Instead of driving round by Cork city, cars and foot passengers cross the harbour between Glenbrook, at Passage West, and Carrigaloe, on the Cobh side, in about five minutes. The boats shuttle without a timetable from 06:15 on weekdays and 06:30 at weekends until 21:30, and a car with its passengers pays €9 one way.
Compared with the drive round through Cork city, whose traffic the operator presents the ferry as a way to avoid, the Cross River Ferry trims the journey between Passage West and Cobh to a crossing of about five minutes. It runs non-stop from 06:15 to 21:30 on weekdays and from 06:30 to 21:30 on Saturdays and Sundays, so there is no departure to aim for: you join the queue at Glenbrook or Carrigaloe and drive on when the boat comes in.
Price is the other comparison drivers make. A car pays €9 for a single and €10 for a return, and that covers whoever is inside; a pedestrian or cyclist pays €3 or €4. A motorcycle is €5 single, a light van €11 and a minibus for up to 12 people €15.
The two readings this page relies on, the operator's Timetable & Fares page and the National Transport Authority's ferry feed for route FY80, agree on the first boat from Glenbrook at 06:15 on weekdays and 06:30 at weekends and on the 21:30 finish. Where they part is Christmas: only the operator announces the closure from 24 December to 2 January.
Cross River Ferries opening hours, no end date given; Christmas closure from 21:30 on 24 December 2026 to 06:30 on 2 January 2027 · checked 30 October 2026 Cross River Ferries – Timetable & Fares · 2026-10-30
A car ticket covers the vehicle and everyone in it: the ticket shop sells it under the heading Car with Passengers, at €9 single or €10 return. Foot passengers pay per head instead, €4 each for a return.
Tickets can be paid to the collector on board or bought beforehand on the operator's ticket site, which sends them by email to be scanned on a phone or printed. A single bought online stays valid for 365 days from purchase and a car return for 12 months.
| Foot passenger or cyclist | €3 |
| Motorcycle | €5 |
| Car with passengers | €9 |
| Car with trailer | €9 |
| Light commercial van | €11 |
| Minibus, up to 12 passengers | €15 |
| Foot passenger or cyclist | €4 |
| Motorcycle | €7 |
| Car with passengers | €10 |
| Car with trailer | €11 |
| Light commercial van | €13 |
| Minibus, up to 12 passengers | €20 |
Cross River Ferries fare table and online ticket shop (no date printed) · checked 30 October 2026 Cross River Ferries – Timetable & Fares · 2026-10-30
The two piers face each other across a narrow stretch of the harbour, Glenbrook on the Passage West shore and Carrigaloe on the Cobh side. The pins use the stop positions published by the National Transport Authority for route FY80. Neither the operator nor the authority gives a distance for the crossing, only the five-minute average.
The operator names the two ends Glenbrook Passage West Pier and Carrigaloe Rushbrooke Pier, and advises arriving 5 to 10 minutes before you want to cross; no reservation is taken or needed.
The operator places Glenbrook's Passage West pier east of Cork city, facing the harbour. Drivers coming from the west are directed off the N40 at junction 8 towards Douglas on the R610, then along Rochestown Road towards Passage West. This is the side the National Transport Authority's feed times its first boat from: 06:15 on weekdays.
Carrigaloe is the Rushbrooke pier in Cobh, which the operator puts 20 km outside Cork city; its office is at Westland House, Rushbrooke. From the east, leave the N25 at junction 3 for the R624 signposted Cobh, and on entering Carrigaloe turn right at the sign for the ferry entrance.
Do not leave your vehicle until the collector has taken the fare or checked your ticket, as the operator's conditions ask.
There is no booking. Arriving 5 to 10 minutes early is the operator's own advice.
Delays and interruptions are posted on the operator's WhatsApp channel during the day. Older posts on its website feed show the service has been halted before by dense fog and by maintenance.
From 21:30 on 24 December 2026 until 06:30 on 2 January 2027 there is no ferry at all.
A bike crosses at the same €3 single or €4 return as a pedestrian; a motorcycle is €5 or €7.
The ticket shop sorts fares by vehicle type: a car towing a trailer has its own return fare of €11 and a light van pays €13. The operator may add a charge on board if the ticket does not match the vehicle.
Cross River Ferries started in 1993 and is owned and operated by Doyle Shipping Group, a Cork firm founded in 1886 and based in Cobh. Its two ferries are named after the two ends of the route, Glenbrook and Carrigaloe, and the operator says the ferries can carry 200 passengers and 27 cars. An older post on its feed says the second boat is usually brought in to ease congestion when traffic builds up.
Further west in the same county, the Heir Island ferry is a passenger boat of a very different scale: an island boat licensed for 12 passengers, leaving Cunnamore Pier with a fixed timetable and a four-minute crossing. On the Cobh side of the harbour, the Spike Island ferry leaves from Kennedy Pier in the town; it carries only foot passengers holding a ticket for the island visit.
06:15 from Monday to Friday and 06:30 on Saturdays and Sundays. The service then runs non-stop until 21:30.
No. It closes at 21:30 on 24 December 2026 and reopens at 06:30 on 2 January 2027.
No. The €9 single or €10 return is sold as a car-with-passengers ticket, so the people in the car are included.
No: reservations are not taken. The operator suggests arriving 5 to 10 minutes before you want to cross.
Yes. Foot passengers and cyclists pay €3 single or €4 return.
On board to the collector, or in advance on the operator's ticket site, where the ticket is emailed to you and scanned from your phone or a printout.
The operator sends live updates about delays and interruptions on its WhatsApp channel, linked from its Timetable & Fares page.