Facts about Cork County
- Since 1969 Ireland’s only cable-car links Dursey Island and its inhabitants with the mainland. It is licensed to carry three people and a cow!!
- That the waters around the southwest are known internationally as a diver’s paradise. The temperate waters are among the most biologically diverse in the world. Experience first hand the inquisitive seals and dolphins that are resident along the coast and keep a look out for dolphins, migrating whales, sharks and giant turtles.
- St. Barrahane’s Church of Ireland Church in Castletownshend, contains some examples of the stained glass work of Harry Clarke. St. Barrahane's Festival of Classical Music is held in the church every summer, started 26 years ago to support the maintenance of the beautiful little church.
- The southwest is home to Cobh a port of significant historical interest - Cobh Harbour and was the embarkation point for hundreds of thousands of Irish boarded for their voyage to the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or South Africa. Cobh was also the last stop of the Titanic, before departing on its doomed journey.
- Allihies on the Beara Peninsula was once the base for the thriving Copper Mines in the area.
- Tradition holds that those who kiss the Blarney Stone will be endowed with the gift of eloquence - "the gift of the gab", as the locals call it.
- Bantry House was the first great house to open its doors to the public at the end of World War II.
- Ireland’s first Marine Nature Reserve is Lough Hyne near Skibbereen and is the only inland sea lake in Northern Europe. It is a salt water lake fed by the sea through a narrow tidal channel known as The Rapids. It is situated in the hills 5km south west of Skibbereen, just off the Baltimore road and is home to a rich and varied range of plants and animals, including many rare and beautiful species.
- St. Fachtna founded a monastery in Rosscarbery in the 6th century.
- St. Finbarr, the patron saint of Cork City founded his early Christian monastery in Gougane Barra.
- Kinneigh Round Tower, on the site of a monastery founded by St. Mocholmóg, is unique in that it is the only hexagonally based round tower in Ireland. The upper part of the tower retains the more typical round design of other Irish towers. Kinneigh is one of only two round towers in Co. Cork, with the second being located in Cloyne.
- Dunmanway is the birth place of Sam Maguire of GAA Fame.
- Skibbereen is known as the “Capital of the Carberies.” The town developed on the banks of the River Ilen. Skibbereen was one of the many towns in Ireland, which suffered very badly during the period of the Irish Famine in the 1840s. The Famine Plot survives today in the Abbey Cemetery west of the town and the Skibbereen Heritage Centre has a full exhibit on this important era.
- The Mizen Head is situated at Ireland’s most south-westerly point.
- Schull Planetarium is the only one in the south of Ireland.
- Cape Clear Island is Ireland’s southernmost inhabited island, lying eight miles off the West Cork coast.
- Castletownbere is one of Ireland’s major fishing ports.
- Cork invented steeple chasing! Steeple chasing was born in 1752 when a member of the Duhallow Hunt Club challenged a neighbour to race from the church steeple at Buttevant to the church steeple at Doneraile. This tradition continues today as point to point racing.