Cork City
This imposing former prison is well worth a visit, if only to get a sense of how awful life was for prisoners a century ago. An audio tour (€2 extra)…
Must-see attractions in County Cork
Kinsale
One of Europe's best-preserved star-shaped artillery forts, this vast 17th-century fortification would be worth a visit for its spectacular views alone…
Cork City
The English Market – so called because it was set up in 1788 by the Protestant or ‘English’ corporation that then controlled the city (there was once an…
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County Cork
With its melancholic air of faded gentility, 18th-century Bantry House makes for an intriguing visit. From the Gobelin tapestries in the drawing room to…
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Cobh
This low-lying green island in Cork Harbour was once an important part of the port's defences, topped by an 18th-century artillery fort. In the second…
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Beara Peninsula
This horticultural miracle of an island was created in the early 20th century when the island's owner commissioned architect Harold Peto to design a…
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Cork City
Cork's public gallery houses a small but excellent permanent collection covering the 17th century through to the modern day, though the works on display…
County Cork
If you need proof of the power of a good yarn, then join the queue to get into this 15th-century castle, one of Ireland's most popular tourist attractions…
Cork City
Spiky spires, gurning gargoyles and elaborate sculpture adorn the exterior of Cork's Protestant cathedral, an attention-grabbing mixture of French Gothic…
County Cork
Kangaroos bound, cheetahs run, and monkeys and gibbons leap and scream on wooded islands at this huge outdoor zoo, where the animals roam without a cage…
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Beara Peninsula
The ruins of this 15th-century castle, a former stronghold of the O'Sullivan Beare clan, sit on a promontory overlooking the southern entrance to the…
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County Cork
Completed in 1909 to help warn ships off the rocks, Mizen Head signal station is perched high above crashing waves and contorted sea cliffs on a small…
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Cobh
The howl of the storm almost knocks you off-balance, there's a bit of fake vomit on the deck, and the people in the pictures all look pretty miserable –…
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Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve
Beara Peninsula
The valley of the Glengarriff River, to the northwest of Glengarriff village, was once the private estate of the Earl of Bantry. As such its ancient oak…
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Beara Peninsula
Only 12km by 7km, Bere Island has around 200 permanent residents and attracts scores more to summer holiday homes. There are ruined Martello towers,…
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Cork City
Cork has a long tradition of butter manufacturing – in the 1860s it was the world's largest butter market, exporting butter throughout the British Empire …
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Cobh
The original White Star Line offices, where 123 passengers embarked on (and one lucky soul absconded from) the RMS Titanic, now house this powerful…
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Beara Peninsula
More than 20 years in the making, this interactive sculpture garden is imaginative, thought-provoking and humorous, with nature and art working together…
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Kinsale
Kinsale's roots in the wine trade are on display at this early-16th-century fortified house that was occupied by the Spanish in 1601. Since then it has…
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Old Head Signal Tower & Lusitania Museum
Kinsale
This 200-year-old signal tower houses a museum dedicated to the RMS Lusitania, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915 with the loss of 1200 lives…
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Cork City
Established in 1845 as one of three 'queen's colleges' (the others are in Galway and Belfast) set up to provide nondenominational alternatives to the…
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Fota House Arboretum & Gardens
County Cork
Guided tours of Regency-style Fota House focus on the original kitchen and ornate plasterwork ceilings, but the real highlight here is the 150-year-old…
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Beara Peninsula
The town of Eyeries is home to Milleens cheese, first created by the late pioneering producer Veronica Steele. Visitors are welcome to visit the Steele…
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Cork City
Originally built in the 1620s, and serving as a garda (police) station from 1929 to 2013, this small star-shaped artillery fort once formed an important…
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Cork City
Blackrock Castle is a restored 16th-century castle that now, rather incongruously, hosts a small hands-on science centre, an inflatable planetarium and a…
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County Cork
Vast sand dunes hemmed in by two long bluffs dissolve into the surf, forming West Cork's finest beach. Rarely crowded, it's a great place for youngsters,…
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County Cork
The curious Clock Gate straddles the middle of Youghal's main street. Built in 1777, it served as a town gate, clock tower and jail; several prisoners…
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County Cork
Coachloads pour in to tour this restored 200-year-old distillery building. Exhibits and 75-minute tours (run between 10am and 4pm) explain the process of…
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Cork City
Shandon is dominated by the 1722 St Anne’s Church, aka the ‘Four-Faced Liar’ – so called because each of the tower’s four clocks used to tell a slightly…
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Cork City
Located in a Georgian mansion with a modern extension, this museum recounts Cork’s history. The diverse collection of local artefacts tells the story from…
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Cork City
This award-winning building is a startling construction of limestone, steel and timber, built in 2004 by Dublin architects O'Donnell and Tuomey. Three…
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Beara Peninsula
This working sheep farm offers a whole range of things to do, from waymarked history and geology walks to trout fishing and feeding the lambs (in spring),…
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Beara Peninsula
Derreen Gardens were planted by the fifth Lord Lansdowne around the turn of the 20th century. Mossy paths weave through an abundance of interesting plants…
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Beara Peninsula
Allihies' history as a copper mining area is chronicled in this engaging museum, the result of years of work by the community; there's also tourist…
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Beara Peninsula
About 1km west of Lauragh, a side road leads to forest-fringed Glanmore Lake, with the remains of an old hermitage on a tiny island in the middle. Get…
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County Cork
Travel a world of plants at Kilravock Garden, which has been transformed over two decades from a field of scrag and stone to a feast of exotic plants by…
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Cork City
This covered walkway on the north side of University College Cork's Victorian Gothic main quad houses Ireland's biggest collection of Ogham stones, carved…
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Cobh
Dramatically perched on a hillside terrace above Cobh, this massive French Gothic Cathedral is out of all proportion to the town. Its most exceptional…
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County Cork
This nonprofit institution is dedicated to rescuing abandoned and abused donkeys. Here they are provided with food and veterinary care and virtually no…
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Cork City
The Holy Trinity Church was designed by the Pain brothers in 1834 in the honour of Father Theobald Mathew, whose statue sits just south of the River Lee…
