- Where
- Dingle Peninsula
County Kerry, Ireland - Start / end
- Dingle (a loop, clockwise)
- Length
- About 48 km (Discover Ireland)
- Direction
- Clockwise for visitors; two-way for residents only
- Season
- Year-round road; Blasket ferry April–October
- Time
- At least half a day (Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance)
- Fees
- None for the road
- Status
- No closure notice on the R559 (Kerry County Council, 13 Oct 2026)
- Advisory
- Ireland Level 1
A narrow road clinging to the side of a green mountain above a wild sea, stone walls everywhere, sheep in the road, a stream running straight across the tarmac. Out to sea, a row of islands, one with the shells of a village on it. The signs were in a language I could not read, and everyone in the shop was speaking it.
Route facts
- Route
- Dingle (a loop) to Dingle (a loop)
- Length
- About 48 km (30 miles) all the way roundChecked · Discover Ireland: Slea Head
- Season window
- Open all year; visitors drive it clockwise; the Blasket ferry runs from April to OctoberChecked · Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance: Slea Head Drive
- Closures
- Open as read No closure notice for the R559 appeared in Kerry County Council’s road-closure notices on 13 October 2026.Live alert: Kerry County Council: road closures
- Fees
- No charge for the road is listedChecked · Discover Ireland: Slea Head
- Cost to enter
- Free
- Anchor point
- Slea Head
52.11° N, 10.47° W
The short answer
The Slea Head Drive, in Irish Slí Cheann Sléibhe, is a circular route around the western end of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, beginning and ending in the town of Dingle and forming part of the Wild Atlantic Way, according to the Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance. Discover Ireland, the national tourism board’s site, gives it as approximately 48 kilometres. It follows the R559 and is signposted throughout. The tourism alliance says it is a one-way system for visitors, driven clockwise through Ventry (Ceann Trá), and two-way for local residents only; it asks drivers to turn off satellite navigation and follow the road signs, and to allow at least half a day. Kerry County Council’s road-closure notices, read on 13 October 2026, listed none on the route.
Why it's worth knowing
A narrow road with a lot of history on it. The tourism alliance’s route description reads like a short course in Irish archaeology: the Iron Age promontory fort of Dunbeg, much of it now lost to the sea, Wikipedia says; the clocháns, or beehive huts, at Fahan, small stone structures that Wikipedia says seem to have been built around 1000 BC; the early Christian site at Riasc; and the Gallarus Oratory, a church of fitted stone with no separate roof. Near the end the road runs along the foot of Mount Brandon, Ireland’s second-highest mountain, past Brandon Creek, the legendary starting point of St Brendan’s voyage.
Islands that were emptied. Off Dún Chaoin lie the Blasket Islands. The Office of Public Works’ Blasket Centre, at Dún Chaoin, tells the story of the small Irish-speaking community that lived on them, by fishing and farming, until the final evacuation of the Great Blasket in 1953, and of the island authors whose books became classics of Irish literature. A passenger ferry runs to the Great Blasket from Dún Chaoin pier between April and October, the tourism alliance says.
A place where Irish is spoken. The route passes through what the tourism alliance calls Irish-speaking villages, and the alliance gives its places in both languages: Ceann Trá for Ventry, Dún Chaoin for Dunquin, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh for Ballyferriter. It also passes film locations: some of Ryan’s Daughter was shot at Coumeenoole Strand, below Slea Head.
The field notes
Why clockwise
The Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance asks visitors to drive the loop clockwise “in order to avoid meeting the large tour buses that frequent the route during the summer”, because part of the cliff road is very narrow and single lane only. It asks drivers to use the lay-bys to let traffic pass if a tailback builds, and to give walkers and cyclists 1.5 metres of clearance.
Who built the oratory, and when
The Gallarus Oratory has been dated three ways, Wikipedia records: the antiquary Charles Smith, its first describer in 1756, took it for an early Christian church; the archaeologist Peter Harbison argued in 1970 for the 12th century, and in 1994 for a shelter for pilgrims; and local tradition in Smith’s time said it was the funerary chapel of a man called Griffith More. It is a National Monument.
Coumeenoole Bay and Dunmore Head, with Great Blasket Island across the sound, October 2017.
Photograph: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
The Gallarus Oratory, whose walls lean inward until they meet to form its roof, June 2021.
Photograph: Dieglop · CC BY-SA 4.0
Stone field walls climbing a hillside above the drive, October 2017.
Photograph: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
- Go the way the signs say, and switch the phone's directions off.
