RAIN or shine, West Cork is a great place to drive around. Here are just a few suggestions for super spins in the area:
Bantry to the Ring of Beara
Head west from Bantry, to the town of Glengarriff, the gateway to the Beara Peninsula.
The ring of Beara route is 148km and takes on average three to four hours, whilst the majority of the peninsula is in Cork, part of it sits within Kerry.
Take time to stop off in Castletownbere, Ireland’s largest fishing port, with a variety of restaurants and bars to grab a bite to eat.
As the road heads west, towards Allihies it’s worth a detour to visit Dzogchen Beara, a Buddhist retreat centre which sits on cliffs overlooking the bay.
Allihies is famous for its copper mines, and the Copper Mining Museum in the village tells the history of the mines, which at one time employed 1600 people in Beara.
Leaving Allihies, the road swings round by the towns of Ardgroom and Eyeries.
Just outside Eyeries in Kilcatherine, is a rock which represents the Cailleach Beara or the Hag of Beara.
Kinsale to the Old Head
It’s just an 11km drive from Kinsale town along the route to the Old Head.
Top of the list to visit is the Lusitania Museum now located in the Old Head Signal Tower, a former communication tower built during the Napoleonic wars.
The museum commemorates the Lusitania, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat on May 7th 1915 just off the south coast of Ireland, killing almost 2000 passengers and crew.
Not far from the museum and worthy of a stop off is Garretstown beach, a wide sandy beach which is a blue flag beach and is also wheelchair accessible.
Skibbereen to the Sheep’s Head
This 54km drive takes just under an hour.
The Sheep’s Head Peninsula skirts the edge of Bantry Bay, and this drive takes you through the towns of Durrus, Ahakista and Kilcrohane.
Just over 1.5km west of Durrus on the road to Ahakista is Kilravock Garden, a coastal garden on the West Cork Garden Trail.
The village of Ahakista contains a memorial garden and sundial in memory of the victims of the 1985 Air India disaster.
Kilcrohane is the last village on the Sheep’s Head peninsula, and a producers’ shop showcases the work of over 80 local craft workers from around the area.
Clonakilty to Union Hall
The first stop off on this 24km drive from Clonakility is the model village, a scaled handmade model of the historic West Cork Railway line with fully working miniature trains and the towns that the railway served during the 1940s.
Next is the town of Rosscarbery, which was once the home of the School of Ross, a major centre of learning around the 6th century, the route carries on to the village of Leap and then onto Glandore, two islands in the harbour are known as Adam and Eve, not far from the village is Drombeg Stone Circle.
The drive ends in the fishing town of Union Hall, no better place to for a bite to eat in one of the town’s bars and cafes.
Dunmanway to Courtmacsherry
Heading south from Dunmanway, this 20km drive takes 24 minutes end to end, but it’s worth stopping off in the village of Timoleague to visit Timoleague Friary, a thirteenth century Franciscan Abbey.
Carry on into Courtmacsherry, a village which contains a single long street on the south shore of Courtmacsherry Bay, overlooked by woods which were planted by the Earl of Shannon in the 18th century Courtmacsherry is a tidal harbour and its sheltered waters are idea for water sports.
Take a short 15 minute drive to the village of Kilbrittain, where its castle is reputed to be one of the oldest inhabited castles in Ireland and believed to date from 1035.
Bandon to Beal na mBlath
The 14km drive from Bandon to Beal na mBlath takes just over 15 minutes but it’s a drive through Irish History.
Look out for the markers for the Michael Collins trail, featuring a silhouette of ‘the big fella.’ Having visited a number of West Cork towns earlier on the day of August 22nd 1922, Michael Collins returned to Bandon that afternoon, and outside of Lee’s Hotel (now the Munster Arms) the last known photograph of him was taken.
As his convoy left Bandon, it was at Farranalough that it was last spotted before the ambush in Béal na Bláth around 7.30pm that evening.
A monument stands at the site of his death, with a small white pillar on the roadside marking the exact spot where he fell. Just a short drive from the ambush side is the the village of Kilmurry which was a hotbed of activity during the War of Independence, a museum in the village is worth a visit and has a huge collection of artifacts, including a wheel from the Crossley Tender used during the Kilmichael Ambush.
