Portmagee is a small picturesque fishing village of brightly painted houses at the southwest tip of Valentia Harbour. The area was once a haven for smugglers and pirates who preyed on the trade ships from the Continent and North America. It's a little bit more peaceful today.

The village is named after one of the most notorious smugglers of the 18th Century, Captain Theobald Magee. Having served in the army of King James as an Officer, Magee 'retired' to a life of merchant shipping between France, Portugal, and Ireland. Thanks to the intricately chiseled coast around the South West, his trade in contraband spirits, textiles, and tea and tobacco, was extremely hard to police and therefore extremely profitable. He married Mrs. Bridget Morgell, the widow of a rich Dingle merchant and also the daughter of the then MP for County Kerry, Mr. Thomas Crosby. Being related to the best smuggler in Ireland can't have sat too easily on Crosby's shoulders and there is some suspicion that Magee's death in a Lisbon monastery in 1724 was due to some exile imposed by the powerful MP. After his death, his wife, and his sons are believed to have carried on the family business.

Don't miss visiting The Skellig Experience visitors centre if you can't spare the time to visit the Skellig Islands themselves. Also not to be missed is Valentia Island for very special vistas and hikes.