Our Cork Adventures ~ The Conclusion in Fabulous Clonakilty & Castletownbere!

To conclude Our Cork Adventures I’ll tell you about four other great places to visit on a budget while in West Cork. After a run around playing with the kids that lived in the field beside our holiday home in Clonakilty we set off for the day to Kinsale. I say kids as they were literally kids, baby goats! They tried their best to eat my daughters top, much to her disgust but uproarious laughter from the her brothers and sister. 

Charles Fort ~ Kinsale

It’s a relatively short drive of 45 minutes to the harbour town of Kinsale from Clonakilty. We decided to visit Charles Fort as my husband is a military history nut. Charles Fort is located in Summer Cove, Kinsale. Construction began in 1677 & took 5 years to complete during the reign of King Charles II. The Fort was designed in a star shape by Sir William Robinson to resist attack by cannon; he also designed the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Charles Fort remained occupied by the British Forces until 1921 when it was signed over to the Irish during the Anglo-Irish Treaty but before they left they ensured they burnt nearly every building within the Fort. 

It is now operated by the OPW; they have done great work in reconstructing parts of the buildings. There are lots of grassed areas for children to run about & have fun; we spent ages exploring the old buildings. The views are amazing from all around the Fort but it can get quite windy even on a summer’s day, we were glad to warm up with a hot chocolate in the onsite cafe. Admission is Adult €4, Child €2, Family €10 or if you go on the first Wednesday of the month admission is free as with all OPW run heritage sites with the only exception of Muckross.  

Glenview Gardens ~ Enniskean

When we are staying in Ireland, I sometimes like to take a drive just to see what we’ll find by following the brown tourism signs; it was on one of these meanders around Cork that we found a hidden gem. Glenview Gardens in Enniskean, a 20 minute drive from Clonakilty, home to Irelands only Hobbit House. It’s a 3 acre garden lovingly grown over 25 years by David & Mary Tanner on West Cork’s Garden Trail. There are lots of mini gardens within Glenview such as a Japanese garden, bog garden & white garden there’s even a canal & pond. 

Our children loved the birds in the aviary; they have about 40 birds of differing breeds. We spent over an hour having a ramble around. I didn’t tell the children about the Hobbit house, I just let them stumble across it themselves. They were delighted with it, even more so when they realised you could go inside to explore the little two bedroom house. Tea rooms are located at the back of the garden with an honesty box to pay, very quaint & very Irish! Admission is Adults €5 & Children €2 with no discounted family tickets available.  

Castletownbere ~ West Cork

We’ve family in Castletown-Bearhaven so a visit is a must every time we’re in Cork. If you haven’t been I’d highly recommend a trip to Castletownbere, it’s a beautiful fishing town waaaay out West Cork. Pop into MacCarthy’s Bar on Main Street for a lemonade in the snug. If you haven’t read Pete McCarthy’s hilarious bestseller McCarthy’s Bar you can purchase it here for €10. You can also purchase A Doctor’s War detailing the amazing true life story of Air Commodore Joseph Aiden MacCarthy OBE GM, an Irish Doctor serving in the Royal Air Force who was captured & interred in a Japanese POW camp. 

His daughter Adrienne still owns MacCarthy’s Bar, be sure to say Hi! Bere Island is one of the few Islands that can be accessed via car ferry, so you can bring your car over for the day to explore the Island with the stunning backdrop of the mountains of the Beara Peninsula. Just a little warning though so you won’t be caught short, there are no ATM’S or petrol stations on the Island.

Waterfall Alpaca Farm ~ Drimoleague (Alpaca my bag!)

On the hour & a half drive out to Castletownbere from Clonakilty we decided to drop into Drimoleague to visit Waterfall Alpaca Farm. You can see Alpacas, sheep, hens, donkeys & giant rabbits. Get this you can even walk an Alpaca on a leash around part of the Drimoleague Heritage Walkway! Unfortunately when we visited the Alpacas were still being trained but we most definitely will be back to bring some on a walk.

