Innisfallen Island
Innisfallen Island is a small, wooded island of roughly twenty-one acres sitting in the lower lake of Killarney, known as Lough Leane, in County Kerry in the southwest of Ireland. It is one of the most celebrated and historically significant islands in the entire country, combining extraordinary natural beauty with a monastic heritage stretching back nearly fourteen centuries. The island floats amid the famously blue-green waters of Lough Leane, framed by the mountains of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks in the distance, and is smothered in a dense canopy of oak, holly, yew, strawberry tree (arbutus), and other native Irish woodland that gives it the appearance of having barely changed since the medieval monks who lived there first set eyes upon it. The combination of wilderness and ruins makes Innisfallen one of the most atmospheric spots in all of Ireland.
The island's history begins in the early seventh century, traditionally dated to around 640 AD, when Saint Finian the Leper, a disciple of Saint Brendan the Navigator, founded a monastic community here. The monastery that grew from this foundation became one of the most important centres of early Christian learning in Ireland. Its greatest achievement is the Annals of Innisfallen, a chronicle of Irish and world history compiled by monks on the island from around 1092 and continued intermittently until 1326. These annals are among the oldest surviving records of Irish history and are an irreplaceable source for scholars studying medieval Ireland. Today the manuscript is held in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, a testament to how such treasures were scattered during the turbulent centuries following the dissolution of the monasteries. Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland who died defeating the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, is said to have been educated at Innisfallen in his youth, lending the island an almost mythological connection to one of Ireland's defining historical figures.
What greets visitors today on the island are the atmospheric ruins of the monastery itself, including the remains of a Romanesque oratory that dates to the early twelfth century and features the beautifully carved arch typical of the Hiberno-Romanesque style. There is also a larger Augustinian priory from the thirteenth century, whose walls still stand to a considerable height, with Gothic arches and window openings that frame views of the surrounding water and trees. The ruins are not roped off or heavily managed, and visitors are free to walk among the stones, sit in the archways, and feel the layers of time pressing in from every side. Ivy creeps up the stone walls, birds call constantly from the dense woodland overhead, and the sound of lapping water is never far away.
The physical experience of the island is one of profound seclusion and quiet beauty. The woodland cover is remarkably dense and the island feels enveloped in greenness, particularly in spring and summer when the canopy is full. The ground is soft underfoot with thick moss, and the trees are gnarled and ancient-looking, their roots tangled over exposed rock. The light on Innisfallen has a famously gentle quality, filtered through the leaves and reflected up from the surrounding lake, and this combination of soft illumination and old stone has made the island irresistible to poets and painters over the centuries. Thomas Moore, the nineteenth-century Irish poet, immortalised the island in his song "Sweet Innisfallen," drawing attention to its romantic, melancholic charm and helping to establish Killarney as one of the great tourist destinations of the Romantic era.
The surrounding landscape is the Killarney National Park, Ireland's oldest national park, designated in 1932 when the Muckross Estate was gifted to the Irish state. Lough Leane itself is the largest of the three Killarney lakes and is studded with other smaller islands, but Innisfallen is by far the most visited and historically significant. From the water, the mountains of Kerry form a dramatic backdrop, and on clear days the island seems to glow in the light reflected off the lake. The national park contains red deer, white-tailed eagles, whooper swans, and a rich diversity of plant life, much of which thrives on Innisfallen itself thanks to the mild, wet Atlantic climate that gives this corner of Kerry its almost subtropical character.
To reach Innisfallen, visitors travel first to Killarney town, which is well-served by rail from Cork and Dublin. From there, the island is accessed by rowing boat hired from Ross Castle, the late medieval tower house and castle on the southern shore of Lough Leane, roughly two kilometres from Killarney town centre. Rowing boats and small motorised boats can be hired from the jetty at Ross Castle, and the crossing to Innisfallen takes only about ten to fifteen minutes. There is no bridge, no ferry service with fixed times, and no facilities on the island itself, which contributes enormously to its unspoilt character. Visitors should bring their own water and be prepared for the possibility of rain, as Kerry's weather is notoriously changeable. The best time to visit is between late spring and early autumn, with May and June offering long days, relatively dry weather, and the island at its most lushly green.
One of the more unusual aspects of Innisfallen is the presence of the arbutus or strawberry tree, a species native to the Mediterranean and the western seaboard of Ireland, which grows here in unusual abundance. Its presence is a quirk of the exceptionally mild Kerry microclimate and gives the island a subtly exotic character. The island is also notable for the survival of several early medieval carved stones and architectural fragments, some of which remain in situ among the ruins. The sense that this was a place of serious contemplation and intellectual endeavour, far removed from the violence of medieval Ireland, is palpable even today, and the island continues to inspire a quality of quiet reverence in most visitors who make the crossing.