Things to do in County Cork
-
A
English Market
Cork picnickers are a fortunate bunch. The wonderful market is a self-caterer's paradise with so many tasty delicacies to choose from it's hard to show restraint. The emphasis is on local produce, with cheeses, ham, buttered eggs, sausages, bread and smoked salmon on offer, but there are some imports such as olives and wine too.
If you have cooking facilities, the fresh-fish sellers will tell you exactly what to buy and how to cook it. Otherwise, perch at stall-side counters or take your lunch to Bishop Lucey Park, a popular alfresco eating spot.
reviewed
-
B
Jola's
With double-height ceilings, exposed brick walls and a stunning chandelier, Jola Wojtowicz's restaurant brings a dash of metropolitan style to Kinsale. The food is equally adept, confidently marrying Eastern European and Irish cuisine. The pierogi (dumplings) made with Clonakilty black pudding are divine, but are merely preparation for the mouth-watering mains, which include a particularly lovely dish of lamb cutlets with basil and walnut pesto.
reviewed
-
An Teach Beag
This intriguing pub, out back from O'Donovan's Hotel, has all the atmosphere necessary for good traditional music sessions. You might even catch a scríocht (a session by storytellers and poets) in full flow. There's music nightly during July and August, and on weekends for the rest of the year. Check out the historical plaque at the start of the alley – times have changed…
reviewed
-
Cornstore
Bustling and buzzy day and night, this modern restaurant has a swish bar, where you can enjoy creative cocktails while waiting for a table. Some tables are minute, but if you're having the amazing house special of lobster hold out for a large one so your elbows and shells can fly. There's also excellent fresh fish, steaks and pasta.
reviewed
-
Queenstown Restaurant
Inside the old train station with the heritage centre, this simple cafe is best right when the doors open and the scones are emerging from the oven, warm and fragrant. Other times the food is fine but akin to what you might have had shipboard in 2nd class.
reviewed
-
Stuffed Olive
This exquisite bakery and deli has a fine coffee bar and stools along a narrow counter in the sunny front window. Luscious baked goods are displayed like, well, a bunch of tarts. Find your picnic lunch here and nab one of the excellent bottles of wine.
reviewed
-
Glebe Gardens & Café
The beautiful gardens here are an attraction in themselves; lavender and herbs add fragrant aromas that waft over the tables inside and out. Food is simple and fresh, sourced from the gardens and a list of local purveyors.
reviewed
-
Cobh Museum
A small but lively museum is housed in the 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian church overlooking the train station. It holds model ships, paintings, photographs and curious artefacts tracing Cobh's history.
reviewed
-
O’Connor’s Seafood Restaurant
The tank full of lobsters and the three wooden yachts in the window give the game away – award-winning O’Connor’s offers Bantry seafood at its posh best. It’s an exquisite experience and one to savour.
reviewed
-
De Barra's
A marvellous atmosphere, walls splattered with photos, press cuttings, masks and musical instruments, plus the cream of live music every night of the week (starting around 9.30pm) make this a busy pub.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
C
-
D
Charles Fort
One of the best-preserved 17th-century star-shaped forts in Europe, this wonderful fortress would be worth a visit for its spectacular views alone. But there's much more here: ruins inside the vast site date from the 18th and 19th centuries and make for some fascinating wandering. Displays explain the typically tough lives led by the soldiers who served here and the comparatively comfortable lives of the officers. Built in the 1670s to guard Kinsale Harbour, the fort was in use until 1921, when much of it was destroyed as the British withdrew. The best way to get here is to walk – follow the signs on the lovely walk around the bay from Scilly to Summercove, 3km east of Ki…
reviewed
-
Bantry House
With its melancholic air of faded gentility, 18th-century Bantry House makes for an intriguing visit. The house has belonged to the White family since 1729 and every room brims with treasures brought back from each generation’s travels since then. The entrance is paved with mosaics from Pompeii, French and Flemish tapestries adorn the walls, and Japanese chests sit next to Russian shrines. Upstairs, worn bedrooms look out wanly over an astounding view of the bay – the 18th-century Whites had ringside seats to the French armada. Experienced pianists are invited to tinkle the ivories of the ancient piano in the library. It’s possible to stay the night in the wings.
reviewed
-
E
Belvelly
Two kilometres out of Midleton on the N25 towards Fota, the effervescent Frank Hederman runs Belvelly, the oldest natural smoke house in Ireland – and indeed the only one. Seafood and cheese are smoked here, but the speciality is fish – in particular, salmon. In a traditional process that takes 24 hours from start to finish, the fish is filleted and cured before being hung in the tiny smoke house to smoke over beech woodchips. No trip to Cork is complete without a visit to an artisan food producer, and Frank is more than happy to show you around; phone or email to arrange. Or stop by his booth at the Midleton farmers market.
