Island View House
+2 photosAbout Island View House
Island View House is a Fáilte Ireland approved 3-star b&b in Glengarriff, on the Cork coast, listed on Fáilte Ireland’s official register of quality-assured accommodation. It is a smaller, owner-run house of 6 rooms, the kind of place where you deal with the people who actually run it.
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Claim this listingStaying in Glengarriff
A sheltered harbour village on Bantry Bay, gateway to the Beara Peninsula and one of Ireland’s longest-running tourist stops.
Glengarriff sits where wooded hills meet the sea at the head of Bantry Bay, in a sheltered spot known for its mild, almost Mediterranean microclimate. It has been a holiday destination since the 1700s and boomed as a stop on the Victorian-era "Prince of Wales Route", drawing visitors including William Makepeace Thackeray and, later, Virginia Woolf and W.B. Yeats.
The village itself is small, but its setting does the work: sub-tropical woodland runs down almost to the water, and the harbour is the departure point for boats out to Garinish Island. For a B&B stay, that combination of gardens, sea and mountain scenery in a small footprint is the main draw.
Glengarriff is also the natural starting point for the Beara Peninsula, a wilder and quieter alternative to the Ring of Kerry just across the bay. The Beara Way, a roughly 200km looped walking route, begins here and circles the peninsula before returning to the village, and the Healy Pass road over the mountains into Kerry starts nearby too.
Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve, an area of ancient oak woodland right beside the village, adds another easy option for a short walk without needing to drive anywhere.
Things to do near Island View House
Garinish Island (Ilnacullin)
A short ferry ride from Glengarriff harbour, this island garden was laid out from 1910 by landscape designer Harold Peto for owner John Annan Bryce, with an Italian Garden, a Martello tower and the ruins of an early monastery said to have been founded by St Finbarr. It was given to the state in 1953 and is now run by the Office of Public Works.
Seal-watching boat trips
The ferries that cross to Garinish Island generally take in the seal colony on the rocks around Glengarriff harbour along the way, a reliable sight even outside the main tourist season.
The Beara Way
A roughly 200km circular walking route around the Beara Peninsula begins and ends in Glengarriff, taking in small harbour villages, mountain passes and Atlantic coastline far quieter than the Ring of Kerry.
Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve
An area of ancient oak woodland on the edge of the village, with looped walking trails and a waterfall on the Glengarriff River, all reachable on foot from the centre.
The Healy Pass
A dramatic mountain road linking Glengarriff with Kenmare in Kerry over the Caha Mountains, built in the 1830s and 1840s and now one of the best-known scenic drives on the peninsula.
Getting to Glengarriff
Glengarriff is on the N71, about half an hour from Bantry and roughly an hour and a quarter from Cork city, making it a natural stop on the Wild Atlantic Way between Bantry and Kenmare. Cork Airport is around an hour and a half away, and Bus Éireann’s Cork to Killarney and Cork to Bantry services both stop in the village.
Booking Island View House direct, and what the rating means
A real, assessed b&b
Island View House holds a 3-star b&b rating under Fáilte Ireland's National Quality Assurance Framework, assessed against the bedrooms, bathrooms, breakfast and welcome rather than self-declared. It's an independent signal you can trust before you book, separate from any platform's own review score.
No fees, no middleman
Ring the owner, or use the contact details on this page, and arrange the stay with the house rather than through an app. No booking fee added to your bill and no commission taken from the owner, so the room rate you agree is the room rate you pay.
A better stay, direct
Owners answer the questions a booking platform never will: whether the room at the front is quieter, how early breakfast can be served, or where to park for a few days. Speaking to the house directly is how B&Bs in Ireland were booked for decades.
Still deciding where to base yourself? Browse more B&Bs in Cork.
Check availability at Island View House
Send the owner the details of your stay and they will come back to you directly. No booking fee, no platform in between, just Glengarriff on the other end.
Island View House, common questions
Where is Island View House?
Island View House is at Monteensudder, Glengarriff, Co. Cork (Eircode P75 RW10). Give the Eircode to your sat-nav to find the door.
How do I book Island View House?
You contact the owner directly, by phone or the enquiry form on this page. DirectBnB adds no booking fee and takes no commission, so you arrange the stay with the house itself and pay the room rate with nothing on top.
What star rating does Island View House have?
Island View House is a Fáilte Ireland approved 3-star b&b under Fáilte Ireland's National Quality Assurance Framework, and guests rate it 5 out of 5 across 1 Google reviews.
How many rooms does Island View House have?
Island View House has 6 rooms. As a smaller, owner-run house it is worth booking ahead, particularly in summer and over weekends.
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