Mizen Head, with its dramatic cliff scenery, is traditionally regarded as the most southerly point of mainland Ireland, but it is actually nearby Brow Head, which reaches a little bit further south. One of the main transatlantic shipping routes passes close by, and Mizen Head was, for many seafarers, the first (or last) sight of Europe. The tip of …
On the way to Bantry Bay, we came past Ballydehob, where we stopped to admire the old railway bridge. The magnificent 12 arch bridge, which dominates the estuary of Ballydehob, was the major engineering achievement of the narrow gauge Schull and Skibbereen Railway. Coal shortages and the arrival of buses and motor cars eventually brought …
The weather was not great, but at least it wasn’t raining, so we decided to drive to one of the landmarks along the coast, the Baltimore Beacon. A 15 m high, white-painted stone beacon stands high above the channel between the mainland and Sherkin Island, near the entrance to the harbour of Baltimore. Afterwards, we stopped at the village of …
As a medieval stronghold, the current keep of Blarney Castle was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty and dates from 1446. It is famous for the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. When you get to the top, you may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the …
