Valentia Harbour is situated on the southwest coast of Ireland upon the south side of the entrance to Dingle Bay, in a sheltered Valentia Island bight that faces the mainland and is surrounded by floating breakwaters. Knightstown is a small fishing port and ferry terminal that is Valentia Island’s only settlement. It provides visiting yachts with berths alongside its breakwaters and a choice of sheltered anchorages and moorings.

Knightstown is an excellent harbour that affords complete protection from all wind and sea conditions. Except in strong north-westerlies, the principal entrance provides straightforward access, at any state of the tide, and it is supported by a sectored light and good alignment markers to help circumvent rock ledges on either side of the entrance.

During northwest gales Valentia Harbour should be avoided as a heavy sea breaks right across the northern entrances and Portmagee is the better option.

Keyfacts for Knightstown

Position and approaches

Haven position

51° 55.586' N, 010° 16.928' W

Just outside the entrance at the souteastern head of the eastern breakwater.

What is the initial fix?

This is a ¼ of a mile northwest of the entrance on the 141° T on the leading marks or lights.

What are the key points of the approach?

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What's the story here?

Knightstown, charted as Knight's Town, sits at the junction of where Valencia Harbour and the Portmagee Channel forms the south side of Valentia Harbour. The harbour is set in a sheltered island bight that is protected by the wide-sweeping arms of a pontoon/breakwater. It provides perfect shelter against all winds and sea and is easy to access through its well-marked harbour. The small town is more a single street village than a town fronted by several historic quays. It serves as the terminus of the ferry which runs to the mainland opposite.




The harbours deep surrounding pontoons, that are connected to land to provide walk-ashore access, offer excellent berths with water and power for a small fee. Enclosed harbour visitor moorings are also available and a wide range of anchoring with options to find perfect security from all winds are available nearby.

How to get in?

Use Ireland’s coastal overview for Mizen Head to Loop Head for seaward approaches. Valencia Harbour's outer entrance lies between Reenadrolaun Point and Doulus Head. Doulus Head is clear but there is a rock outcrop that dries to 2.6 metres 200 metres east by northeast of Reenadrolaun Point and a shoal, called the Coastguard Patch, breaks offshore in severe conditions.




The harbour has three entrances, two of which are in this area. Its principal entrance lies between Fort Point and Beginish (Beginnis) Island to the northeastward. But it is possible to take a more northern approach available by rounding Beginish Island's northern side through Doulus Bay and Lough Kay. Finally, there is a completely alternate southern approach via Portmagee Sound. The other approaches are more involved problematic if a swell is running, or, as with the southern entrance, obstructed by a bridge that limits access to vessels of low air draught.

For this reason, the focus of navigation is on the main entrance that lies between Fort (Cromwell) Point and Beginish Island to the north which is the most straightforward for newcomers. However, information is available for these alternate approaches from the low air draught southern Portmagee Channel in the Portmagee entry and the northern approach around Beginish Island is detailed in the Cahersiveen entry.




The main entrance may be positively identified by its lighthouse Fort Point, a white tower 15 metres in height, standing on the southern side. Beginish Island may also be positively identified by a conspicuous former pilot lookout that stands on the summit of the 63-metre high summit of Coarhacooin Hill about a ½ mile to the northeast, the highest point of the island. Make toward the Fort Point lighthouse then the centre of the entrance.




The Initial Fix is a ¼ of a mile outside the entrance and on the 141° T leading marks/lights inside the harbour. The entrance is narrowed by rocky ledges, both drying and sunken, that extend 100 metres north from Fort Point and the foul ground off the west point of Beginish Island. The transits lead past these dangers and, as such, it is important to acquire the leading marks/lights as soon as possible to pass between these dangers.




The 141° T track is in the white sector of the lower mark's sectored Port Entry Light. The light, visible even in strong sunlight, is set in the front of the harbour's two leading beacons. These towers are situated ¾ of a mile within the entrance and on the north side of Valentia Island. The front is a white conical tower beacon with a faint vertical red stripe. The rear, positioned 122 metres behind, red stripe with a triangular top on white background, is reportedly difficult to see although a vaguely triangular shape can be seen on the skyline.




By night, and as above, first, track in on the Fort Point Light F1.WR.2s. White sector 102° to 304°T, but in Dingle Bay is obscured by Doulus Head at 180°T. Then steer in through the entry narrows, very tightly on the white sector 140°-142°T of Front - Lt.Oc.WRG. 4s11/8M; Rear Oc.4s5M.




Whilst steering in on the 141° T marks/lights expect a confused sea at the entrance, but it is only challenging during northwesterly gales. Once inside the entrance, the waters settle down and the principal dangers are well marked and lit.




The first is the clearly visible 130-metre long Harbour Rock that dries to 2.6 metres and should be kept to starboard. It lies on the west side of the fairway approximately midway between Fort Point and the front beacon. It is clearly marked by an East Cardinal Beacon (Yellow/Black East Cardinal iron mast) Q(3) W10s, 4m, 5M. By night it is covered by the Red section of the Fort Point sectored light and presents no difficulty. However, again it is best to keep in the transits, as on the port side there are ledges and sunken rocks extending 400 metres off Cruppaun Point.




