Dursey Island (Irish: Oileán Baoi - Island of the Bull in Viking Norse)) is one of the few inhabited islands that lie off the southwest coast of Ireland. It is situated at the western tip of the Beara Peninsula in the west of County Cork. This peaceful island, with only a handful of semi-permanent residents, is connected to the mainland by Ireland’s only cable car. Originally opened in 1969, the Dursey Island cable car remains, to this day, the most used means of transport across the turbulent waters of the Dursey Sound and offers a truly singular experience. Ireland’s only cable car and the only cable car that traverses open seawater in all of Europe, it is one of the great attractions of the island and people travel from far and wide to give it a go.
Currently at the preliminary stage of design, STW are providing a design led integrated masterplan including appropriate hard and soft landscape, having regard to the unique and sensitive site context. Using a collaborative expertise across engineering, architecture, tourism and landscape to design integrated and innovative design solutions that will be specific to the site. The collection of proposed infrastructure, including visitor waiting area, cable car stations, cable cars, line structures, car parking, access roads and hard & soft landscaping are all organised and masterplanned under a unifying design theme strategy, to create a coherent, distinct and considered destination ensemble for the entire project.