8 Best Sights in County Cork, Ireland

Built---almost symbolically---on the site of the ruins of an earlier Irish castle, Charles Fort on the east side of the Bandon River estuary in the late 17th century was constructed by the British after they defeated the Spanish and Irish forces. One of Europe's best-preserved "star forts" encloses some 12 clifftop acres and is similar to Fort Ticonderoga in New York State. If the sun is shining, take the footpath from Kinsale signposted Scilly Walk; it winds along the harbor's edge under tall trees and then through the village of Summer Cove.

The extensive organic gardens here provide herbs and vegetables for the school and the restaurant, and visitors can ramble through wildflower meadows and admire herbaceous borders leading to an ornately crafted shell house, the potager vegetable garden, rustic tree house, and a Celtic maze. A farm walk visits cows in their clover field, rare-breed pigs, and some 400 hens. Conclude your visit in the Farm Shop, open the same hours as the garden.

Darina Allen, Ireland's most famous celebrity chef and slow-food advocate, rules at the Ballymaloe Cookery School, 3 km (2 miles) east. The school offers 12-week residential courses for aspiring professional chefs, and day and half-day courses with famous visiting chefs (including Darina's daughter-in-law, Rachel Allen).

The austere Georgian Gothic mansion in the center of the complex, with its castellated-style, three-story tower, was once the governor's residence. The two enormous gray wings that span symmetrically to the left and right detained prisoners for a century. Life-size wax figures occupy the cells, and they illustrate the wretched backstories of those incarcerated and those who held them captive, with suitably somber sound effects. Take note of the weighing chair near the governor’s office---beneath its bright, timber surface lurks a dark secret—it was used to weigh prisoners before a suitable rope strength could be selected for their upcoming rendezvous with the gallows. Rebel leader Constance Markievicz and writer Frank O'Connor were former inmates. The Radio Museum Experience exhibits genuine artifacts from a 1923 radio station, 6CK, and tells the story of radio broadcasting in Cork.

This picture-perfect riverside park a short walk west of the city center is accessed along the Mardyke, a tree-lined walkway overlooking a pitch where cricket is still played. Like the cricket pitch, the park is a remnant of Cork's Victorian past, and was the site of the 1902 Cork Exhibition. Its best-loved feature is the "Shakey Bridge," a famously unstable pedestrian suspension bridge linking the north and south banks of the Lee. The park is a popular venue for outdoor entertainment during the Midsummer Festival, and contains the Cork Public Museum, a Georgian mansion with displays of the city's history.

The 70-acre park is 12 km (7 miles) east of Cork via N25 and R624, the main Cobh road, and also accessible by rail from Cork's Kent Station. It's an important breeding center for cheetahs and wallabies, and also is home to monkeys, zebras, giraffes, ostriches, flamingos, emus, and kangaroos.

Located in one of Ireland's few planned squares---an area where Collins lived as a boy---this museum maps the struggle for Irish independence from early days until 1922. History comes alive through interactive displays, audiovisuals, information boards, and artifacts. Although Collins, the famous statesman and politician, is the focus here, other periods---such as the rebellion of 1798---are also included. 

Set on the banks of the River Lee with a redbrick chimney that towers over the network of handsome sandstone Victorian buildings that house 100-year-old engine rooms, boilers, and steam centers, this fascinating experience takes you behind the mechanics that generated three centuries of local hydraulic innovation. With interactive exhibitions and informative tours, visitors explore Cork's industrial heritage, and get some insight into the science behind water supply and the challenges facing the environment today. Tours are held every 30 minutes.

Cobh was the last port of call for the ocean liner Titanic. At 1:30 pm on April 11, 1912, tenders carried 123 passengers out to the ship from the offices of the White Star Line. These offices have now been converted into an interactive exhibition (cinema, holographs, touch-screen displays), allowing visitors to follow, literally, in the footsteps of the passengers as they embarked on the fateful voyage. Visitors assume the identity of one passenger and discover if that passenger survived at the end of the tour.