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This is my short guide to Cork county in Ireland. We had some lofty plans and I’ll put the other things I hoped we would get to during our visit, but we ended up getting hit with the first hurricane to hit Ireland in 60 years. Our Air BNB host was kind enough to let us book another night because there was no electricity, everything was closed, and the roads were blocked. We were lucky a gas station was open to get food that evening, but staying cooped up without electricity on your second day of a trip to a foreign country is not how you plan it. I’m surprised with how much we were still able to see even though we really only had one day of being able to use our cars. I’m also definitely glad that there wasn’t any hurricane damage in the areas where we were. This definitely added some flavor to our trip, but we’ll just have to make another trip back!
Places we visited
Downtown Cork, Cork County, Ireland
Cork is Ireland’s third largest cities. When we traveled in Ireland, we didn’t really make a specific time to tour the cities. We found that most tourist things in Ireland open around 10 AM and close around 5 PM (please look up times things are open because they vary within this time widely!) which gave us ample time to look around in the cities. One of my favorite things about old European cities is they usually seem to pop up around water and it makes for such beautiful views and reflections. Being a seaport, Cork was no exception!
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Where we ate in Downtown Cork, Cork County, Ireland
Sticky Fingers (doughnuts)
Location: 4 Emmett Pl Centre Cork T12 RW97 Emmett Pl, Centre, Cork, T12 RW97
Menu, Facebook
We walked by the window on the way to lunch and stopped because the doughnuts were SO HUGE and looked SO GOOD. I tried the boston creme and probably should have tried the sugared nutella filled doughnut. Devin had the Banoffi doughnut and said it was really good. I’m not sure if this is particular to this shop or to Ireland, but the doughnut dough was really different than what we have in the US.
Perry Street Market Cafe
Location: Perry St, Centre, Cork County, Ireland
Facebook
We stopped in because we wanted a lighter lunch. Devin and myself ordered the spiced beef sandwiches and it had some kind of tomato jelly that was so good! I ordered a side of clam chowder. I’ve apparently eaten a lot of clam chowder on the trip 🙂 .
Ballyhooly, Cork County, Ireland
Our Air BNB was located in this cute little town. On the day our electricity out, it was pretty windy outside, but not too windy that we couldn’t go walking around. We ended up doing some exploring and loved the scenery!
Fermoy, Cork County, Ireland
We stopped in Fermoy for cute and this little colorful town was so quaint!
Where we ate in Fermoy, Cork County, Ireland
Grand Hotel
Location: Ashe Quay, Fermoy, Co. Cork
Menu
I had clam chowder which was delicious. It included two slices of bread and Irish butter and I bought a side of garlic potatoes (soo good, they were really similar to garlic scalloped potatoes). Our family ordered fish and chips as well as onion rings. The onion rings tasted really different than what we have here, but they were okay. The restaurant had beautiful stained glass, details, and was recommended by a local when we asked. The restaurant is right next to Fermoy’s water line which was a beautiful place to see after dinner. The downtown is also a cute walk with colorful buildings and small town charm.
Blarney Castle in Blarney, Cork County, Ireland
While I may not have kissed the Blarney Stone and received the gift of gab (it just comes naturally, I guess), the castle and gardens are definitely amazing to see! A lot of people don’t leave room for touring the castle grounds and you should. We didn’t leave enough time and you could honestly spent half of a day there. The castle may be full of the steepest and windiest stairs I have ever experienced, being able to see fall landscapes of Ireland in the fall-time is definitely worth every single stair we climbed.
RELATED // I didn’t kiss the Blarney Stone
The Cork Butter Museum in Cork, Cork county, Ireland
This was a more eccentric request that I made on the trip. However, the history of butter is kind of a big deal in Ireland; bog butter can be found that is still usable and thousands of years old. Additionally, butter and dairy production is a huge trade in Ireland. The museum has a short video to watch describing the butter trade, has bog butter, and some items that show butter production. I was kind of sad that the museum did not have bread and butter samples because I thought it would as a food museum. If you have a lot of time in Cork County, make this stop, but if you don’t, you can easily make this a 30 minute trip and briefly see everything. Had we realized that the hurricane would have impacted our vacation the way it did, we would have seen other things.
Places we are visiting next time
Places we are visiting next timeFree activities in Cork County, Ireland
- Cork public museum
According to Wikipedia: “Cork Public Museum is a city museum in Cork, Ireland. Housed in a mid-19th century building within Fitzgerald Park in the Mardyke area of the city, the museum’s exhibits focus mainly on the history and archaeology of the Cork area.” - Fitzgerald Park
According to Wikipedia: “Popular green space with a museum, fountain, sculptures, walking paths & manicured landscaping.” - English market
According to Wikipedia: “Traders selling organic and locally produced food in an 18th-century covered market.”
Paid activities in Cork County, Ireland
- Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral
According to Wikipedia: “Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral is a Gothic revival three spire cathedral in the city of Cork, Ireland. It belongs to the Church of Ireland and was completed in 1879.” - Cork city gaol (jail)
We visited a jail in a different part of Ireland and it was actually really cool. It makes me wonder what we missed out here! According to Wikipedia: “Cork City Gaol is a former prison, now a museum, located in Cork City, Ireland.” - Blackrock Castle
According to Wikipedia: “Blackrock Castle is a castellated fortification located at Blackrock, about 2 km from the centre of Cork city on the banks of the River Lee in Ireland.” - Saint Anne’s church
According to Wikipedia: “The Church of St Anne is a Church of Ireland church located in the Shandon district of Cork city in Ireland. Built between 1722 and 1726, it is situated on a hill overlooking the River Lee.”
Our trip to Cork County in Ireland was great! We plan on going back and seeing some of the stuff we missed out because of Hurricane Ophelia, but it may be a few decades. I still love how much we were able to see though. I’ll always think of Cork County as some of our first memories of Ireland!
