Ireland Island, Bermuda

Ireland Island is the largest island at the western end of Bermuda’s main island chain, in Sandys Parish. It is best known as the location of the historic Royal Naval Dockyard and related maritime facilities.

The Dockyard area includes preserved 19th-century naval buildings, museums, galleries, shops and visitor facilities, and functions as a cruise ship port and cultural precinct. The National Museum of Bermuda is located in the Dockyard and presents the islands’ maritime and naval history.

Developed by the British Royal Navy in the 19th century as a major Atlantic base and dockyard, the island’s facilities supported naval operations for many decades before the military role was reduced and parts of the site were converted to civilian and museum use.

Ireland Island lies at the western extremity of Bermuda, in Sandys Parish, forming part of the main inhabited chain of islands that make up the territory and connected to other parts of Bermuda by road links.

• Dockyard: The island contains the historic Royal Naval Dockyard, now repurposed for museums, shops and cruise-ship facilities and forming Bermuda's principal western harbour area.

What to See #

• Royal Naval Dockyard: A large 19th-century Royal Naval Dockyard complex comprising dry docks, storehouses, workshops and barracks that formed a major British naval base in the Atlantic.
• Bermuda Maritime Museum: The National Museum of Bermuda (Maritime Museum) located within the Dockyard, exhibiting Bermudian maritime history and naval artefacts.