The Southwest

Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Clare—these Southwest county names have an undeniable Irish lilt. Just as evocative is the scenery in each county: from Kinsale along the coast, west to Mizen Head in the far southwest corner, and on to the glorious mountains and lakes of Killarney. Thanks to its accomplished chefs and the bounty of farms, fields, lakes, and coast, County Cork has become a little paradise of fresh, rustic Irish cuisine. You can also find a mild climate, Irish-speaking areas, and Ireland's second- and third-largest cities—Cork and Limerick. But the most notable attractions are the miles and miles of pretty country lanes meandering through rich but sparsely populated farmland. To be in a hurry here is to be ill-mannered. It was probably a Kerryman who first remarked that when God made time, he made plenty of it.

As you look over the fuchsia-laden hedges that ring thriving dairy farms or stop at a wayside restaurant to sample seafood or locally raised meat, it's difficult to imagine that some 150 years ago this area was decimated by famine. Thousands perished in fields and workhouses, and thousands more took "coffin ships" from Cobh in Cork Harbor to the New World. Between 1845 and 1849 Ireland's population decreased by more than a million, or roughly 30% (according to the 1841 census, the Irish population was then 8,175,124). Many small Southwest villages were wiped out. The region was battered again during both the War for Independence and the Civil War that was fought with intensity in and around "Rebel Cork" between 1919 and 1921. Economic recovery didn't pick up until the late 1960s, and tourist development did not surge until the mid-'90s.

The Irish economic boom coincided with a marketing push to increase visitor numbers. The result has been a mixed blessing. The Southwest's main routes are no longer traffic-free, but the roads themselves are better. There's a greater choice of accommodations, with improved facilities, but many of the newer hotels and bed-and-breakfasts are bland. Even the traditional, warm Irish welcome is less ubiquitous, given the increased pace of everyday life. Furthermore, much of the development threatened the environment, although the Southwest is making a concerted effort to attract more visitors while keeping beaches and rivers clean and scenery unspoiled.

South of Cork City, the region's main business and shopping community, the resort town of Kinsale is the gateway to a rocky, attractive coastline containing Roaring Water Bay, with its main islands, and Bantry Bay, a magnificent natural harbor. The region's southwest coast is formed by three peninsulas: the Beara, the Iveragh, and the Dingle; the road known as the Ring of Kerry makes a complete circuit of the Iveragh Peninsula. Killarney's sparkling blue lakes and magnificent sandstone mountains, inland from the peninsulas, have a unique and romantic splendor, immortalized in the 19th century in the writings of William Thackeray and Sir Walter Scott. Around the Shannon Estuary you enter "castle country," an area rich with ruined castles and abbeys, the result of Elizabeth I's 16th-century attempt to subdue the old Irish province of Munster. Limerick City, too, bears the scars of history, from a different confrontation with the English—the Siege of Limerick, which took place in 1691. Its other "scars" of history—described so memorably in Frank McCourt's best seller Angela's Ashes—lure travelers, who discover that modern Limerick is a compact, vibrant city, with lively riverfront bar, café, and arts scenes.

Although the Southwest has several sumptuous country-house hotels, it's basically an easygoing, unpretentious region, where informality and simplicity prevail. As in the rest of Ireland, social life revolves around the pub, and a visit to any neighborhood favorite is the best way to find out what's going on. Local residents have not lost their natural curiosity about "strangers," as visitors are called. You will frequently be asked, "Are you enjoying your holiday?" "Yes" is not a good enough answer: what the locals are really after is your life story.

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