Cross River Ferries

In 1993 Cork County Council and the newly formed Cross River Ferries Ltd (owned by Marine Transport Services of Cobh and Arklow Shipping Ltd), started a lower river crossing, linking Carrigaloe, on Great Island with Glenbrook on the opposite side of the River Lee. The two former ferries Kyleakin and Lochalsh were purchased from Caledoian McBrayne who operated the ferries on Scotland’s west coast.

The ships were renamed the Carrigaloe and Glenbrook respectively and the service commenced in March 1993. The two ships can carry 200 passengers and 27 cars. The crossing of the Lee takes 4 minutes. In the spring of 1993 it was announced that the service would be suspended for five weeks as the landing strips on both sides of the Lee had been undermined.

With the opening of the Jack Linch tunnel in May 1999, the service now has to compete with the free tunnel. From Summer 2002 to Spring 2003, Carrigaloe was chartered to the Lough Foyle Ferry Company for the summer seasion, and in Janurary 2005 it was announced that the service would resume to a two ship service at rush hour.