Pauliina FlamIn my personal experience, there is not that much to see in Cork itself, but it is a good base for traveling around since the area itself is a gem! Day trips I did from Cork include such beautiful places as Kinsale, Blarney Castle, Cobh, and Gougane Barra. It is rather easy to travel around the area, especially if you have a Leap Card which I definitely recommend. Leap Card is a charming green travel card one can buy in a ticket machine at Cork’s main train station. It costs 5 euros, but, good news, it is a deposit, so you can get them back. In my case, I saved my first Leap Card and used it again after a few years on my next trip to Ireland. I still have a froggy card at home as a reminder of my travels. Leap Card is a sort of prepaid travel card, one can download an app and put money on the card through it. You can easily check your balance through that app as well. Using LeapCard is easy as long as you know where you are going: tell the driver on the bus the station of your destination and they will take the appropriate amount off your LeapCard, which is usually about 30% cheaper than without it.
Kinsale
Kinsale is mostly known for its streets bursting with colors and spicing up its Instagram palette. Well, it sure is colorful but my favorite place ended up being a bit further from the city center, away from all the brightness. The bus stops near the Bandon River shore. From there one can take a long scenic walk along the shore, which will take around 40 minutes.
The road takes you over the river and to the small peninsula with an enchanting place – James Fort. Kinsale has two forts, one on the old town side and another one over the bridge. The fort over the bridge was my destination this time and I chose right. The path leads along the river, then jumps up a small passage between old houses and, finally, brings you to a field-lake landscape. Such an Irish view, isn’t it? From here it is a short path-walk to the fort itself, which is just standing there, in the middle of the land, without any ticket offices or tourists. I literally met one person walking her dog on this trail and found myself completely alone discovering the old ruins. James Fort was once a big structure, in fact, it was too big and the government decided to build a smaller fort within the bigger one. Nowadays it is a collection of ruined walls and passages on the beautiful stranded shore, which I enjoyed exploring.
40 minutes back and I was wandering through the colorful streets of Kinsale. Instagram did not lie – one can find all colors of the rainbow here. The old town is rather small, and it really doesn’t take that much time to walk the few streets it has.
I found a cozy cafe with a cheap but tasty soup and a warm atmosphere. Also, I got the privilege to taste the best cake ever, even though the cake time was over (cafes turning into bars/restaurants at specific times in Ireland still confused me). The cozy cafe is called Cozy Cafe (!), and they are not lying. Wanna a place that doesn’t hide its charm? Kinsale awaits! Take bus number 226 from Cork, which takes around 35 minutes to get there.
Cobh
Cobh was actually my first half-day trip from Cork. I randomly headed to the station after seeing “everything” in Cork (as I thought back then) and chose a train to Cobh. It was actually a place my host mentioned a few times. There I was 25 minutes later, with absolutely no expectations, following a crowd out of the train in a new town. I can’t even tell how amazed I was as the path turned behind the stone fence and I vowed – on the view. There was a beautiful seashore, a flowerful fairy-tale square, a bright-colored waterfront, and a majestic gothic spire above all of it.
While I was busy with amazement a boat floated over the horizon with snow-white sails over the grey-blue color of the sea. Not just this, but also laughing sunbathers on the beach, ice cream kiosks, and all this summer season felt unannounced for me. I froze in surprise and just stood, looked, and listened to the hurrying boat and unhurried people, colorful houses, a gothic church, and azure water. As always, Ireland is so daring and full of surprises.
Walking along the colorful streets, posters about the Titanic caught my eye more than once: there was a Titanic memorial, a same-named museum, and a “Titanic Route”. Oh well, it turned out that in 1912 here the Titanic stopped to pick up its last passengers to board the doomed ship. Back then the city was called Queenstown, in honor of Queen Victoria, who visited it. In general, the name of the town has changed many times, keeping pace with its diverse history and conquerors. But this is still the same port and the same shores that last sheltered the ill-fated ship. Today it is the charming town – one of the most beautiful places near Cork that has many tales to tell.
Blarney
It took some time for me to meet a third place near Cork. I knew of its existence for several days and thought about visiting it, but there were a few obstacles on my mind. First: I’m on a budget, and entry costs 19 euros. Second: The place is famous for the gardens around the castle, but I’m not into gardens at all. This became quite clear after visiting the beautiful “jungle” of Madeira when even among the colorful royal gardens I was a little bit bored. However, a new day is just around the corner, and I can’t help but go to a new place. I’ve also already seen all of those I could access by public transport besides Blarney. Well, moving towards the center of Cork, I understood that my path today inevitably lies through Blarney, because where else? I will become 19 euros poorer, and it is not yet clear how this will turn out for me. Now I can tell you postfactum that this turned out to be one of the most beautiful places.
