County Cork

Corcaigh

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About County Cork

County Cork ( , Irish: Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the country's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are Midleton, Mallow, Bandon, Macroom, and Skibbereen. In 2022, the county had a population of 584,156, making it the third-most populous county in Ireland. Cork County Council is the local authority for the county, while Cork City Council governs the city of Cork and its environs. Notable Corkonians include Michael Collins, Jack Lynch, Mother Jones, Roy Keane, Sonia O'Sullivan, Paul O'Donovan, Fintan McCarthy, Rory Gallagher, Fiona Shaw, Cillian Murphy, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Graham Norton. Cork borders four other counties: Kerry to the west, Limerick to the north, Tipperary to the north-east and Waterford to the east. The county contains the southern section of the Golden Vale pastureland that extends into the Blackwater valley. The south-west region, including West Cork, is one of Ireland's main tourist destinations, known for its rugged coast and megalithic monuments and as the starting point for the Wild Atlantic Way. The largest third-level institution is University College Cork, founded in 1845, and has a total student population of around 22,000. Local industry and employers include technology company Dell EMC, the European headquarters of Apple, and the farmer-owned dairy co-operative Dairygold. The county is known as the "rebel county", a name given to it by King Henry VII of England for its support, in a futile attempt at a rebellion in 1491, of Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York.

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Mountains & National Parks (129) Beaches & Coves (128) Castles (90) Family Attractions & Zoos (77) Ruins & Archaeological Sites (53) Sea Cliffs & Rock Formations (53) Scenic Viewpoints (50) Museums & Galleries (42) Megalithic Sites (25) Historic Houses & Forts (20) Abbeys & Monasteries (13) Waterfalls (4) Round Towers & High Crosses (3)

Top 10 must-sees in Cork

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General County Cork

Stone of Eloquence

The Blarney Stone (Irish: Cloch na Blarnan) is a block of Carboniferous limestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney, about 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the centre of Cork City, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the stone and tour the castle and its gardens. The word blarney has come to mean "clever, flattering, or coaxing talk". Irish politician John O'Connor Power defined it this way: "Blarney is something more than mere flattery. It is flattery sweetened by humour and flavoured by wit. Those who mix with Irish folk have many examples of it in their everyday experience." Letitia Elizabeth Landon described its contemporary meaning in an article entitled "Blarney Castle" in 1832.

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General County Cork

Garnish Island

Garinish, or Garnish Island, (Irish: Garinis; also known as Ilnacullin) is an island in Glengarriff Bay, an inlet of Bantry Bay, near the shore of the Beara Peninsula in County Cork, Ireland. It is a tourist attraction with walled gardens and a Martello tower.

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Monument County Cork

Thomas Mac Curtain Statue

Tomás Mac Curtain (20 March 1884 – 20 March 1920) was an Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician. He was active with the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Irish Volunteers, and led the Volunteers during the Easter Rising in Cork. He was also elected and served as the Lord Mayor of Cork until his assassination by the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1920.

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Peak County Cork

Mount Gabriel

Mount Gabriel (Irish: Cnoc Osta) is a large hill on the Mizen Peninsula, north of the town of Schull in County Cork, Ireland. The name Cnoc Osta means 'hill of the encampment', and was historically anglicized as 'Knock Hast'. Mount Gabriel is 407 m (1,335 ft) high and is the highest eminence in the coastal zone south and east of Bantry Bay. A roadway serving the radar installations on the summit is open to the public. From the peak of Mount Gabriel, there are views south over Schull Harbour and Long Island Bay. To the east and southeast, the views take in Roaringwater Bay and its many islands, known as Carbery's Hundred Isles. North and west are the mountains of the Beara Peninsula and south Kerry. Fastnet Rock is approximately 18 km (11 mi) to the south, and is visible in fine weather.

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Peak County Cork

Hungry Hill

Hungry Hill or Knockday (Irish: Cnoc Daod) is the highest of the Caha Mountains on the Beara Peninsula in Munster, Ireland.

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Peak County Cork

Knockboy

Knockboy (Irish: An Cnoc Buí, meaning 'yellow mountain') is a 706-metre-high mountain on the border between counties Cork and Kerry in Ireland.

