Best Things to do in Cork

Best Things to Do in Cork

The city of Cork is located in the province of Munster in Southern Ireland. The population of Cork is around 190,000 people. The city is home to the second-largest natural harbour in the world. Sydney Harbour in Australia is the largest natural harbour in the world.

Cork port is a busy tourism hub and a very busy port with lots of ships arriving on a weekly basis. Cork is the third-largest city in the island of Ireland following Belfast and Dublin.

County Cork outside the city is the largest county in Ireland, and it’s a beautiful county to visit. In this post, I have listed some of the best things to do in Cork.

Kiss the Blarney Stone!

Blarney Castle and gardens are one of the best attractions in Cork, you can climb up the stairs of Blarney Castle and kiss the famous Blarney Stone! The Blarney Stone has been kissed by many famous pairs of lips including Winston Churchill and Laurel and Hardy.

You need to kiss the stone upside down and you will be giving some help to get close to the magic stone for the kiss that will give you the gift of the gab!!! You can pick up some really nice Irish made gifts at the Blarney woollen mills, there are some great products on offer at the Woollen Mills, you have to check it out! This old Irish castle and gardens are a great place to spend a few hours.

Check out Cork City Centre!

Cork city is full of interesting buildings, churches and retail shops. The city centre has some cool Irish pubs to check out too! If you like shopping you will love Cork city centre, there are loads of cool shops to check out. Patrick Street in Cork is the main and biggest street in the city.

Big brands like Marks and Spencers, Brown Thomas, Primark are all located on Patrick street. Patrick’s street is a must-see while visiting Cork.

Call into the English Market!

The English Market is a foodies paradise, the market has been around since 1788, the market got its names from its Protestant heritage. The market is located on Prince street in the city centre.

There are a huge amount of stalls around 55 in total, everything from tasty bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, delicious jams, cakes and loads of seafood to choose from. There’s a huge amount of cheeses to try out!

The market has everything you need to tickle your taste buds. Upstairs in the English market, you can the Drisheen or pigs trotters!! Rick Stein said the English market is the best-covered market in both Ireland and the United Kingdom!

Visit Cork City Goal

This old prison is now turned into a visitor centre and venue for events. This old Gothic-style building has very interesting architecture, it’s more like an Irish castle than a prison. The old prison used to house both male and female prisoners.

The building dates back to 1824. The building was completely restored and opened as a visitor centre in 1993. You can take a tour of Cork City Goal and check out the history of the building and learn about its turbulent history. It’s a cool attraction to check out while visiting Cork!

Take a Tour of the Franciscan Well Brewery

You can take a tour of this cool craft beer brewery located in 14b North Mall, Sunday’s Well Cork. The brewery has a range of lagers and some award-winning beers. The Brewery was opened in 1998 on the site of the old Friary.

The Franciscan monks were known are kinda hippies that brewed there own special brew, and that what the current brewery do! This is a really nice bar to enjoy, The Franciscan Well Bar is one to check out they serve cocktails and pizza as well as the nice Franciscan brews!

The Brewery makes Chieftain IPA and a Rebel Red and a really good Standon Stout, you have given it a try!

Take a trip to University College Cork (UCC)

This university is a really cool place to visit, its located along the banks of the River Lee. UCC dates back to 1845 and is around one kilometre from Cork City centre.

The college is full of stuff to see, there’s the President’s Garden, the Lewis Glucksman Gallery that has regular exhibitions to see! You can check out some Ogham stones at UCC.

This University has a history of visual arts, the grounds have loads of painting, prints and really interesting sculptures and pieces of photography. This University has a vibrant campus full of young minds developing their talents and its one of the top universities in Ireland!

Check out Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral

This old cathedral is a French Neo-Gothic design, its a really cool building to check out! The site of the Cathedral has been used for Christian prayers since the 7th century.

The buildings have seen much changes down through the years, with lots of renovations and re-building. The angel on the Cathedral east-facing stone wall is a nice piece of work!

The Cathedral was built with locally sourced stone from Fermoy and Little Island. Some of the sculptures were designed by Thomas Nicholls and the entrance to Saint Finbarrs Cathedral feature over 12 biblical figures. The sainted glass in this Cathedral is something to see!

Check out the Wild Atlantic Way Cork route!

The Wild Atlantic Way starts in Cork and travels 2,600 kilometres around Ireland, its some of the best scenery you will see. You can check out the town of Kinsale and Bantry the seafood there is unreal.

You can visit Skibbereen and Bantry and the Beara Peninsula and Mizen Head. Mizen head is a really scenic location on the Wild Atlantic Way.

This part of Wild Atlantic Way is superb, you will like it, it’s full of coastal towns and villages and cliff edges with unbelievable views. You can visit some old stone circles, cool little cafes and restaurants, cosy Irish pubs and beautiful beaches.

The Wild Atlantic Way was voted one of the best road trips by the Lonely Planet and came number 21 out of 500 memorable, most thrilling and most interesting travel experiences worldwide, it’s a must-see while visiting Cork!!!

See my article here on the Wild Atlantic Way Cork!

Check out Cobh and the Titanic Experience!

Cobh is a seaport town located south side of the Cork. Cobh has many interesting things to see and do including The Titanic Experience, you can visit Saint Colman’s Cathedral, this amazing building dates back to 1868, it overlooks the port of Cobh. The interior is full of marble pillars, amazing stained glass and cool sculptures.

The Titanic Experience is a museum styled visitor centre that you can visit and learn about Cobh’s famous connection to the Titanic ship. Cruise ships regularly stop in Cobh, and passengers come off the large cruise ships to explore the town and take a tour into Cork City.

While visiting the Titanic Experience you will learn about the details of the 123 passengers who boarded the Titanic ship on April 11th 1912. This was the last stop for the Titanic ship before it went down after hitting an iceberg. Back in those days, Cobh was called Queenstown!

Tickets for the visitor centre are priced at 10.00 euros for adults and 7.00 euros for children from the ages of 4 to 16, you can book tickets online via the visitor centre website. It’s another one of the best things to do in Cork.

Check out Spike Island!

Spike Island is on an old prison located off the coast of Cork. There are tours available to the island. Spike Island prison used to be the largest prison in the world way back in the 1850s.

You can take a night tour to the island, theses tours are very interesting. The famous island has been home to a 7th-century monastery and an old fort called Fort Mitchel.

The island used to house 2300 prisoners. It s a cool attraction to visit, just another one to check out while visiting Cork.

I hope you find this post useful! I welcome any questions or suggestions by email – info@allthings-ireland.com.

Thanks

John C

All Things Ireland