Line © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), checked by Global Adventurer.
The walk
From the visitor centre at Kilmurvey (Cill Mhuirbhigh), follow the OPW path south-west, rising steadily over rough limestone between stone walls, through the outer rings of the fort to the inner enclosure, which stops dead at a sheer cliff. People lived and built here by about 1000 BC. From the edge you look along the cliffs and across Galway Bay to the Burren. Return the same way. The long loop from Kilronan is a separate walk.
It is 1.8 km there and back with 56 m of ascent; allow about half an hour. The grade is Easy: short, but the path climbs all the way and ends on steep, uneven rock.
The OPW runs this National Monument; tickets from the visitor centre cost €5 an adult, €3 a child or student, €13 a family. It opens 09:30 to 18:00 from April to October and to 16:00 from November to March, and closes 24 to 30 December. The cliff edge, a drop of about 87 m, has no fence: keep well back, hold children's hands and stay away in wind. Dogs on a lead.
No visitor cars come to the island. Ferries sail to Kilronan from Rossaveal (all year) and Doolin (late February to 1 November); Kilmurvey is about 7 km on by minibus, bike, pony trap or on foot.
Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.
Good to know
- Dún Aonghasa is a huge stone fort of three rings of walls whose innermost enclosure stops dead at a sheer Atlantic cliff.
- People were living and building here by the late Bronze Age, around 1000 BC; the walls were rebuilt and enlarged over many centuries.
- A band of upright pointed stones, a chevaux-de-frise, guards the approach to the inner walls.
- From the edge you look south along the cliffs of Inis Mór and across Galway Bay to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher.
Getting there
Start: Kilmurvey, Dún Aonghasa visitor centre. 53.12969, -9.75799
Directions to the start
Places to stay nearby
Rooms in and around Kilmurvey: Booking.com → Expedia → Hotels.com →
Affiliate links: if you book, Global Adventurer earns a small commission at no cost to you.
Paths change, and the weather decides the day. The line and figures come from OpenStreetMap and our own checks; take a map, check the forecast, and turn back if it isn't right.