O’Malley, the 16th-century pirate queen, with Granuaile’s Castle at the pier and the Abbey’s rare medieval roof paintings.
Clare Island (Cliara or Oileán Chliara in Irish, also historically Inishcleer) is a mountainous island guarding the entrance to Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. Historically part of the kingdom of Umhaill, it is famous as the home of the 16th-century pirate queen Gráinne O’Malley. The population of the island is 138 according to the 2022 census. To the south-west lie Inishturk (inhabited) and Caher Island (uninhabited), and to the north is Achill Island.
Through the Middle Ages, Clare Island was part of the lands of the O’Malley family. The ruins of an O’Malley tower-house, known as Granuaile’s Castle because of its most famous resident, are close to the pier at the eastern edge of the island. Clare Island Abbey, near the south coast of the island, was founded by the O’Malleys and contains the O’Malley Tomb, a possible burial site of Gráinne O’Malley. The Abbey is known for its rare medieval roof paintings — the stones, the castle and the tomb, and the walk across the island is the walk from the pier to the Abbey and back.
The island guards the entrance to Clew Bay, and the water around it is the bay in its proper form: the islands, the headlands and the Atlantic behind them. In 1588, a ship — the Spanish Armada country of the bay — passed the island, and the history of the place is the history of the bay: the O’Malleys, the castle and the water. The island is the quiet place at the mouth of the bay, and the light on the water is best before the weather moves in.
Clare Island is a boat trip from Westport, a short drive from the pier; the island is small enough for a day, and the walk from the pier to Granuaile’s Castle and on to the Abbey is the walk to do first.
Where to stay
Westport is the base; the crossing puts the castle, the Abbey and the bay all within a day.
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