Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [173]
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CAPPOQUIN & AROUND
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Slinking up a steep hillside, the small market town of Cappoquin sits at the foot of the rounded, heathery Knockmealdown Mountains. To the west lies the picturesque Blackwater Valley, where traces of the earliest Irish peoples have been discovered, dating back over 9000 years.
The Dromana Drive to Cappoquin from Villierstown (An Baile Nua), 6km south, traces the River Blackwater through the Dromana Forest. At the bridge over the River Finisk is a remarkable Hindu-Gothic gate, inspired by the Brighton Pavilion in England and unique to Ireland.
Permits for the area’s excellent fishing are available from Titelines ( 058-54152; Main St, Cappoquin) tackle shop.
The beautiful Mt Melleray Cistercian Abbey ( 058-54404; admission free; 7am-8pm) is a fully functioning monastery with 28 Trappist monks, but welcomes visitors wishing ‘to take time for quiet contemplation’. The abbey was founded in 1832 by 64 monks who were expelled from a monastery near Melleray in Brittany, France. There are tearooms (closed Monday) and a heritage centre. It’s signposted 6km north from Cappoquin in the Knockmealdown foothills.
Turn right off the road to Mt Melleray for the forest walks and picnic spots at Glenshelane Park.
Cappoquin House and Gardens ( 058-54004; house & garden €10, garden only €5; 9am-1pm Mon-Sat May-Jul, by appointment rest of yr) is a magnificent 1779-built Georgian mansion and 5 acres of formal gardens overlooking the River Blackwater. It’s the private residence of the Keane family who’ve lived here for 200 years. The entrance to the house is just north of the centre of Cappoquin; look for a set of huge black iron gates.
Richmond House ( 058-54278; www.richmondhouse.net; N72; s €95-140, d €150-240; restaurant dinner nightly Apr-May, Tue-Sat Oct-Mar), which dates back even further to 1704, was built by the Earl of Cork, and is set on 14 acres of woodlands. All the same, its nine guestrooms – furnished with countrified plaids, prints and mahogany – are cosy rather than imposing, and service is genuinely friendly. Nonguests are welcome at its restaurant, where local produce includes West Waterford lamb and Helvick monkfish (mains €25 to €40, five-course menu €58).
Barron’s Bakery ( 058-54045; The Square; dishes €2.60-7.50, 8.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat) has used the same Scotch brick ovens since 1887. Sandwiches, light meals and a mouth-watering selection of cakes and buns baked on the premises are available in its spearmint-green-painted cafe, while its breads are also sold in shops and markets throughout the area.
Getting There & Away
Bus Éireann ( 051-879 000) services stop in Cappoquin en route to Lismore (€2.60) and Dungarvan (€5, 20 minutes) on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. There’s a Sunday bus to Dublin (€19.40, 4¼ hours) at 3.55pm. On Friday there are buses to Waterford (€14.30, one hour 10 mins) at 5.50pm and Cork (€14.30, one hour 20 minutes) at 9.40am. Cork is also served on Sunday at 6.10pm except in July and August. Buses stop outside Morrissey’s pub.
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LISMORE
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Today, Lismore’s enormous 19th-century castle seems out of proportion to this quiet, elegant town on the River Blackwater. Most of its existing buildings date from the early 19th century, but Lismore once had over 20 churches – many of which were destroyed during 9th- and 10th-century Viking raids. Over the centuries, statesmen and luminaries have streamed through Lismore, the location of a great monastic university founded by St Carthage in the 7th century. King Alfred of Wessex attended the university, Henry II visited the papal legate Bishop Christian O’Conarchy (Gilla Crist Ua Connairche) here in 1171, and even Fred Astaire dropped by when his sister Adele married into the Cavendish family, who own the castle.
Between doses of history and legend, you can picnic in the Millennium Gardens, beside the castle car park, or take a 20-minute riverside stroll