Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [195]
The trail down River Barrow from Graiguenamanagh to St Mullins in County Carlow is equally beautiful, with a firm path wending past canals and through some wooded country and pleasant grassy picnic areas.
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GETTING THERE & AWAY
Bus Éireann ( 056-64933) has five buses daily to Kilkenny (€5, 20 minutes). Buggys Coaches ( 056-444 1264; www.buggy.ie) has one bus daily (€4) between Kilkenny (outside the castle) and a stop 300m from Foulksrath Castle Hostel.
Dunmore Cave
Striking calcite formations enliven Dunmore Cave ( 056-67726; www.heritageireland.ie; Ballyfoyle; adult/child/family €2.90/1.30/7.40; 9.30am-6.30pm Jun-Sep, 10am-5pm Mar-Jun & Sep-Oct, 10am-5pm Nov-Mar), some 6km north of Kilkenny on the Castlecomer road (N78). According to sources, marauding Vikings killed 1000 people at two ring forts near here in 928. When survivors hid in the caverns, the Vikings tried to smoke them out by lighting fires at the entrance. It’s thought that they then dragged off the men as slaves and left the women and children to suffocate. Excavations in 1973 uncovered the skeletons of at least 44 people, mostly women and children. They also found coins dating from the 920s, but none from a later date. One theory suggests that the coins were dropped by the Vikings (who often carried them under the arms, secured with wax) while enthusiastically engaged in the slaughter. However, there are few marks of violence on the skeletons, lending weight to the theory that suffocation was the cause of death.
Admission to the cave is via a compulsory but highly worthwhile guided tour. After a steep descent you enter caverns full of stalactites, stalagmites and columns, including the 7m Market Cross, Europe’s largest freestanding stalagmite. Although well lit and spacious, it’s damp and cold (it’s a cave, after all); bring warm clothes.
Buggys Coaches ( 056-444 1264) runs one bus daily (€3.50) from outside Kilkenny castle. JJ Kavanagh & Sons ( 056-883 1106; www.jjkavanagh.ie) also has a service here.
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County Cork
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CORK CITY
HISTORY
ORIENTATION
INFORMATION
DANGERS & ANNOYANCES
SIGHTS
TOURS
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
SLEEPING
EATING
DRINKING
ENTERTAINMENT
SHOPPING
GETTING THERE & AWAY
GETTING AROUND
AROUND CORK CITY
BLARNEY CASTLE
FOTA
COBH
BARRYSCOURT CASTLE
MIDLETON & AROUND
YOUGHAL
WESTERN CORK
KINSALE
CLONAKILTY
CLONAKILTY TO SKIBBEREEN
SKIBBEREEN
BALTIMORE
CLEAR ISLAND
GOUGANE BARRA FOREST PARK
MIZEN HEAD PENINSULA
SCHULL
WEST OF SCHULL TO MIZEN HEAD
NORTHSIDE OF THE PENINSULA
BANTRY
SHEEP’S HEAD PENINSULA
BEARA PENINSULA (RING OF BEARA)
GLENGARRIFF
GLENGARRIFF TO CASTLETOWNBERE
CASTLETOWNBERE & AROUND
DURSEY ISLAND
NORTHSIDE OF THE BEARA
NORTHERN CORK
DONKEY SANCTUARY
MALLOW
AROUND MALLOW
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Any hard edges to Ireland are lost in County Cork, unless you’re talking about the fantastically eroded rocky coast, that is. Here lush land meets the roiling sea, the weather is often balmy (by Emerald Island standards) and scores of little seaside villages offer up days of languor and idyll, enjoying the good life.
Cork city is the centre and has a certain understated confidence as it thrives far from any shadow of Dublin. Food – from the incredible choices in its markets to an ever-changing cast of creative eateries – fuels the city. Pubs, entertainment and culture provide a depth of fun, and evocative old precincts provide reason to stroll. Kinsale, to the south, combines fine food with ancient charms in one beguiling package.
Further afield, you’ll want to do just that: go further afield. In fact, you’ll want to cross fields while walking the twists, turns and inlets of the eroded coasts and its multitude of perfectly charming old fishing villages,