Things to Do and Where to Stay in County Cork, Ireland

Ireland is a country John and I have been very fortunate to have visited multiple times. During our travels, we have spent most of our time in County Cork​ in the central-southern area of the island country.


Fortunately, we have friends who live in this stunning part of the country, so we have a reason to travel into the beautiful countryside and down to Dublin’s neighbor to the southwest.

How to get to County Cork:

There are flights in and out of Cork Airport, but John and I have never found the flights feasible. Instead, we have traveled to and from County Cork by train, bus, and rental car.

By Car: It is roughly a 2 1/2 hour drive from The Dublin Airport to Cork's city center.
By Train: The train operated by Irish Rail take about 2-hours and 40 minutes from the airport to Cork's city center.
By Bus: It is right under 3 hours from Dublin to Cork depending on where you hop on and where you hop off, and which bus company you choose. There is Aircoach or GoBus. We prefer this option because then we can connect to other buses to where our friends live in Ballincollig. 

Check Airbus or GoBus's websites and find the best routes to your destination!

Where to stay in County Cork:

If you want to stay in Cork we recommend finding a room on Airbnb near The English Market  or in the "Victorian Quarter" area.

Check Airbnb's website here for available stays!

If you want to get out of Cork's busy city centre, we recommend checking out The Oriel House Hotel for a luxury stay. The Oriel is located in Ballincollig right nears its small town center. It's walking distance from The Ballincollig Royal Gun Mills and you can easily ride to The Blarney Castle from here.

Book your own stay at The Oriel Hotel on their website here!

Things to do around County Cork (in alphabetical order):

Ballincollig Royal Gun Mills

A more recently constructed, historic site are the Ballincollig Royal Gun Mill. It was once the second largest gunpowder mill in the British Empire. What remains is now ivy-covered and dilapidated, but the ruins make for beautiful walking and biking trails along The River Lee.

Ballincollig Royal Gun Mills.

More from the Ballincollig Royal Gun Mills.

Kiss The Blarney Stone and
​tour The Blarney Castle grounds

The most famous place to visit on this list is The Blarney Stone at The Blarney Castle. This ancient stone and castle are surrounded by legend and history. We spent a very foggy day walking around the magnificent grounds and letting our minds run wild with Irish folklore and mystery.

The Blarney Castle.

Kissing the stone will supposedly give you “the gift of eloquence”, and while we did it, we are not sure we walked away any smarter or classier. John believes its because this is only HALF of the whole stone! The other half is in Scotland, a little piece of information we didn't know until afterwards. Regardless, the entire day was wildly fascinating and beautiful.

Learn more about all the theories behind The Blarney Stones magical powers in my more detailed blog post, here!

Blackrock Castle

The Blackrock Castle is also in Cork city. This “castle” was never really a castle and was only used as a gunnery fort for the British Navy. Now, it’s an observatory and research facility and a great place to tour when it’s raining outside!

The Blackrock Observatory.

We learned all about the old fortress and how the city was protected during wartimes, plus we also learned about some astronomy and saw their research facilities. It was very cool!

Learn more about our visit to The Blackrock Castle, here!

Blackrock Castle.

From near the Drombeg Stone Circle.

Drombeg Stone Circle 

Another ancient site near Cork is the Drombeg Stone Circle. This is a strange rock formation out in the countryside riddled with mystery and folklore. It’s believed to be a burial ground, but no one knows for sure.

This was so friend to bring our Irish friends too because they didn't't know this existed!

Read more about this interesting formation, here!

English Market

One of our favorite things to do when we travel is test out local markets to get a taste of local cuisine and produce. The English Market in downtown Cork is one of the best we’ve seen. 

The English Market.

Food inside The English Market.

​John and I love picking up fruit, cheeses, and meats from here and snacking on them throughout our vacations. Last time, we picked up more salami and Irish cheese than we could eat!

Read more about The English Market in my separate blog post, here!

Kinsale 

County Cork is full of adorable fishing towns. One that we fell in love with was Kinsale. This colorful, oceanside town made for a splendid day. We spent our time in Kinsale walking, eating, and drinking around the small town. Before heading over to the cliffs near the Old Head Golf Links.

The streets of Kinsale.

See more from our afternoon in Kinsale in our more detailed blog post here!

The Kinsale cliffs!

We have enjoyed every minute of every place we have visited, and there is surely much more to see and learn in County Cork. We cannot wait to continue our journeys around County Cork and the Emerald Isle. Until then, Cheers!

You can see more of our recommendations for other places around Ireland like Dublin and County Kerry in our more detailed blog posts here!