- Pull into the lay-bys and let the people who live here get to work.
- Learn to say hello in the language on the signs before you go, and use it.
- Stand inside the stone chapel near the end for a minute, in the dark, and listen to how quiet the walls are.
- Bring a raincoat. This item was originally longer, and also wetter.
The Gallarus Oratory. A small church on the Dingle Peninsula, near the harbour of Ard na Caithne, built of large stones of Old Red Sandstone cut on every side to fit together, Wikipedia records. Its two side walls and two end walls slope inward course by course until they meet, so that each wall is both wall and roof; each stone is set slightly lower on its outer edge so that rain runs off. Mortar was used inside the walls and in a thin layer between the stones, though none shows on the outer face. The interior is about 4.8 by 3 metres, lit by one small round-headed window in the east wall opposite a doorway 1.67 metres high, and the walls are 1.2 metres thick at the base. Wikipedia calls it the only intact building of its type. It is a National Monument of Ireland.
Tally, in the marginI walked all the way round it looking for where the roof starts, and there isn't anywhere. The walls just keep leaning in until they meet, and I was halfway round again before that stopped surprising me.
Getting there
How to drive it. Leave Dingle westward on the R559 towards Ventry, following the “Slea Head Drive” and Wild Atlantic Way signs, and keep going clockwise: Ventry, Dunbeg Fort and the Fahan huts, Slea Head, Coumeenoole, Dún Chaoin and the Blasket Centre, Clogher Head, Ballyferriter, Riasc and Gallarus, Ballydavid, then back to Dingle over the hill at Ballinlochaigh. At Fahan the road crosses a ford at a hairpin bend.
When to go. The road is open all year. In summer it is busy with tour buses, which is why the one-way rule exists; the Great Blasket ferry runs from April to October. On a clear day, the tourism alliance says, Skellig Michael can be seen as a silhouette on the southern horizon from near Dunbeg.
What to arrange ahead. Nothing for the road itself. Expect farmers moving sheep and cattle on the road, horses, and school children near the schools along the way; the tourism alliance asks drivers to slow down for all of them.
Safety. The State Department has Ireland at Level 1, exercise normal precautions, its lowest level; it says petty crime is common in popular tourist locations and that demonstrations may occur with little notice (advisory dated 20 March 2026 in its feed, read 13 October 2026). The hazards here are a narrow cliff road with a sheer drop on one side, oncoming local traffic, wind, and slippery rock at the shore.
Mark this place
Common questions
How long is the Slea Head Drive?
Discover Ireland gives the Slea Head Drive on the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, as approximately 48 kilometres. The Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance gives no length but advises setting aside at least half a day for the loop from Dingle and back.
Which direction should you drive the Slea Head Drive?
Clockwise. The Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance says the Slea Head Drive is a one-way system for visitors, driven clockwise through Ventry, to avoid meeting tour buses on a cliff road that is single lane in places; it is two-way only for local residents.
Where does the Slea Head Drive start?
The Slea Head Drive starts and ends in the town of Dingle, County Kerry. Leave Dingle westward on the R559 towards Ventry (Ceann Trá) and follow the Slea Head Drive and Wild Atlantic Way signs, the Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance says.
Can you see the Blasket Islands from the Slea Head Drive?
Yes. Slea Head, on the R559 at the western end of the Dingle Peninsula, has a full view of the Blasket Islands, Wikipedia records. The Great Blasket’s last residents left in 1953, and the OPW’s Blasket Centre at Dún Chaoin tells their story.
Can you visit the Great Blasket Island?
A passenger ferry runs from Dún Chaoin pier on the Slea Head Drive to the Great Blasket between April and October, according to the Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance. The island was evacuated in 1953.
What is the Gallarus Oratory?
The Gallarus Oratory, on the Slea Head Drive above Smerwick Harbour in County Kerry, is a small stone church whose walls lean inward to form its roof, with an interior about 4.8 by 3 metres, Wikipedia records. It has been dated from early Christian times to the 12th century.
What are the beehive huts on the Slea Head Drive?
The beehive huts, or clocháns, at Fahan on the Slea Head Drive are small round stone buildings near Dunbeg Fort, and Wikipedia says they seem to have been built around 1000 BC. The Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance lists them among the drive’s historic sites.
Is the Slea Head Drive dangerous?
Part of the Slea Head Drive’s cliff road on the Dingle Peninsula is very narrow and single lane, the Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance says, which is why visitors must drive it clockwise. It asks drivers to use lay-bys, slow for livestock and give cyclists 1.5 metres.