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Nature Reserve County Cork

The Gearagh Nature Reserve

The Gearagh (Irish: An Gaorthadh) is a submerged glacial woodland and nature reserve two kilometres southwest of Macroom, County Cork, in Kilmichael parish, Ireland. It is located at the point where the River Lee descends from the mountains and widens at an alluvial plain, and stretches for roughly five kilometres, bounded by the townlands of Toonsbridge, Illaunmore and Anahala. It was until recently densely populated with ancient oak trees and the last surviving full oak forest in western Europe. Its Irish name is An Gaorthadh (meaning "the wooded river-valley" or "the river-bed"). Author Seamus O'Donoghue provides another Irish name, An Gaoire, derived from the Irish word Gaorthadh. The area was flooded in 1954 to facilitate the building of two hydro-electric dams in Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra, which provide electricity for the nearby city of Cork. The area is now part of the plants' upper reservoir. The development required the flooding of the region; consequently, hundreds of trees were felled and many people were relocated. Many of the trees were centuries old and had grown since the medieval period. Today only their stumps survive, in flood land, giving the area a ghostly and almost lunar appearance. Today it comprises wide but shallow water enclosing a series of small islands separated by anastomosing, mostly flat, river streams. It remains an area of outstanding natural beauty, with a diverse ecological system and wide variety of plants, birds and fish, including freshwater pearl mussel, Atlantic salmon, whooper swans, kingfishers and otters. It is designated a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, and also enjoys international protection as an EU Special Area of Conservation of 558 ha. Part of the SAC is designated a nature reserve under the Irish Wildlife Act and the reservoir is a wildfowl sanctuary.

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Castle County Cork

Dún na Station castle

Dunasead Castle (Irish: Dún na Séad, meaning 'fort of the jewels'), sometimes known as Baltimore Castle, is a 17th-century fortified house situated in the town of Baltimore in County Cork, Ireland. The tower house is built on the site of an earlier Norman-era structure, which itself replaced an earlier Bronze Age ringfort. Traditionally associated with the chiefs of clan O'Driscoll, the castle was purchased and restored by members of the McCarthy family in the late 1990s, and partially opened to the public from 2005.

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Castle County Cork

Carrigrohane Castle

Carrigrohane Castle is located in the village of Carrigrohane, barony of Barretts in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on a rocky cliff-edge which overlooks the River Lee.

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General County Cork

Collegiate Church of Saint Mary

The Collegiate Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, also known as St Mary's Collegiate Church, is a large Anglican church in Youghal, east County Cork, Ireland. Dating to roughly 1220 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it is part of Youghal Union of Parishes, in the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross. St Mary's RMP (Record of Monuments and Places) number is CO067-029003.

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Videos from Cork

Blarney Castle and Po!son Gardens Cork IRELAND 4K Tour - Kissing the Blarney Stone of Eloquence

Maximilian

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Garnish Island, Cork, Ireland (4K)

Exploring Europe

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Tomas Mac Curtain Commemoration Parade

Piotr Słotwiński

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Mount Gabriel Ireland Amazing views

Chris The Rockers Days out

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Hungry Hill

John Finn

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Family Hike on Cork’s highest, Knockboy mountain 706 metres

Kevin Hayes

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All places in Cork

Showing 24 of 687 places

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GeneralCork

Stone of Eloquence

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GeneralCork

Garnish Island

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MonumentCork

Thomas Mac Curtain Statue

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PeakCork

Mount Gabriel

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PeakCork

Hungry Hill

Hungry Hill or Knockday (Irish: Cnoc Daod) is the highest of the Caha Mountains on the Beara Peninsula in Munster, Ireland.

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PeakCork

Knockboy

Knockboy (Irish: An Cnoc Buí, meaning 'yellow mountain') is a 706-metre-high mountain on the border between counties Cork and Kerry in Ireland.

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Nature ReserveCork

The Gearagh Nature Reserve

CastleCork

Dún na Station castle

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CastleCork

Carrigrohane Castle

Carrigrohane Castle is located in the village of Carrigrohane, barony of Barretts in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on a rocky cliff-edge which overlooks the River Lee.

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GeneralCork

Collegiate Church of Saint Mary

GeneralCork

Doneraile House

Doneraile Court is a late-17th century country house near the town of Doneraile in County Cork, Ireland. It stands in 160 hectares (400 acres) of walled parkland known as Doneraile Park or Doneraile Estate. The house remained the seat of the St Leger family from the time of construction until the mid-20th century. The park, which is managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW), is open all year with free admission. As of 2023, Doneraile Park was the most visited free tourist attraction in County Cork, and the fifth most visited OPW site in the country.

PeakCork

Musheramore

Musheramore (Irish: Muisire Mór, 'big Mushera') is a mountain with a height of 643 metres (2,110 ft) in County Cork, Ireland. It is the highest of the Boggeragh Mountains. The neighbouring hill is Musherabeg (Muisire Beag, 'little Mushera'), with a height of 499 metres (1,637 ft). Historically the mountain was called Knock Muskery, from Cnoc Múscraighe meaning "hill of the Múscraige", a Gaelic tribe who gave their name to the barony of Muskerry. There are two holy wells on the mountain: one near the summit for sick animals, and one on its northern slopes for humans (St John's Well), where mass was traditionally held on midsummer.

CastleCork

Kilcolman Castle

Kilcolman Castle is a tower house located in County Cork, Ireland. It was formerly the residence of the poet Edmund Spenser.

