Fota Wildlife Park: the open-range zoo where giraffes have right of way

If you've never stood two metres from a giraffe with nothing between you and had it regard you with the mild authority of something that knows it's…

The Beara Peninsula, West Cork: a road trip worth the full day

The drive from Cork city heads west on the N71, through Bandon and Dunmanway, past stretches of low farmland that give you no indication of what's…

Midleton and the Old Midleton Distillery: the whiskey half-day from Cork

There's a town about 25 minutes east of Cork that most visitors from outside Ireland have never heard of, and most visitors staying in Cork drive…

Spike Island: the fort, the prison, and how to visit

The ferry from Kennedy Pier gives you about twelve minutes to look at the thing before you have to get off it, and that's about right. Spike Island…

The English Market in Cork: what to see, eat, and buy

The English Market in Cork is the kind of place that stops you mid-step and makes you look up at the ceiling, at the ornate cast-iron galleries and…

Blarney Castle: the honest guide

Blarney Castle sits eight kilometres north of Cork city and draws somewhere around half a million visitors a year. The stone gets nearly all the…

Cork's coffee scene, a local's guide

Cork has the best independent coffee scene in Ireland after Dublin and arguably ahead of it for quality per square kilometre. The coffee culture grew…

Cobh and the Titanic, the half-day trip from Cork

Cobh, on a hilly headland in Cork harbour, was the last port of call for the Titanic in April 1912. Half the visitors who come to Cork city tag on a…

Kinsale, half an hour from Cork, worth a full day

Kinsale is the gourmet town that Cork pretends not to be jealous of. It is a thirty minute drive south of Cork city, sits on a sheltered harbour at…

Where to eat in Cork like a local

Cork people are smug about their food and the rest of Ireland will quietly agree they have a right to be. The city is also small enough that the best…

Fun facts about Cork

Cork is a city with a chip on its shoulder and the right to wear it. Here are some things visitors usually do not know about the second-largest city…