County Cork
We’ve compiled the best of the best in County Cork - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Bere Island
Bere is one of Ireland's largest islands and took a decade to hand back to the republic after independence due to its strategic and imposing location on Bantry Bay---but it is still navigable within a day. Unlike other islands that have seen their population dwindle over the years, Bere has retained its residents who live alongside the island's distant past, and are reminded of it daily with the abundance of historical monuments etched into the hilly terrain: a round Martello tower, standing stones, and wedge tombs are local landmarks, with the mainland's Hungry Hill across the sea as a backdrop. A scattering of pubs and facilities in the village offers guests the option to recharge their batteries after a brisk hike or cycle (bike hire is available on the island) around the island. Ferries run every day, year-round, with trips almost every hour.
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2. Blarney Castle
In the center of Blarney, the ruined central keep is all that's left of this mid-15th-century stronghold. The castle contains the famed (or infamous) Blarney Stone. Kissing the stone, it's said, endows the kisser with the fabled "gift of the gab"---which is probably just a load of "Blarney." It's 127 steep steps to the battlements. If you're determined to kiss the stone, (who are we to judge?) you must lie down on the battlements, hold on to a guardrail, and lean your head way back. Expect a line from mid-June to early September; while you wait---or change your mind---you can admire the views of the wooded River Lee valley and chuckle over how that word "blarney" came to mean what it does. As the story goes, Queen Elizabeth I wanted Cormac MacCarthy, Lord of Blarney, to will his castle to the Crown, but he refused her requests with eloquent excuses and soothing compliments. Exhausted by his comments, the queen reportedly exclaimed, "This is all Blarney. What he says he rarely means." Despite all that Blarney nonsense, the castle is very impressive as are the gardens. You can take pleasant walks around to discover the Rock Close which contains oddly shaped limestone rocks landscaped in the 18th century and a grove of ancient yew trees that is said to have been a site of Druid worship. In early March, there's a wonderful display of daffodils.
View Tours and ActivitiesVillage Green, Blarney, Co. Cork, Ireland021-438–5252Sight Details
Rate Includes: €18, Discounted rates online -
3. Charles Fort
Built---almost symbolically---on the site of the ruins of an earlier Irish castle, Charles Fort on the east side of the Bandon River estuary in the late 17th century was constructed by the British after they defeated the Spanish and Irish forces. One of Europe's best-preserved "star forts" encloses some 12 clifftop acres and is similar to Fort Ticonderoga in New York State. If the sun is shining, take the footpath from Kinsale signposted Scilly Walk; it winds along the harbor's edge under tall trees and then through the village of Summer Cove.
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4. Crawford Art Gallery
City Center SouthThe large redbrick building was built in 1724 as the customs house and is now home to Ireland's leading provincial art gallery. An imaginative expansion has added gallery space for visiting exhibitions and adventurous shows of modern Irish artists. The permanent collection comprises more than 2,000 works and includes landscape paintings depicting Cork in the 18th and 19th centuries as well as contemporary video installations. Take special note of works by Irish painters William Leech (1881–1968), Daniel Maclise (1806–70), James Barry (1741–1806), and Nathaniel Grogan (1740–1807). The café is a good place for a light lunch or a house-made sweet.
Emmet Pl., Cork City, Co. Cork, Ireland021-480–5042Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
5. Elizabeth Fort
The tapestry of Cork's volatile past half millennium unfolds during a visit to this large star-shaped fort, starting from the point when it was constructed as a stronghold after the Siege of Kinsale in 1601. It played a key role in history when it was fortified during Oliver Cromwell's invasion and later it was a prison depot for infamous Australia-bound convict ships. In the middle of the 19th century, it stored maize for the poor to buy and inflated prices before being shipped abroad as the great famine decimated the population. In the 20th century, it was occupied by British forces, and during World War II it was an air-raid shelter. It's worth a visit just to take in the commanding views over Cork City from its walls.
Barrack St., Cork City, Co. Cork, Ireland021-497--5947Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free; tour €3, Closed Oct.--Apr., Sun. mornings., Disability access is restricted -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. English Market
City Center SouthFetchingly housed in an elaborate, brick-and-cast-iron Victorian building with a decorative light-infused dome-shaped ceiling, such is the fame of this foodie mecca that England's Queen Elizabeth II insisted on an impromptu walkabout here on her historic first visit to Ireland in 2011. Among the 140 stalls, keep an eye out for the Alternative Bread Company, which produces more than 40 varieties of handmade bread every day. Tom Durcan's Meats Limited sells vacuum-packed local specialties including spiced beef and dry-aged beef. The Olive Stall sells olive oil, olive-oil soap, and olives from Greece, Spain, France, and Italy. Kay O'Connell's Fish Stall, in the legendary fresh-fish alley, purveys local smoked salmon. O'Reilly's Tripe and Drisheen is the last existing retailer of tripe, a Cork specialty, and drisheen (blood sausage). Upstairs is the Farmgate, an excellent café.
