Maharees or Magharees ( or ''Na Machairí'') is a 5 km long

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island become ...

located on the northern side of the

Dingle Peninsula The Dingle Peninsula ( ga, Corca Dhuibhne; anglicised as Corkaguiny, 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 o ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Fenit Harbour Fenit () is a small village in County Kerry, Ireland, located on north side of Tralee Bay about west of Tralee town, just south of the Shannon Estuary. The bay is enclosed from the Atlantic by the Maharee spit which extends northwards from th ...

, the main port of County Kerry, is sheltered from large Atlantic swells by the Maharees. To the north of the Maharees lie the

Magharee Islands The Magharee Islands ( gle, Na Machairí), also known as "The Seven Hogs", are a group of uninhabited islands located off Rough Point at the northern tip of the Magharee Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The islands, which are part of the pa ...

or ''Seven Hogs'', the largest of which, Oileán t-Seanaigh/Illauntannig, contains remnants of an early Christian monastic settlement, said to have been founded by St. Senan in the 7th century AD. The peninsula is a sandy spit for much of its length, with sand dunes giving way to earth and rocky ground towards the northern end. The sand dunes create a unique ecosystem, home to the rare

Natterjack toad The natterjack toad (''Epidalea calamita'') is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back and parallel paratoid ...

which is found locally in significant quantities. Lengthy beaches are found on both sides of the peninsula, which separates Brandon Bay on the western side from

Tralee Bay Tralee Bay ( gle, Loch Foirdhreamhain / Cuan Thrá Lí) is located in on the west coast of County Kerry, Ireland. It is situated between Kerry Head on the north side and the Maharees on the west and extends eastwards as far as the bridge at B ...

to the east. The Brandon Bay beaches are open to the North Atlantic and often receive long swells, suitable for surfing given wind and tide conditions. The peninsula has a number of campgrounds and caravan parks and contains three hamlets, Fahamore, Kilshannig, and Candeehy.

Castlegregory Castlegregory (, meaning "Griaire's Castle") is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is situated on the north side of the Dingle Peninsula, halfway between Tralee and Dingle. As of the 2016 Census, Castlegregory had a population of 250. Castl ...

Golf and Fishing club is a nine-hole links

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

course located at the base of the peninsula, and a PADI certified dive centre is located at the fishing harbour at Scraggane Bay. Several

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

and surf schools are also located at the beaches on the Maharees. Maheree Island Tours and Angling is based at Scraggane Pier. Yachting facilities, a marina, and a sheltered harbour are located a few miles east at Fenit.

References

Geography of County Kerry {{Kerry-geo-stub