Despite its relatively isolated location, Valentia Island has always boasted a killer instinct for survival. While 18th century Ireland was plagued with absentee or money-hungry landlords, Valentia was unique in that its landlords – the various Knights of Kerry – developed industries and opportunities for the local people.

For instance, over 150 years ago, the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable was laid between Newfoundland, Canada, and the island – a feat that allowed the Old and New Worlds to exchange communications, thereby shaping the face of global commerce forevermore.

In operation until the 1960s, the original cable station was housed amongst a row of beautiful, white-painted buildings just a few yards away from Knightstown’s quays. For over a century, this game-changing enterprise was integral to the lives of inhabitants who lived here. Today, the Valentia Transatlantic Cable Foundation is in the process of applying for a coveted UNESCO World Heritage status (valentiacable.com).

 

Visit the Valentia Island Heritage Centre, positioned just a minute’s walk away. Nestled within a charming 150-year-old schoolhouse, the heritage center acts as an archive for the island and chronicles their unique and authentic way of life while also paying tribute to some of its leading inhabitants and achievements. Highlights include tributes to pioneer marine biologist, Maud Delap, and arguably the country’s greatest footballer, Mick O’Connell.
Valentia Island Lighthouse, one of the area’s most recognizable landmarksLucian Horvat, the gregarious lighthouse manager, describes the building’s exciting history and notes that it’s “living proof of the dedication of light-keepers who’d to sacrifice their family life in order to ensure safe guiding of ships through the harbors of the Atlantic Coast.”

Today, the lighthouse is automatic and it’s directly managed by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. It’s one of the island’s prime tourist attractions – in 2018, some 15,000 visitors made the journey to see it, an impressive uptick on the 3,000 visitors who came in 2011.

A clean slate

A minute’s drive away is the dramatic Slate Quarry and Marian Shrine, where things are markedly quieter. First opened in 1816 under the direction of the Knight of Kerry, the area has been a working quarry on and off since that date.

Its many achievements include providing the slate for the Paris Opera House, London’s Houses of Parliament, and many billiard tables, notably the one made for the Duke of Wellington and Queen Victoria.

 

Below the island’s famous weather station is another must-see attraction, which only serves to emphasize Valentia’s global importance. After negotiating a steep track, you’ll stumble across the faint Tetrapod imprints, which are thought to be between a jaw-dropping 350 and 370 million years ago.

Discovered in 1991 and hailed by geologists as the earliest fossilized examples of a prehistoric creature in Europe, and possibly in the world, these footprints represent the transition of life from water to land – a momentous turning point in evolution. They provide the oldest reliably dated evidence of four-legged vertebrates – amphibians – moving over land.

Aim for the stars

On the other side of the island stands Geokaun Mountain and Cliffs as well as the tower on top of Bray Head. Walkers who embrace the hilly climbs will be rewarded with unrivaled views of Valentia, Dingle, the Blaskets, the Iveragh Peninsula, and the Skelligs.

Speaking of, another must for tourists to the island is the Skellig Experience, which sits modestly beside the bridge linking Valentia to the candy-colored fishing village of Portmagee. Complete with turf-covered barrel roofs, the interactive exhibition documents the life and times of the Irish monks who were Skellig Michael’s former residents, along with the extensive wildlife – including gannets and puffins – who continue to call the islands home to this day.

Source Irish central