You can endlessly google tons of legends about Blarney Castle but little is known about the place itself, which builds up a need of making up tales. Hence many different stories, including the one about Queen Elizabeth, who asked the owner of the castle to abandon it for strategic reasons. In response, she got heaps of beautiful words that aim to charm and flatter, but lead nowhere – and that is how the word blarney was made. According to this story, Queen Elizabeth was the first to use this word, meaning something between eloquence and flattery. Ages later blarney became part of Irish culture and is considered a truly Irish skill.
The centerpiece for delicious legends is, for sure, a Blarney Stone. Situated on the castle grounds it is a solid tourist magnet. No one knows exactly where it came from. Its mystical history is inspired by legends about the Celtic goddess Clydna, King Robert the First of Scotland, the Scone Stone, and even Stonehenge. Whatever happened or didn’t happen, a belief was formed. It says that by kissing the Blarney Stone you will be granted the gift of eloquence, which is why there is a long line stretching from the park to the castle. The stone is built into the castle itself on the topmost tower, and you can only kiss it while lying down. For this reason, an assistant sits nearby holding the tourists. On the other side sits a photographer who is ready to capture this mystical moment for payment. Aside from legends, what is known for sure about the castle and the stone? The castle was built by Dermot McCarthy in 1446, and it was the third building on this site, which still stands. The Blarney Stone has been kissed by some celebrities, including Joe Manganiello and Eddie Redmayne. Decide for yourself whether they are eloquent or not, but one thing is for sure – it is hard to oppose this belief when you know that even Winston Churchill was among the stone-kissers. His famous pre-war speech went down in history. At the same time, everyone knew about his meager social skills. I personally can only tell, that I didn’t stand in line, I didn’t kiss the stone, but I watched as the last visitor did it. It did not look easy!
Gougane Barra
The last place near Cork ended up being the most charming and beautiful place I have seen so far in the whole of Ireland. It’s called Gougane Barra, and I have absolutely no idea if it’s possible to get here without a car. For all the time that we spent there, I did not see a single bus. The place is nonetheless full of mystical beauty and very scenic views. A charming valley formed as a result of a glacier met me with fog, green mountains, and silence. Despite the local tourists, the valley mysteriously absorbs all the noise and remains quiet and frozen in its own peace. During the time we spent there, we saw a funeral, and immediately after that a wedding in a chapel on a foggy lakeside. And all this did not harm the peace of the local shores.
An old legend adds charm to this valley. The truth is that Finbarr was once a hermit here – this is a nickname assigned to a local monk, meaning “fair-headed”. There is a belief that an Angel sent Finbar to the local lands, but upon arrival, he found that the insidious serpent Lou reigns in the lake. During the mass, an evil serpent rose from the waters and smashed the goblet from Finbar’s hands. Later Finbar called Lou out of the water and banished him. Leaving the area, Lou beat his tail with a wild fury, cutting through the mountains, and that’s how the river Lee was formed. The local river runs all the way up to the city of Cork.
For some time Finbar lived here as a hermit, and then built a monastery. Apparently, at the same place where today stands the beautiful church in the city of Cork, named after Finbar. On the local island, there is a small chapel, also named after Finbar, although built only in the last century. Also, there was a monastery in honor of the saint Father O’Mahony. Only ruins and crosses remained from the building. Since Gugan-Barra is located far from the bustle of the city, under the emerald mountains of Shekhi, this place attracted pilgrims. Today, it is a tourist place for beautiful photos and a place to start hiking along mountain trails. Due to its history, Gougane-Barra is a worthy place for funerals, but also for weddings. Of all these options, the trails certainly sounded the most tempting to me. Along the river, the road leads to the forest, where it forks into hiking trails. That is where I went. I didn’t have much time, in a few hours I had to fly away, so looking down at the hiking map, I turned left – onto the shortest path leading up along the babbling stream. It took me up to the platform by the nearest mountain. How I wished to have a tent, without a flight waiting. It was so beautiful and serene. I wanted to disappear into the green hills for a couple of days. Well, that’s how plans are made for the next time.
