Slea Head ( Irish: ''Ceann Sléibhe'') is a

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

on the westernmost part of the

Dingle Peninsula The Dingle Peninsula (; anglicised as Corkaguiny or Corcaguiny, the name of the corresponding barony) is the northernmost of the major peninsulas in County Kerry. It ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of m ...

, in southwest

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, Ireland. It can be reached by the R559 road, with the nearest villages being Ballyickeen and Coumeenoole. The headland itself, together with the larger part of Mount Eagle's southern slopes, is formed from steeply dipping beds of the pebbly

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

s and conglomerates of the Slea Head Formation, dating from the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

period and traditionally referred to as old red sandstone. To Slea Head's northwest is

Dunmore Head Dunmore Head () is a promontory in the westernmost part of the Dingle Peninsula, located in the barony of Corca Dhuibhne in southwest County Kerry, Ireland. The headland, together with parts of Mount Eagle's northern slopes is formed from ste ...

, the westernmost point of Ireland. Slea Head is a well-known landmark and viewpoint, with a full view of the

Blasket Islands The Blasket Islands () are an uninhabited group of islands off the west coast of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The last island to hold a significant population, Great Blasket Island, was abandoned in 1954 due to population decl ...

. On 11 March 1982, the Spanish container ship, Ranga, was wrecked at Dunmore Head, close to Slea Head after losing power in a storm.

Slea Head Drive

The Slea Head Drive is one of the Dingle Peninsula's most scenic routes. En route are several landmarks such as Ventry Beach, a pre-historic fort and beehive huts, the Dingle Famine Cottage, views of the Blasket Islands, Coumenole Beach and

Gallarus Oratory The Gallarus Oratory () is a chapel on the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland. It has been presented variously as an early-Christian stone church by antiquary Charles Smith, in 1756; a 12th-century Romanesque church by archaeologist Pete ...

. The loop road returns towards

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

References

Headlands of County Kerry Gaeltacht places in County Kerry {{Kerry-geo-stub