Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [209]
Eating & Drinking
A farmers market is held on the seafront every Friday from 10am to 1pm.
Queenstown Restaurant ( 021-481 3591; lunch €4-7; 10am-5pm) Inside the old train station with the heritage centre, this simple cafe is best right when the doors open and the scones are emerging from the oven, warm and fragrant. Other times the food is fine but akin to what you might have had shipboard in 2nd class.
Kelly’s ( 021-481 1994; Westbourne Pl; meals €7-12) Sunny Kelly’s is filled with sociable punters day and night. The pub’s two rooms are decked out with pew-style seating, chunky wooden furniture, a wood-burning stove and, curiously, a stag’s head. Seating outside is good for a pint and a sandwich.
Jack Doyles ( 021-420 1932; Midleton St) Named for a famous local boxer and tenor, this sports-mad pub, a short walk uphill from the cathedral, is a fine place to meet residents of Cobh.
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SMOKIN’
Two kilometres out of Midleton on the N25 towards Fota, the effervescent Frank Hederman runs Belvelly ( 021-481 1089; www.frankhederman.com), the oldest natural smoke house in Ireland – and indeed the only one. Seafood and cheese are smoked here, but the speciality is fish – in particular, salmon. In a traditional process that takes 24 hours from start to finish, the fish is filleted and cured before being hung in the tiny smoke house to smoke over beech woodchips. No trip to Cork is complete without a visit to an artisan food producer, and Frank is more than happy to show you around; phone or email to arrange. Or stop by his booth at the Midleton farmers market.
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Getting There & Away
Cobh is 15km southeast of Cork, off the main N25 Cork–Rosslare road. Hourly trains connect it with Cork (€3.50, 24 minutes).
Getting Around
All of Cobh’s sites are within walking distance of the town centre.
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BARRYSCOURT CASTLE
Immigrants from Wales in the 12th century, the Barry family quickly began intermarrying with important Irish families of the time. Soon they had huge tracts of land and real wealth. In order to protect their fortune, the clan began building a vast fortification in the 15th century. Today much of the castle ( 021-488 3864; www.heritageireland.ie; admission free; 10am-6pm Jun-Sep) survives in remarkably good condition (albeit with a lot of restoration). An authentic 16th-century kitchen and decorative gardens have been re-created.
The castle is just off the N25, 2km east of the road to Cobh and near Carrigtwohill.
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MIDLETON & AROUND
pop 3900
Most visitors sweep through the Midleton area on their way east or west on the N25, but it’s worth a bit more of your time. Rather ambitiously named the ‘Irish Riviera’ by the tourist board, the region is nonetheless full of pretty villages, craggy coastline and some heavenly rural hotels. Midleton itself is a pleasant and bustling market town, though, with plenty of accommodation in the surrounding area, there’s no real reason to stay here.
The tourist office ( 021-461 3702; www.eastcorktourism.com; 9.30am-1pm & 2-5.15pm Mon-Sat May-Sep) is by the entrance gate to the distillery.
Sights
The big attraction in town is the Old Jameson Distillery ( 021-461 3594; www.jamesonwhiskey.com; tours adult/child €13.50/8; shop 9am-6.30pm, tour times vary). Coachloads pour in to tour the restored 200-year-old building and purchase bottles from the gift shop. Exhibits and tours explain the process of taking barley and creating whiskey (Jameson is today made in a modern factory in Cork).
Sleeping & Eating
Midleton has several attractive cafes in its centre, making it worth wandering in off the bypass. The farmers market is one of Cork’s best markets, with bushels of local produce on offer and producers who are happy to chat. It’s on every Saturday morning behind the courthouse on Main St.
Loughcarrig House ( 021-463 1952; www.loughcarrig.com; Ballinacurra; s/d €50/80) Right on Cork Harbour, this gracious old Georgian house has four rooms available,