Bull Run for Fun 2026: inside Ireland’s 87-boat RIB rally to Bull Rock

I honestly can’t think of another event quite like the ‘Bull Run for Fun’. It is unique on several counts, not least for the route it takes and the sights to be seen over such a relatively concise distance. Its destination and chief aim is not only to witness one of the most geologically and ecologically impressive maritime wonders in the northern hemisphere, but the voyage along the way out to the rock, being a straight 40 miles or so, takes one through a sea loch that few others can match in terms of sheer grandeur and beauty. Bordered by a rugged terrain of mountains and granite hillsides that descend down to the sea into verdant valleys of ancient woodland, there is never a moment when the passage through the tidal waters of the Kenmare ‘River’, fails to fill one with awe and appreciation.

Anyone who has had the opportunity of visiting Ireland’s South-West coast will no doubt appreciate that the ‘Ring of Kerry’ more than deserves its famed reputation for being one of the most beautiful coastal road trips in the world. If you’ve experienced that pleasure, then all the extraordinary sights you will have seen from Kenmare right out to Valencia, are the very same that the boats participating in this annual gathering of RIBs, get to experience. Except of course, they do so from what many would argue is an even better vantage point, the sea itself.

If you own a boat or are perhaps contemplating taking up the boating pastime, it’s good to dwell on the fact that the sights granted one from the deck of a boat are something many would never get a chance to experience. Including the simple matter of looking back at the land from the water. It’s a privilege indeed, just as it was for all those participating in this year’s ‘Bull Run for Fun‘, in no small part thanks to the blissful weather Ireland was experiencing this summer which made the experience all the more special.

The 87 strong boat flotilla had a scheduled departure time of 12 noon on the Saturday of the event. Meanwhile, over the course of the previous 24 hours, crews and the boats had been arriving by road and by sea from all over Ireland to moor in the still waters off the Dromquinna Manor quay. It’s an incredible sight when you get that number of boats coming together. Furthermore, when like-minded people gather on an occasion such as this, a great spirit of camaraderie begins to build. Over the last 17 years this has been a big element of what this annual gathering is all about with this year being no exception. It must be said though, Adam Brennan, the sole organiser and host of this free to enter, charity fund-raising event, is a young man who in the eyes of many, is absolutely exceptional when it comes to showing hospitality towards others. There is no doubt in my view that Adam’s attitude has directly shaped the ‘Bull Run for Fun’. It was a real pleasure to watch the extent to which he expended himself all weekend – being constantly on hand to go to the assistance of anyone who needed practical help.

After a short briefing, the crews began to take to their boats, firing up their engines in readiness to cast off. Upon the word being given over the VHF of Adam’s lead boat, a very smart and impressively well put together single 350hp Suzuki outboard powered, Redbay Stormforce 850 going by the name of, ‘Venture’, the flotilla began to move off until, with all boats up on the plane as one long cavalcade, all 87 RIBs carved their way down the Kenmare River through sparkling blue seas ruffled only by a light northerly breeze. With Cork and Kerry’s green hillsides lining their path and the mauve mountain scenery, including the lofty 1,038 metre, Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland forming the greater backdrop.

Bull Rock faces the Beara Peninsula, lying just under 3 miles off the island of Dursey. This great natural edifice stands 93 metres tall, possesses a length of 228 metres, and has a grand width of 164 metres. In other words, it’s a towering sea stack of immense proportions and is all the more impressive for its stark remoteness, as well as its extraordinary resilience in the face of everything that the North Atlantic Ocean can summon against it. With an unimpeded fetch from the direction of the coast of North America over 3000 miles away, the Bull is the very first object the ocean and prevailing south-westerly gales are confronted by as they herd their way towards the British Isles. How long it took the ocean to claw and carve its way into the Bull, then to finally complete its eventual forging of the 164-metre-long [the rock’s width] tunnel, some 80ft high, through the rock’s heart, nobody knows. Perhaps, before sea levels rose so dramatically 4000 years ago, the Bull, along with its accompanying, Cow, and Calf rocks, were part of the mainland’s sandstone bedrock? Maybe this section of rock already possessed a geological weakness or flaw, which meant as the sea levels rose and this section of the coast became isolated, its present geological structure was mere destiny, as if preordained? In times past, Celtic mythology held to the belief that beneath the Bull’s great sandstone vaulted ceiling lay the entrance to the underworld, where the dead gathered before being taken down through the cold, dark green waters to their lasting resting place.

With Adam’s Redbay Stormforce acting as ‘mission control’, the greater number of boats settled into a steady cruising pace of about 22 to 25 knots, which allowed opportunity to take in the many sights along the ‘river’s’ northern shore. Leaving the likes of Lackeen Point, Dunkerron Island, the well-marked, Maiden Rock, and Rossmore Island to starboard, the scenic Kerry coast included historic castles, picturesque waterside hamlets, sheltered oaken valleys, as well as many little sandy bays and coves.

Upon reaching Sneem, at Adam’s behest, the fleet hove to off the town beach, whereupon we rendezvoused with the crew of the Derrynane Inshore Rescue aboard their Yamaha powered Delta 740X. The privately run lifeboat service was this year’s chosen charity and thanks to the generous contributions of all taking part in this year’s event, a sum of €7,000 Euros was raised by means of a charity bucket being handed around! Outstanding generosity on the part of everyone involved.

The banter was as Irish and good humoured as ever with our short sojourn here, idling among the shallow turquoise waters, being yet another reminder of just how special, if not a rare experience this Mediterranean type weather was in the ‘Green Isle’. Indeed, many local participants were commenting on the fact they’d never known boating like! As lovely as this place was, it was time to crack on out beyond the mouth of loch to the islands of Deenish and Scariff, where skirting their western flank, we then set a direct course southwest for the Bull Rock some 8 miles or so away across the open Atlantic.

