MIZEN HEAD & LIGHTHOUSE
MIzen Head, County Cork


Mizen Head Lighthouse

The Mizen Head Peninsula is the farthest southwestern point in Ireland. Travel any farther and you would end up in the Atlantic Ocean. There's a lot to see here.

The 100 year old Mizen Head Lighthouse is perched on the edge of a steep cliff above the sea and was once a fully manual lighthouse. Now automated, it's open to the public as a museum with each of the several rooms dedicated to seafaring, the lighthouse and even rooms done up in the original style featuring equipment that would have been used at the time.

Visitors can walk around on the grounds surrounding the lighthouse and step out to the actual light beacon. Sheer cliffs are a natual beauty here but take caution when walking around them as the ocean is several hundred feet below.

Suspension Bridge

To get to the light house from the car park visitors must take the cliff walk to one of the paths that lead down to a small suspension bridge that spans the gap between the mainland and the outcropping of land where the lighthouse sits. There is a small charge to cross which helps to keep the lighthouse museum going during the year.

There are two paths for visitors to take to the lighthouse and back, one is a paved path that snakes down the cliffside and the other is called the "99 Steps", named so because of the 99 steps that is takes to get up and down the cliffside.
Two notes should be mentioned regarding these paths...while the paved path is flat, the cliff is very steep. It is wheelchair accessible but because of the steep nature of the cliffside it is advisable that only the hearty travel with a wheelchair bound person since it takes a good deal of strength to manage the chair, not only down the path but especially back up again. As well, the 99 Steps is a very challenging task. The steps are very nearly straight up the cliffside and even the most fit of person can have difficulty returning to the top of the cliff. There are rest points every 33 steps but those 33 steps are quite challenging.