DAY 1                                      ARRIVE CORK

Cork is built on reclaimed marsh land and is still dominated by water - The River Lee divides the city in two.  The word Cork comes from the Irish name “Corcach” which means “marsh.”   The city’s origins lie early in the seventh century when St. Finbarr founded a small monastic community close to where Gilabbey Street now stands.  The Vikings came to the city in the tenth century, and the Normans followed two centuries later.  This may account for the distinctly European ambiance.  Although a busy industrial city, it is also an important shopping centre. The principal streets are lined with fashion houses and department stores stocking quality Irish goods.

In the afternoon your driver will bring you on an orientation tour of the city.  See St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, a splendid triple-spired example of French Gothic architecture, which stands where the saint established his monastic school circa 600AD.  Much of the mediaeval core of the city is still intact and its colourful and dramatic past is reflected in its streets, architecture and port.  You will also have the chance to play the famous Shandon Bells located in Corks Northside.  Erected in 1722, Shandon, one of the city’s best known landmarks, stands on the site of an older church.  The pepper pot top to the steeple is notable as is the fact that two sides of the town are in limestone and two are in sandstone.  The tower contains the famous Shandon Bells, which visitors may ring and the view from the steeple (120 feet hight) is well worth the effort in getting to the top.  Shandon Church also contains a collection of rare books.

You will overnight at the Ramada Hotel & Suites at the Blarney Golf Resort. The Ramada Hotel & suites at the Blarney Golf Resort is situated just 8 miles from Cork City. Built in the beautiful and tranquil Shournach Valley close to the historic town of Blarney, renowned worldwide for the Blarney Stone. The unique resort offers true luxury to both the leisure and corporate guest, with a PGA championship golf course. The Inniscarra Restaurant offers a fusion of local flavours with an Asian twist. Relax and unwind in the Sentosa Spa - an experience you'll not want to miss.

This evening, you will have the opportunity to play your first round of golf in Cork at the Blarney Golf Resort. Blarney Golf Resort is the brainchild of local Cork businessman, John Kelly and Dublin based Frank McCarthy-- creating an internationally acclaimed golf resort that would be a major addition to the golf and leisure infrastructure of County Cork. With the help of two time major winner, John Daly, they have provided golfers with a wonderful location and the spectacular views. A range of tees ensures that everyone, from the John Daly school of big hitters, to the more conservative casual player is well catered for.

DAY 2                              CORK – COBH

This morning, visit the famous Blarney Castle, where people the world over have stopped at this internationally known tourist centre to kiss the Blarney Stone, which traditionally imparts the ‘gift of eloquence’ on all who kiss it. The famous Stone is located just below the battlement in Blarney Castle, built in 1446. In order to kiss the Stone, it is necessary to hang ones head downwards over the battlements having climbed 110 steep steps by the original spiral staircase to the summit of the castle.

To visit Blarney Castle is to step back in time, and feel the enchantment of a long and heroic past. Here is one of the great historical sites of Ireland, renowned throughout the world. The view from the entrance gate sets the scene immediately, with fine vistas of parkland crowned by Blarney castle rising up in its entire ancient splendour, framed by clumps of trees.

Today the golfers of the group will play golf at Fota Golf Club.  Arguably one of the finest golf course challenges - Fota Island, just 14km east of Cork City, is a Par 72 Parklands course. 

“ Purists will delight at the old fashioned features...you’ll stand in wide eyed admiration”  Golf Monthly

Golf World judged Fota to be “pick of the lot”, among the newer golf developments.  In only its second summer of operation, Fota hosted both the Irish Amateur Open and the Irish Club Professional Championship. The Irish Amateur returned in 1996 and it has hosted the 2001 and 2202 Murphy’s Irish Open.

This superb parkland course was designed by Christy O’ Connor Junior and Peter Mc Evoy and is situated in the 316 hectare estate of Fota Island.  In the traditional design of the course the run up shot is given the true regard.  Almost every green invites more than one approach. 

Golf Digest ‘Fota Island is the very place... It makes you think...It tests all your skills.   It’s really good golf.  Golf Delights ‘Fota other times and other values, in particular shot values.

The non golfers will take a trip to the cathedral town of Cobh (pronounced ‘Cove”), with its imposing Cathedral.  The town is steeped in the history of ships and shipping and the saga of emigration, a story captured and explored in the Cobh heritage centre – The Queenstown Story. 

The American War of Independence put Cobh on the map.  Napoleon kept it there and in the reign of Queen Victoria the town grew and prospered. It was as Queenstown that the port rose to prominence as a vital link in trans-Atlantic liner traffic in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Its name was changed again in 1920 and as Cobh it continues to serve as an important port of call for the majestic liners traveling the north Atlantic route. Emigrants departed from Cobh's quays on board vessels of the great shipping lines, such as Cunard and White Star.

The "Titanic" sailed from Cobh, never to touch land again. The Heritage Centre will tell these stories in a way that is fitting and sympathetic of the endeavor and trauma of the people who were involved.