Entrances on Grand Parade and Princes St., Cork City, Co. Cork, Ireland021-492--4182Sight Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. -
7. Gougane Barra Forest Park
This secluded little spot conjures up all things mythical and magical you have been dreaming of in Ireland. The tiny oratory or chapel, accessed by a causeway, was the location of St. Finbarr's hermitage in the 6th century and it is one of the most sought-after places for wedding couples in Ireland, for good reason. The location is hard to match, lying beneath craggy mountains with an evergreen forest that cascades down to its location at the very edge of a still, crystal clear lake. The view is reflected upon the lake, doubling the impact and creating an otherworldly impression to the first-time visitor. St. Finbarr's oratory dates back to the 19th century and the ruins on the approach to the park are from 1700.
Gougane Barra, Bantry, Co. Cork, IrelandSight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
8. Ilnacullin
Many visitors head to Glengarriff because of that Irish Eden, Ilnacullin. On Garnish Island, offshore from Glengarriff and beyond islets populated by comical-looking basking seals, you can find one of the country's horticultural wonders. In 1910, a Belfast businessman, John Annan Bryce, purchased this rocky isle, and, with the help of famed English architect Howard Peto and Scottish plantsman Murdo Mackenzie, transformed it into a botanical wonderland. The main showpiece is a wisteria-covered "Casita"—a roofed-over viewing point that overlooks a sunken Italian garden and pool. The modest Bryce family home is open to visitors, presented as it would have been in the early 20th century. You get to Ilnacullin by taking a Blue Pool ferry (10 minutes), which departs for the island from Glengarriff. George Bernard Shaw found Ilnacullin peaceful enough to allow him to begin his St. Joan here; maybe you'll find Garnish inspiring, too. Credit cards are not accepted on island.
Garnish Island, Co. Cork, Ireland027-63040Sight Details
Rate Includes: Gardens €5, ferry €10 round-trip, Closed Nov.–Mar. -
9. Mizen Vision Visitor Centre
Travel to this visitor center, set in a lighthouse at the tip of the Mizen Head (follow the R591 through Goleen to the end of the road), and you'll wind up reaching the Irish mainland's most southerly point. The lighthouse itself is on a rock at the tip of the headland; to reach it, you must cross a dramatic 99-step suspension footbridge---which has become a famous landmark over time. The lighthouse was completed in 1910; the Engine Room and Keepers' House have been restored by the local community. The exhilaration of massive Atlantic seas swirling 164 feet below the footbridge and the great coastal views and scenic drive here guarantee a memorable outing.
Harbour Rd., Goleen, Co. Cork, Ireland028-35115Sight Details
Rate Includes: €7.50, Closed Nov.–Feb., closed weekdays -
10. Ring of Beara
Scenic DriveGlengarriff is the gateway to this 137-km (85-mile) scenic drive that circles the Beara Peninsula on R572. One of the main attractions is the Beara Way, a 196-km (120-mile) marked walking route that takes in prehistoric archaeological sites. Dursey Island is a birder's paradise that you reach by cable car. From Dursey Island, head for tiny Allihies, the former site of a huge copper mine, celebrated in its own museum. The area is now the home of several leading Irish artists, some of whom invite studio visits (watch for signs). Continue along a breathtaking coastal road to Eyeries—a village overlooking Coulagh Bay—and then up the south side of the Kenmare River to Kenmare.
R572, , Ireland -
11. Shanagarry Potters
Now returned to the village where he grew up, potter Stephen Pearce has reopened the traditional craft pottery that launched his career in the late 1960s. The showroom sells his distinctive, contemporary hand-thrown black-and-cream earthen tableware and the terra-cotta-and-white line, made from organic local clay and both beloved of collectors. The tearoom opens daily from May to September, weekends only in winter. Book a pottery tour in advance, and ask about workshops. Pearce's simple, practical, but beautiful pottery makes for great, contemporary Irish gifts and souvenirs. U.S. shipping is available if you can't limit yourself to something packable!
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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