Bull Rock Island: Ireland’s Surreal Abandoned Island

Ireland‘s Bull Rock Island simply doesn’t look real. Bull Rock Island features a defunct lighthouse and a large abandoned stone building that looks like a natural outcropping of the jagged rocks that surround it.

Bull Rock Island’s most stunning attribute is a natural arch large enough for boats to pass through. Irish folklore states that Bull Rock Island’s arch is a passage to the netherworld. It is certainly not difficult to imagine a skeleton ferrying passengers from this world to the next beneath Bull Rock Island’s signature arch on a boat constructed out of bones.

No visitors are allowed on Bull Rock Island at this time, but numerous Irish companies offer boat tours. Curious onlookers can cruise past Bull Rock Island and admire the island’s lighthouse which was originally constructed in the late 1800s. Bull Rock Island was abandoned in the late 20th century after the island’s lighthouse became automated.

Images by Dursey Boat trips.