Inishboffin Island, Co. Donegal

Getting to Inishboffin

Boffin Ferry runs daily crossings from Magheroarty Pier, Co. Donegal, with three sailings each way per day throughout the season. The crossing takes approximately 10 minutes. Adults €12 return, children under 12 €5 return. Free Travel Pass accepted.

See the full timetable and fares, or call us on 087 434 5892 to book.

Beaches

The east beach at Tobar an Ghlasáin is the island's finest, peaceful, tranquil, and consistently stunning. The views stretch across to Inis Dumhaigh, Tory Island, the Seven Sisters mountain range, and the open Atlantic. On the western side, the stone beach at Errawnagh (An Earramhnach) offers smooth, egg-shaped stones in remarkable colours and textures. Both beaches are easily reached on foot from the pier.

Birdwatching

Inishboffin is one of the most important birdwatching sites in Donegal. In summer the island holds 10 to 20 calling corncrake males each year, a species that has vanished from most of Ireland, making it a significant site for this globally endangered bird. Peregrine falcons and choughs visit regularly, and between Inishboffin and the neighbouring Inis Dumhaigh, some 30 to 70 breeding pairs of Arctic terns nest each summer. In winter, an internationally important flock of around 400 barnacle geese arrives on the island, occasionally accompanied by Greenland white-fronted geese.

Walking

The island is well suited to walking at a relaxed pace. A circuit of the island takes in the beaches, the clifftop views, the old farmsteads, and the sea arches and caves on the northern shore. The views from the high ground at the centre of the island take in Errigal, Muckish, Cnoc Fola, Horn Head, Tory Island, Inis Dumhaigh, and Inis Beag on a clear day.

Places of Interest

The island has a quiet but layered history. A few points worth seeking out:

• Neal McGregor's Hut A talented English artist who came to the island in 1982 and lived here until his sudden death in 1990. His hut at Gob Char' a' Ghlasáin still contains salmon, lobster, and a seagull carved into the stone walls. A documentary, The Stranger, was made about his life in 2015.
• Arthur Kingsley Porter's Cottage The ruins of a holiday cottage belonging to the renowned Harvard professor and owner of Glenveagh Castle, who vanished without trace on the island on 8th July 1933. Whether he drowned or disappeared deliberately has never been established.
• The Devil's Stone (Cloch an Diabhaill) A stone near the old schoolhouse marked with impressions said locally to be the devil's claws.
• Scoilt na hAltóra A sheltered cleft in the rock where Mass was said in secret during Penal Times.
• The White Stone (An Chloch Bhán) Situated in the middle of the island, connected to the legend of the white cow from which the island takes its name.
• Inishboffin National School Built in 1889, closed in 1981.

Island Tours & Boat Trips

As well as the regular ferry crossing, Boffin Ferry offers guided island cruises around the Donegal Archipelago, Inishboffin, Inishdooey, Inishbeg, and Tory Island. Tours run from €25 per person for up to 12 people, with private boat hire available from €250 for 90 minutes. Dolphins and other marine life are regularly spotted on the water. Call us on 087 434 5892 to arrange.