DAY 3                                                KINSALE

Today head south to Kinsale, which is a small fishing village situated approximately 16 miles from Cork City.  It is renowned for its pubs and restaurants and is known as the ‘Gourmet Capital’ of Ireland.  Every visitor to Kinsale is captivated by its beautiful setting, with the long waterfront, narrow winding streets and Compass Hill rising sharply behind the town. The old fortifications of Charles Fort and James Fort guard the narrow entrance to Kinsale from the sea.  The town has poignant memories of the sinking of the liner ‘Lusitania’ in 1915, off the Old Head of Kinsale, and it was in the courthouse the inquest into the incident took place.

The golfers will play at the Old Head of Kinsale Golf Links today. Unrivalled in terms of the magnificent beauty and setting of the site, Old Head Golf Links continues to take the golfing world by storm. The brainchild of John and Patrick O’Connor, the Club has developed into one of the most recognised and sought after golf experiences anywhere on earth.

The non-golfers may wish to visit Charles Fort, constructed in the early 1680’s in honour of King Charles II by William Robinson, architect of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham in Dublin, Charles Fort is a classic example of a star shaped fort.  In use until 1921 the fort, which protected the trading town of Kinsale, gives a unique insight into Irish fortifications.  Besieged in 1690 by the Duke of Malborough and destroyed in 1922 during the Civil War, Charles Fort reflects the turbulence of Ireland’s past.  It was declared a National Monument in 1973.  Across the estuary is James Fort, an earlier structure, which was designed by Paul Ivy in 1602.

Return to Cork for overnight. 

DAY 4                                    CORK-ROSSCARBERY

Today is a full day to enjoy the South West Coast of Ireland.  You will receive a narrated tour as the coach drives the unparalleled beauty of the landscape of this area. 

Drive to the important town of Clonakilty, a vital agricultural centre and boasting many tempting beaches such as Owenahincha and Inchydoney.  From here on the road meets many charming villages, Rosscarbery, Glandore, Union Hall and Castletownshend, set in picturesque surroundings and sharing their appeal between sylvan beauties and the call of the sea.   Drombeg Stone Circle also on this road is a circle of 17 standing stones, which on excavation showed that there had been an urn burial in the centre. It has been dated to between 153 BC and 127AD.

Continue onward through Rosscarbery, where you will return for your overnight.

Stop for morning coffee at leisure in Skibbereen, possibly, the most colourful town in Ireland.  Each building, whether shop or home, forms part of a complete rainbow of colour, mauve next to green alongside purple adjacent to yellow.  There is none of your bland west-coast whitewash here!  The buildings are like a string of Celtic jewels that jar, then delight the eye with agreeable surprise, especially on a drab rainy day. 

Here, you can visit the Skibbereen Heritage Centre. In visiting the Skibbereen Heritage Centre in the town of Skibbereen, you will learn of the history of the town, which was one of the worst affected areas of the Great Hunger Famine of the 1840s. The exhibition depicts life during that time in an area that was notorious for its overly disturbing forms of suffering among the victims and the survivors. The nearby Abbeystrewery graveyard pays homage to the approximately 10,000 victims that suffered at the mercy of the potato crop failure.The stories of the old combined with modern technology of video and voice depictions, is a view into the Great Hunger Famine like no other.

DAY 5                                    SOUTHWEST TOURING

Today, travel via Bantry to Glengarriff, where weather permitting you will enjoy a boat trip to Garnish Island.   Located in the sheltered harbour of Glengarriff in Bantry Bay, Ilnacullin is a small island of 15 hectares (37 acres) known to horticulturists and lovers of trees and shrubs all around the world as an island garden of rare beauty. The gardens of Ilnacullin owe their existence to the creative partnership, some seventy years ago, of Anna Bryce, then owner of the island and Harold Peto, architect and garden designer. The island was bequeathed to the Irish people in 1953.    The island is named Garnish (the near island) on official Ordnance Survey Maps and is widely known by that name. The alternative name Ilnacullin or Illaunacullin (island of holly) also has a long history in the locality, and appears on at least one early map; it may in fact be the older name for the island. As there is another island garden called Garnish not far away in County Kerry, there is much to be said for using the distinctive name Ilnacullin for the island garden at Glengarriff, County Cork.

This afternoon, the golfers will have a chance to play at Bantry Golf Club. Bantry Bay Golf Club's 18 Hole Championship Course, open all year, towers above the head of Bantry Bay, in the Far West of County Cork. Fourteen holes immediately overlook the shore where the warm Gulf Stream first touch land on this side of the Atlantic, Fuchsias abound, and there are splendid panoramic views across the sea and islands to the Beara Mountains, Sheep's Head and the Mizen Peninsula.

Return to Rosscarbery for overnight. 

Alas it is time to bid farewell to the county of Cork. Your driver will transfer you back to the airport for your departure flight.