It is possible to anchor in Glanleam Bay a ¼ mile south by southwest of Harbour Rock and a ⅓ of a mile to the west of the leading marks. It is a pretty anchorage in depths of 4 metres, or less, had over sand, about 200 metres out from the head of the bay where there are moorings. Land on the beach near a derelict boat slip at Trabaun.




Once Harbour Rock has been passed the harbour trends to the east. After this, the least depth of the entire approach is 5.8 metres, which occurs in the vicinity of Harbour Rock, and the path is free of outlying dangers so proceed as convenient. But do not be tempted to cut directly for the first corner of the Knightstown pontoon/breakwater. A shallow gravel spit, that dries 1.2 to 0.6 metres in places, extends east-northeast from Valentia called 'The Foot'. Its extremity is marked by an East Cardinal Lit buoy VQ(3) 5s that should be kept to starboard before rounding up to pass down the outer pontoon.




The entrance to the harbour is located at the southeast corner of the floating pontoons, is approximately 33 metres wide and is screened off by a further pontoon.




Come alongside the inside od the floating square-configuration pontoon/breakwater that is connected to the shore via a jetty. There were six visitors moorings just south of the Knightstown pier but these may have been removed as most people opt for the pontoon's walk-ashore convenience and services (readers please confirm).




Knightstown's old pier has a depth of 1.7 metres LAT at the pierhead and it is possible to come alongside during the day for a short period. The car ferry runs a shuttle service to the mainland at Reenard Point from a slip located close south of the old pier so be careful not to obstruct the operation. The ferry berths at the pier in the evenings so it has to be kept clear. Please contact the Harbour Master before planning any berthing.




Anchor off Knightstown to the south of the harbour entrance, staying clear of the car ferry's track to Reenard Point, or as convenient in the Portmagee Channel. 3.0 metres will be found across this area with good holding over sand/mud. This area is well sheltered in west winds and convenient for landing.




Cross over and anchor to the south of Reenard Point in easterlies. The pier at Reenard Point is constantly being used by the car ferry that lands on the slip on the northwest side. It has 5 metres LAT on the southeast side and it is possible to land at its slip when the ferry is away but pull the tender clear.





The west side of 'The Foot' is good in winds from southeast round to southwest, where depths of 2.5 metres with a good mud holding ground. There are visitors moorings located here also. A good anchorage in 2 - 8 metres can be had off the southeast bight of Beginish Island in any northerly winds.




In winds from southeast to west, the aforementioned Glanleam Bay seen to starboard when passing Harbour Rock offers excellent protection.

Why visit here?

Knightstown, in Irish 'An Chois', takes its name from the Norman 'Knights of Kerry', the FitzGeralds, who were benign and beloved Protestant landlords.




In 1830, the 18th Knight of Kerry, Maurice FitzGerald commissioned the renowned Scottish engineer Alexander Nimmo to draw up plans for a new village that was at first referred to as the New Town of Valentia. Fitzgerald worked tirelessly to improve Ireland and the conditions of the people by championing the commercial interests of Kerry, and particularly, Valentia. At the time he and Nimmo were planning to develop Valentia harbour to be the first trans-Atlantic steamer port. Nimmo himself noted… 'The great ultimate object is, as I have always thought, to open a depot at Valentia for the western world: a matter which will do wonders for the whole west of Ireland'. But the great port for the western world would never come to be. The difficulties of getting coal to Valentia and, by then, vessels could journey directly to the already established English mainland ports, such as Liverpool made it unviable.




Nevertheless, the initially 1830-31 port designs of Nimmo, were beginning to be put in place in the early 1840s when the village was swept up in the success of the Valentia Island Slate Quarry. The quarry had opened in 1816 and by the 1840s it had built a worldwide reputation for its premium quality slates that could be ut into large flat slabs. At this time the produce of Valentia's quarries was roofing some of the world's most important buildings such as London’s Houses of Parliament, Westminster Cathedral and Paris’s Opera House. The large slate slabs could also be used for counters and shelving and to this day the Public Records Office in London has 21 miles of shelves made of Valentia slate.




Its success was driven by innovative steam-powered slate saws that were then a new technology. Quarries up to this time used water-powered saws to cut the slate but this was not possible on Valentia because the water was not easily available. But its coastal location kept the cost of coal fairly low, as were labour and transport costs, so the quarry thrived using new steam-driven saws. The works started to move into the village at this time and continued to expand until the 1850’s when the quarry was employing more than 500 men on Valentia. In 1851, it is claimed that Valentia had the largest slate saws in the world, and it was the biggest slate site in the world until the 1860s after which the Welsh sites would finally eclipse Valentia.