With every mile gained the breeze freshened, but the Suzuki ‘Stealth’ outboard on the tail of our ‘evergreen’ Redbay Stormforce was absolutely singing and with the flotilla snaking back over several miles by now, we were skipping along beautifully at 30 knots through the cresting short chop meeting our starboard beam. Our bonny crew of five consisting of Charn, Adam’s partner, his friends Adrian, Padriag, Louise and I, were loving every minute of the exhilarating ride and before long we were being joined by darting shearwater, wave-skipping puffins, and low-flying herring gulls. Flying alongside and ahead of our path, it was as if our collection of feathered friends had formed a welcome party and were now escorting us out to the great rock. They appeared to joyfully accept the arrival of we humans who’d come to visit their wild and isolated world of ocean spray and tidal deeps.

This is not the first time I have had the privilege of passing through the heart of the Bull. But the experience never lessens or wanes, not least for the fact, the sea and weather are rarely the same and hence are responsible for creating a different experience every time. Even though this day was blessed by glorious sunshine and a welcome sea breeze, the imposing scale and height of the bright green rock above our heads coupled to the sleeping leviathan of ocean beneath our hull, meant, as on every occasion prior, the experience was humbling, thought provoking. Indeed, as we passed through amidst the echoes of the waves slapping up against the sides of the arch, I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to witness a winter hurricane driving 22 metre seas through the Bull’s arch – roaring, exploding their way through this oceanic, ‘eye of a needle’…

Emerging into the bright daylight, we gathered with our fellow craft beneath the Bull’s western cliff face; its flanks as white as snow, thanks to the seabird guano deposited here by the many generations of gannets whose island home this is. Hundreds of them swirled and soared above our heads, crying and cackling amidst the azure, cloudless sky. It was a magnificent sight which we, along with our many like-minded companions that day, felt privileged to witness. But not just the wonderful sights associated with this most special place, but the cacophony of sound that accompanied it too.

Before departing and heading over to Dursey Island, we passed through the smaller sea arch belonging to the Bull’s neighbour, Cow Rock. A smaller cousin to the Bull, the Cow offers yet another striking and memorable experience – one more among so many along this enchanting coast of natural wonders. (In case you didn’t know, the Bull, The Cow, along with the third and smallest associated in this cluster of islets, the Calf, are all named after elephants – not cloven-footed bovines! And if you study them carefully, you can see why…)

Pointing our bows in a northeast direction, we crossed the seaway to the far headland to then hug the mainland peninsula within a generous stone’s throw until we came to some telltale clefts and ravines in the cliffs that marked the entrance to a clutch of narrow sea caves. Nosing in to explore was irresistible, and as you can imagine, was as dramatic as it was rewarding. The further we nudged in, the more the walls of rock closed in upon us until we were in just a few metres of water with silvery sand eels swimming beneath our hull and the boat appearing to be suspended upon nothing within the glasslike void of the watery chasm.

The flotilla had thinned considerably by now, as most had decided as per the agreed order of the day, to pursue their own plan here on in. Nevertheless, here aboard ‘Venture’, we were still part of a good-sized group and remained the central point of contact on channel 72 of the Icom VHF.

The commercial fishing port of Castletownbere was our next stop where we disembarked to take a refreshing draught of Murphy’s ‘down the hatch’. There’s something about a creamy pint of stout that seems to be particularly suited to time spent on the water. But full marks to our ever-conscientious skipper, Adam Brennan, for not as much as a drop of the sultry elixir touched his lips! From here we set a course for Dursey Sound and the narrows over which the only cable car in Ireland travels – often with the odd sheep or two as passengers! But upon emerging on the far side back in the outer reaches of the Kenmare River, we were greeted by a ‘mistral’ of wind that was likely blowing in just our immediate area. But strong it was and now with the tide turned and the late afternoon’s airs coming off the mountains meeting those on the sea’s surface, the ride for the first time became quite lively. That said, this was what the Redbay was designed and built for. Her 8.4m hull devoured the breaking seas and apart from one instance where the hull slammed and we called on the shock mitigation seats for the first time, the boat made light work of the conditions – as did the Suzuki DF350 which showed both its power and its trim-ability to confidently ensure ‘Venture’ punched through the ebbing tide with absolute aplomb.

We were on the home straight now, running up the southern side of the channel with a few RIBs now forming a fresh group around us in a seaway that was becoming ever more settled, lessening in intensity and especially for those in the rear of the boat on the weather side, there was less flying spray too! But then, to everyone’s delight, just as we neared the tidal havens of Ardgroom and Kilmakilloge, what did we see up ahead, but a pod of dolphins leaping through the waves! Soon they were all about us…no doubt fishing for their supper on the evening tide. With the Kerry mountains in the distance and Cork’s green hills sweeping down to the sea, one could not have wished for a finer setting for what became the grand finale to this wonderful day of boating and camaraderie.

Later that evening, many of the crews returned to Dromquinna, whereupon the manor’s waterside ‘Shutters LoungeBar’ and adjoining ‘Boathouse’ bistro’ became the perfect meeting points for everyone to share their day’s experiences over a plate of freshly cooked food and a few well-earned drinks. All were agreed, it had likely been the best ‘Bull Run for Fun’ to date, and as glasses were raised and a hearty, well-deserved, three “hip hips” for Adam and the Brennan family were boisterously hollered, it was clear there were high-hopes amongst everyone present to repeat this experience all over again next year!