Puffin Island [Oilean na gCanog]

Separated from the mainland by a narrow sound, this steep, uninhabited rock rises sharply from the Atlantic at the tip of the Iveragh Peninsula. Reaching its 159m summit—a Marilyn—offers a raw, maritime experience with an unparalleled perspective on the jagged Skellig Islands and the nearby Lemon Rock.

• •The Irish name Oileán na gCánóg translates as 'Island of the Shearwaters.' While the English name focuses on puffins, the Irish name correctly identifies the massive colonies of Manx shearwaters that burrow into the island's peaty slopes alongside storm petrels.
• •The island was once known as Inishfearglin and remains uninhabited, though it contains archaeological remnants of an early Christian enclosure and a 'leaba' (saint's bed), suggesting it served as a remote monastic retreat.
• •Standing at the 159-metre high point provides a unique 'backstage' view of the Skellig Islands to the southwest and the long, serrated ridge of Bolus Head back on the mainland.
• •As a Marilyn—a hill with a 150-metre drop on all sides—the island qualifies mathematically, though the 'drop' in this case is a sheer plunge directly into the deep waters of the North Atlantic.
• •As with many offshore Marilyns, the hardest part of the ascent is rarely the gradient, but rather the logistical feat of convincing a local boatman to risk his hull against the Atlantic swell.