Favorite Irish islands?

The island of Inisbofin (sometimes without the "h") is an especially pretty little place - we enjoyed a day trip there via the short ferry ride from the village of Cleggan while in Connemarra on a previous trip. One of the RS guides named it one of Ireland's best kept secrets a few years ago. Delightful little island with an interesting back story. Can Google it if interested.

Google spells it with and without the "h". I think there are ten different spellings for Inismor.

Yeah, it can get a little confusing if there's more than one place sharing the same near-spelling. There's at least one other island called Inishbofin further up the coast ... in Donegal I think.
And if that isn't confusing enough, the little port where the ferry from Cleggan docks is spelled as Inishbofin, while the island itself is usually written as Inisbofin.
However you spell it, it's worth a day trip if you have the time while in Connemara. Cleggan is only a 15 minute drive from Clifden, and as I recall the ferry ride is a short one - maybe 30 minutes max - as opposed to the hour of rocking & rolling on the ferry over to Inishmore ... Inismore... Inishmoor ... Jacksonville ... (whatever).

We spent a day on Inishbofin based on Robert in Colorado’s suggestion. Loved it, we hiked, stopped in at Day’s Tearoom for a cuppa and conversation, later a beer at The Beach Bar.

I've got a wonderful Irish tourist board booklet- "Explore Ireland's Islands" which details all 32 of the offshore islands you can visit- including details of facilities and the travel details. It's not a new book but the travel details seem to have held up well.
It also includes the inshore islands on Lough Erne, Lough Derg and Lough Corrib, and identifies which are in the Gaeltacht- where Irish is spoken as the predominant community language.

I have no idea if the booklet is still printed, but if you can get hold of a copy somewhere it is a good resource.

A curious omission are Spike and Haulbowline Islands in Cork Harbour, off Cobh.

Haulbowline has only really been accessible since 2021, being the main base of the Irish Naval Service and also where Ireland's only steelworks was. The island is open from 0830 to 1900 daily, and is accessed via Ringaskiddy on the south side of the bay. If not driving there it is served by Bus 223 from Cork City or Bus 225 from Cork airport, then a walk over the bridge.

Google doesn't come up with the booklet, and the Irish Tourist Board (https://www.failteireland.ie/) doesn't show anything. I'll be at a chaotic little book shop in two weeks that has a lot of stuff like old travel guides.

I'm guessing any lodging/food/drink info will be pretty stale, but standing stones tend to remain where you put them - maybe that's why they call them "standing" ;-)

I'm actually including Spike on our islands tour, not because I expect dramatic scenery or local culture, but because we haven't been to Cobh yet and we enjoy being on the water.

We also spent a delightful day on Inishbofin. It felt like real, authentic Ireland. We rented bikes and enjoyed riding around this mostly flat island immensely.