reviewed
-
F
Lewis Glucksman Gallery
This award-winning gallery in the grounds of University College Cork (UCC) is a startling limestone, steel and timber construction that was the most visible symbol of Corkonian optimism when it opened in 2004. Not even severe flood damage to its basement storage rooms in November 2009 has dampened its sense of purpose, which is to display the best in both national and international contemporary art and installation. If you're in town, don't miss the free fortnightly curatorial tours; the website has details. The gallery's situation in the university grounds means it's always buzzing with people coming to attend lectures, view the artwork or procrastinate in the cafe.
reviewed
-
G
Farmgate Café
On a mezzanine overlooking part of the market is one of Cork’s best eateries. Farmgate Café is an unmissable experience. Like its sister restaurant in Midleton, this cafe has mastered the magic art of producing delicious meals without fuss or faddism. The food, from rock oysters to the lamb for an Irish stew, is sourced from the market below. There are tables but the best seats are at the balcony counter, where you can ponder the passing parade of shoppers. We still have memories of the seafood chowder and the raspberry crumble.
reviewed
-
H
Church of Ireland Church
St Multose is the patron saint of Kinsale, and the Church of Ireland church is one of Ireland’s oldest, built around 1190 by the Normans on the site of a 6th-century church. Not much of the interior is original but the exterior is preserved beautifully. The graveyard has some interesting large family tombs, and several victims of the Lusitania sinking are also buried there. Inside, a flat stone carved with a round-handed figure was traditionally rubbed by fishermen’s wives to bring their husbands home safe from the sea.
reviewed
-
I
Desmond Castle
Kinsale's roots with the old wine trade are on display at this early 16th-century fortified house that was occupied by the Spanish in 1601. Since then it has served as a customs house, as a prison for French and American captives and as a workhouse during the Famine. There are lively exhibits detailing its history and a small wine museumthat tells the story of the Irish wine-trading families, including names like Hennessy (of brandy fame), who fled to France because of British rule.
reviewed
-
Otto's Creative Cooking
You have to book at this remote spot at a stunning location near Butlerstown. There's plenty of choice on the set menus, with all the produce locally sourced and much of it organic and coming from Otto's itself. A four-course lunch is available for around €35, a five-course dinner for around €55. Why not make a night of it and stay in one of the individually decorated guestrooms (around €110/€130 for a single/double) reserved for diners?
reviewed
-
J
Cork City Gaol
Faint-hearted souls may find this imposing former prison a little grim, but it's certainly worth a visit, if only to get a sense of how crap life was for prisoners a century ago. An audio tour guides you around the restored cells, which feature models of suffering prisoners and sadistic-looking guards. It's very moving, bringing home the harshness of the 19th-century penal system. The most common crime was that of poverty; many of the inmates were sentenced to hard labour for stealing loaves of bread.
The prison closed in 1923, reopening in 1927 as a radio station, so the Governor's House has been converted into the Radio Museum Experience. Alongside collections of beautif…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
Barryscourt Castle
Immigrants from Wales in the 12th century, the Barry family quickly began intermarrying with important Irish families of the time. Soon they had huge tracts of land and real wealth. In order to protect their fortune, the clan began building a vast fortification in the 15th century.
Barryscourt Castle survives in remarkably good condition (albeit with a lot of restoration). An authentic 16th-century kitchen and decorative gardens have been recreated.
The castle is just off the N25, 2km east of the turn-off to Cobh and near Carrigtwohill.
reviewed
-
L
Currans
A retirement home for Cork's unwanted fixtures and fittings, Currans' interior is entirely made up of artefacts salvaged from the city's demolished buildings. The wood panelling comes from the GPO, the radiators from Linville Hospital, even the lift is reclaimed from the tax office. The menu is a similar hotch-potch of reliable favourites - pizzas, burgers, seafood and steaks - and there's a delightful rooftop terrace if you ever tire of the interior.
reviewed
-
M
Market Lane
It's always hopping at this bright corner bistro with an open kitchen. Service is quick and attentive, but you may want to pause at the long wooden bar anyway. The menu is broad, and changes often to reflect what's fresh: how about braised ox cheekstew to challenge the palate? Steaks come with awesome aioli. The €10 lunch menu, with half a sandwich, soup and tea or coffee, is a steal. Lots of wines by the glass.
reviewed
-
Farmgate Restaurant
The original and sister establishment to Cork's Farmgate Café, the Midleton restaurant offers the same superb blend of traditional and modern Irish in its approach to cooking. In the front is a shop selling amazing baked goods and local produce, including organic fruit and vegetables, cheeses and preserves. Behind is the farmhouse-style cafe-restaurant, where you'll eat as well as anywhere in Ireland.
reviewed
-
N
O’Neill’s Pub
A country pub straight from Central Casting, where peat fires are ready to warm you on the coldest days, while you can take your perfectly poured pint into the sunshine on nice days. The bar is long and mahogany, the walls are covered with old photos and the clientele spin yarns. Butlerstown is located down a warren of little lanes off the R600. It’s the hub of walks around the dramatic coastal bluffs otherwise known as the Seven Heads.
reviewed
