Day Trip to Rathlin Island to Visit The Puffins

It’s only an hour and a half drive from our house followed by a short ferry ride, but it sure is a colossal trip with two under two in tow. We’ve been sending our Irish Linen souvenirs here for over four years now but we thought we would go the extra mile and hand deliver the latest order to this fantastic remote island. Literally as soon as you step off the ferry, beautifully named ‘The Spirit of Rathlin’, ‘Breakwater Studio’ is just a few steps to your right. Artist and shop owner Yvonne is a talented artist whose exquisite canvases of flora and fauna on the island are displayed in her welcoming store in amongst an array of other tempting gifts and souvenirs. Her depictions of puffins are exceptional and it’s from her that I learnt of the Rathlin Golden Hare, a unique breed of Irish hare with handsome blue eyes. Goodies we brought over with us included - puffins, dolphins, seals, cottages, mermaids, Irish hares, traditional Celtic knots and last but not least lighthouses… of which the island has three! Having a penchant for all-year-round Christmas decorations myself, I didn’t leave empty handed and came home with some treasure for the tree including dinky wooden puffins and cute metal seagulls. 

Tourists and locals alike flock to Rathlin Island between May and June to see the spectacle of birds congregating here (over quarter of a million head here each year), it’s a mixed seabird colony but the star of the show is the awesome puffin. There is an impressive cliff face and group of stacks with an indescribable noise, it’s really quite a dramatic scene, on an otherwise peaceful island. You can’t bring your car on the ferry so we hopped on the ‘Puffin Bus’ to catch a ride to the ‘West Light Seabird Centre’ with breathtaking viewing platforms of the staggering landscape and wildlife down below. It’s on the same spot as a unique upside-down lighthouse, both with many many steps involved which was super fun as you can’t bring a pram down but we were determined and it was well worth it. We then sat in the sunshine to have a picnic in good time for the last ferry of the day back. It was such a magical experience and special day out with the boys, we simply cannot wait to go back. I hope you like my friendly puffin in luxurious sparkly gold thread and my signature natural linen, it’s nice to know happy day trippers can take one home with them.