Be sure to catch up on our previous Cork escapades HERE but tell us ~ 

Have you been to West Cork? Did we miss anywhere?

Our Cork Adventures – The Stunning Sherkin Island!

Welcome back to Cork, one of our favourite counties in Ireland. I last told you about our venture to Cobh & the Titanic Experience. This week it’s time for something completely different. We didn’t have a set plan of where we wanted to visit, more of an idea of things we’d like to do on our budget friendly break in Cork a few weeks ago. My husband Colin knew that you can get a boat out to some of the islands from Baltimore harbour so we hopped in the car & headed there to see what we could do for the day.

Sherkin Island - The Boat from Baltimore Harbour

There are a couple of ferry companies operating out of Baltimore providing passage to Cape Clear, Heir Island , Sherkin Island & even out to Fastnet Rock. As we arrived we saw some people heading down the pier to a boat so we tagged along not knowing which Island they were going to. Sure isn’t that what holidays are for a bit of spontaneity every now & then, you never know what gem you might discover. Turns out we were on the Sherkin Island ferry, it only cost us €20 return for the SEVEN of us for the 10 minute crossing.

Sherkin Island ~ Family Fun

As Wi-Fi was pretty sketchy in the wilds of West Cork I didn't have a chance to research Sherkin Island so we didn't really know what to expect. As we docked, I caught sight of some ruins, which was our first port of call. It’s an ancient Franciscan friary built in the mid 1400’s, closing in 1796 when the last remaining Friar passed away. The gate is open & you are free to roam around inside or go up to the roof for amazing views. You’ll find photos inside with lots of information on the friary.

Sherkin Island ~ The Franciscan Friary

As we were walking up the road a van pulled in beside us, it was the Island rural transport scheme, now that’s service. The lady advised us that it was a 30 minute walk to the beach but there was a nicer strand just a little further on again. She offered to take us for just €2 per adult & €1 per child, before she could finish we were safely ensconced in the back of the bus. Thank God she had the forethought to give us her mobile number so we could call her to be brought back, I never would have thought of it.

Sherkin Island ~ Silver Strand

We spent a wonderful afternoon in blissful isolation on Silver Strand, the children could run to their hearts content, even having a paddle in the sea to cool off as it was a scorcher of a day. After a phone call to be picked up we started to ramble back the way we came, it’s so peaceful out there you can’t help but relax. 

Our destination was the Islander’s Rest, a 21 bedroom hotel about a 10 minute walk from the harbour. We had lunch in the bar; Colin & I ordered fish & chips while the children had a homemade pizza between them. The prices were great with our bill totalling just over €40 for drinks & lunch.

Sherkin Island ~ Islander's Rest

Our sojourn to Sherkin turned out to be one of the best days of our holiday in Cork, and perhaps one of our most peaceful in all of our family adventures so far. Next time we’re in Cork we have Cape Clear on the list. 

Have you been to Sherkin or any of the other Islands? Tell us how you got on!

Catch up on our past 
travels & find some Irish
holiday inspo HERE!

Our Cork Adventure - Cobh & The World Famous Titanic Experience!

Welcome back to our Cork Adventure, if you haven’t seen where we’ve been so far, catch up here. We're big fans of the staycation and firm believers that a holiday on home soil can hold it's own against any other destination, once you have insider travel tips to get the best of our Emerald Isle. For our Cork adventure we were ideally based in Clonakilty, staying in a 6 bedroom Clona Holiday Homes rental in Clogheen Village, find out more about them here. 

Stone Family Travel ~ Our Cork Adventure!

This week we're going to kick off our Cork Adventures, because let's be honest, it's one of the most beautiful parts of the world. First up I’ll tell you where we stayed & our overall impression. As we have a large family of 7, our best bet for a bargain is to book holiday homes rather than hotels.