Alongside all this quarry activity, various businesses and trade began to spring up around the village and it provided the impetus for the development of Knightstown. Valentia had by this point also become important for being the eastern terminus of the first commercially viable transatlantic telegraph cable. Prior to the laying of the Transatlantic Cable, it took approximately two weeks, weather permitting, for a message to reach North America from Europe as all communications were sent via boat. The reply then took a further two weeks to return, weather permitting.




The idea of laying a transatlantic cable was first proposed in 1845, and the Atlantic Telegraph Company began the process in 1855 by SS Niagara and HMS Agamemnon. The latter was nearly lost when a storm in 1857 snapped the cable at the edge of the continental shelf, 560 km out to sea causing the attempt to fail. This was followed in 1858 by a briefly successful cable to Knightstown. It wasn’t until 1866, after many efforts ended in disappointment, that a cable was successfully laid and landed under the auspices of the newly-formed Anglo-American Telegraph Company. This connected Knightstown's Foilhommerum Bay to Heart's Content, Newfoundland and it revolutionised international communications overnight. The Anglo-American Telegraph Company, which would later become Western Union International, operated from Valentia Island for one hundred years until it finally terminated its cable operations in 1966.




Today Knightstown is the largest settlement on Valentia Island with a population of 172 of the island's total population of 665. It is very pretty and is also where all the island’s facilities are located – pubs, restaurants, dive schools, lifeboat, ferry, harbour etc with a fine view back inland. Being a planned development of the 1840s, Knightstown is one of Ireland's very first 'town-planned' villages and it has an unusual architectural character. The village is unlike any other in Kerry and appears to have more in common in architectural style with a small Victorian village on the south coast of England than Ireland.




Knightstown has, to the largest part, managed to retain its distinctive character with its attractive streets and impressive terraces. Market Street which forms the core of the village runs west to east from the Church of Ireland and terminates in the beautifully restored clock tower on the pier. The Cable Station building, which is one of over fifty Protected Structures in the village, was designed by the renowned 19th century Cork architect Thomas Deane in 1868. The varied assortment of buildings along the Cable Station Terrace, formally the officer’s houses, are a further addition to the rich architectural mix found in Knightstown. It is also possible to see that Nimmo's original great ferry port design had envisaged a bridge that would line up the main street with Renard Road on the mainland.




The village and island's history is best experienced in the Knightstown Heritage Museum. Housed in the old schoolhouse, built in 1861, on the road towards Geokaun Mountain, this is one of those wonderful local museums that has a treasure trove of artefacts that tell the tale of the village and island’s history beautifully.




At just 11km long by 3km wide, the island itself can be best experienced by bicycle. It offers superb views most that, especially from Geokaun Mountain and Fogher Cliffs, the island’s highest point which offered unparalleled 360° views. A short walk up to the radio station from Knightstown leads to the historic slate quarry (3 km /2 miles). The quarry, abandoned in 1911, reopened in 1999 and produces all kinds of slate objects. Situated, 275 metres above the sea, it also offers views out over the Skellig Islands offshore. A longer hike in this corner of the island leads to the tetrapod trackway: footsteps left by dinosaurs some 350 million years ago. A monument at Telegraph Field, at the western end of the island, commemorates the establishment of the first permanent communications link.




From a boating point of view, Knightstown offers a very secure spot with all the basic amenities available ashore. It provides a solid southwest coast bolthole in the event of bad weather, which it can do so very quickly. In addition to this, the wonderfully protected harbour is a joy to visit that, along Cahersiveen, provide ideal bases from which to explore the glorious Kerry landscape.



The island has added special interest for generations of boaters as its weather station readings are reported on the British Isles shipping forecast. Though it might seem like the name 'Valentia' or 'Valencia' Island might come from the Spanish city of Valencia, it comes from an anglicisation of, 'cuan Bhéil Inse', 'harbour-mouth of the island' that referred to the sheltered harbour entrance. This went through 'Bealinche' as was recorded in 1598 and 'Ballentia' in 1612 before evolving to the present 'Valentia'. Valentia is also home to one of Ireland’s VHF radio coast stations a and coast guard station. So a visit here has the possibility of making a weather station report a fond memory.

What facilities are available?

Knightstown is the only town on the island where you will find a few pubs and restaurants but otherwise not much. You will find supplies limited to bread, some general stores and fuel. There is a boatyard in the Portmagee Channel that is capable of lifting a 20-tonne large yacht and can cater to
hull and mechanical repairs. Diesel is best obtained at Cahersiveen.

From April to October, the Valentia Island Car and Passenger Ferry operate a daily shuttle for cars and foot passengers between Knightstown on Valentia Island and Renard Point. The five-minute ferry ride saves a round-trip of about 25 km (15 miles) by road to Portmagee, on the mainland, connected by a bridge. Bus services: A bus service is available only at Cahersiveen. Nearby Cahirciveen has all requirements.

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred in Knightstown.

With thanks to:

Burke Corbett, Gusserane, New Ross, Co. Wexford. Additional corrections by Simon Brewitt.