Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [217]
Dillons ( 023-884 6390; Timoleague; mains €18-24; dinner Thu-Sun) Bright, inviting Dillons serves interesting variations on Irish staples in its bistro-style dining room. The emphasis is on meat (for example, Skeaglianore duck breast and roast quail), but there are interesting fish and veggie options too. Credit cards are not accepted.
O’Neill’s Pub ( 023-884 0228; Butlerstown) A country pub straight from Central Casting, where peat fires are ready to warm you on the coldest days, while you can take your perfectly poured pint into the sunshine on nice days. The bar is long and mahogany, the walls are covered with old photos and the clientele spin yarns. Butlerstown is located down a warren of little lanes off the R600. It’s the hub of walks around the dramatic coastal bluffs otherwise known as the Seven Heads.
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Getting Around
You can hire bikes from Mylie Murphy’s ( 021-477 2703; 14 Pearse St; per day €10; 9.30am-6pm Mon-Sat). For a taxi call Kinsale Cabs ( 021-477 2642).
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CLONAKILTY
pop 4200
Cheerful, brightly coloured Clonakilty is a bustling market town that serves as a hub for the score of beguiling little coastal towns that surround it. You’ll find smart B&Bs, top restaurants and cosy pubs alive with music. Little waterways coursing through add a drop of charm.
Clonakilty is famous as the birthplace of Michael Collins (see the boxed text, Click here), a matter of extreme pride to the community; a large statue of the Big Fella stands on the corner of Emmet Sq.
History
Clonakilty received its first charter in 1292 but was refounded in the early 17th century by Richard Boyle, the first Earl of Cork. He settled it with 100 English families and planned a Protestant town from which Catholics would be excluded. His plan ultimately failed: Clonakilty is now very Irish and very Catholic – the Presbyterian chapel has been turned into a post office.
From the mid-18th to mid-19th centuries, more than 10,000 people worked in the town’s linen industry. The fire station stands on the site of the old linen market.
Orientation
Roads converge on Asna Sq, dominated by a 1798 Rising monument commemorating the event. Also in the square is the Kilty Stone, a piece of the original castle that gave Clonakilty (Clogh na Kylte in Irish, meaning ‘castle of the woods’) its name.
Information
The post office is in the old Presbyterian chapel on Bridge St. There are public toilets on the corner of Connolly and Kent Sts.
AIB Bank (cnr Pearse & Bridge Sts) Has an ATM.
Clon Business Solutions ( 023-883 4515; 32 Pearse St; per hr €6; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat) Internet access.
Clonakilty Bookshop ( 023-883 3661; 12 Pearse St) Small, like perfect prose.
Kerr’s Bookshop ( 023-883 4342; www.kerr.ie; 18 Ashe St) Sells fiction and guidebooks.
Tourist office ( 023-883 3226; info@corkkerrytourism.ie; Ashe St; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat Sep-Jun, 9am-7pm Mon-Sat & 10am-5pm Sun Jul-Aug) Has a good, free map.
Wash Basket ( 023-883 4821; Spillers Lane; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat) Has same-day laundry service (€8 to €10).
Sights & Activities
Wandering the centre is good for a couple of hours; Georgian Emmet Square attests to the area’s traditional wealth. Spillers Lane has nifty little shops.
Of the more than 30,000 ring forts scattered across Ireland, Lisnagun (Lios na gCon; 023-883 2565; www.liosnagcon.com; adult/child €5/3; tours noon-4pm summer) is the only one that’s been reconstructed on its original site. Complete with souterrain and central thatched hut, it gives a vivid impression of life in a 10th-century farmstead. To get there, take the turn signposted to Bay View House B&B at the roundabout at the end of Strand Rd. Follow the road uphill to the T-junction, turn right, then continue for about 800m before turning right again (signposted).
You can’t help but smile at the West Cork Model Railway Village ( 023-883 3224; www.modelvillage.ie; Inchydoney Rd; adult/child €8/4.25; 11am-5pm Sep-Jun, 10am-5pm Jul-Aug). It features a vast outdoor recreation of the West Cork Railway