BeachCork

Myrtleville Beach

Myrtleville (Irish: Baile an Chuainín, meaning 'town of the small harbour') is a small seaside village in County Cork, Ireland. The village lies within the townlands of Ballinluska and Myrtleville, just west of the entrance to Cork Harbour. Myrtleville has one grocery shop, a pub, and a restaurant. 18th and 19th century records of the local estate houses associate Myrtleville House with the Daunt family. One of the other waterfront properties, Bunnyconnellan, developed around a cottage from 1824, operated for several decades as a restaurant, bar and a hotel until its closure in 2022. County development plans, including from the 1990s, allowed the building of modern houses with limitations ensuring the protection of the village's character, such as only allowing one-storey houses plus attic. Crosshaven rugby club has its sports ground at the top of Myrtleville hill. The beach at Myrtleville is used by swimmers all year round, with frequent fundraising swims organized.

GeneralCork

Trabolgan Holiday Village

Trabolgan (Irish: Trá Bholgan, meaning 'strand of Bolgan') is a self catering holiday village on a 140-acre (0.57 km2) site which was a former country estate in the civil parish of Trabolgan, County Cork, Ireland. The holiday camp was registered on 1 May 1984 (1984-05-01) and officially opened on 29 June 1985 (1985-06-29).

CastleCork

Carriganass Castle

Carriganass Castle (Caisleán Charraig an Easa in Irish, meaning The Castle on the Rock of the Waterfall) is a 16th-century tower house in County Cork. It is situated about 8 kilometres north-east of Bantry, close to the village of Kealkill, in West Cork.

CastleCork

Coppingers Court

Coppingers Court is a ruined four-storey fortified house dating from 1616, situated on private property approximately 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) from the sea. It was built by Sir Walter Coppinger and located in Ballyvireen valley, west of Rosscarbery in County Cork, Ireland. The house has a rectangular centre flanked by two wings on the east and west, resulting in a total of 9 gables.

PeakCork

Sugarloaf Mountain

Sugarloaf Mountain (Irish: Gabhal Mhór) is one of the Caha Mountains, southwest of Glengarriff in County Cork, Ireland. It is a pointed mountain with a height of 574 metres (1,883 ft). The English name refers to the mountain's likeness to a sugarloaf. The Irish name Gabhal Mhór means "big fork", with the lower neighbouring peak called Gabhal Bheag, "little fork", or Gowlbeg Mountain. These names seem to have developed from Sliabh na Gaibhle, "mountain of the fork", likely referring to a confluence of streams. The anglicised form Slieve Gowl is found in several 19th-century sources.

CastleCork

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle (Irish: Caisleán na Blarnan) is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, a town in Cork, Ireland. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty, a cadet branch of the Kings of Desmond, and dates from 1446. The Blarney Stone is among the machicolations of the castle.

CaveCork

Killavullen Caves

The Killavullen Caves are limestone caves near the village of Killavullen in County Cork, Ireland. They are situated on the south bank of the River Blackwater at Killavullen Bridge. The caves have been known to local people for hundreds of years, and have been inhabited at various times during their history. Some of them were inhabited when Irish antiquary Thomas Crofton Croker visited in the early 19th century: "...the road winds round a mass of steep limestone rock, in which are natural caverns, used as habitations by the peasantry. One of these was the dwelling of the village smith, the light from whose forge threw a broad and vivid reflection across the road, that lay in the solemnity of deep shadow." The caves are particularly notable for the large number of archaeological and palaeontological remains discovered within. Excavations in one of the caves in 1934 revealed the remains of Irish Elk, brown bear, wolf and reindeer and further excavations produced a human skull. The caves were closed to the public in the early 1990s, with steel doors put in place to prevent access. Public liability reasons were cited at the time of closure.

PeakCork

Nowen Hill

Nowen Hill (Irish: Cnoc na nAbhann, meaning 'hill of the rivers') is a 535-metre (1,755 ft) tall hill in County Cork, Ireland.

ViewpointCork

Mizen Head

Mizen Head (Irish: Carn Uí Néid) is traditionally regarded as the most southerly point of mainland Ireland although Brow Head is the actual southernmost point. It is at the end of the Mizen Peninsula in the district of Carbery in County Cork.

PeakClaragh Mountain

PeakCork

Claragh Mountain

Claragh Mountain or Clara Mountain (Irish:Sléibhe na Clárach) is a 452 metres (1,483 ft) mountain in Millstreet, north-west Cork in Ireland. It is part of the Derrynasaggart Mountain range which spreads across the Cork-Kerry border.

MegalithCork

Kealkill Stone Circle

Kealkill stone circle is a Bronze Age axial five-stone circle located just outside the village of Kealkill, County Cork in southwest Ireland. When it was excavated in 1938 it was thought the crucial axial stone indicated an alignment to the north, contrary to the general alignment of such stone circles to the southwest. However, later archaeologists have thought it is the comparatively insignificant stone to the southwest that is the axial stone. There are two associated standing stones nearby, one of which had fallen and was re-erected in 1938.

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