Overview
There is no shop and no post office in Cill na Martra, and that is rather the point. The village – Kilnamartyra on older maps – sits in West Muskerry, County Cork, about halfway between Killarney and Cork city and close to Macroom, on the L3402 that meets the N22 three kilometres away. In place of a high street it has a stone parish church, two pubs and a football pitch that dominates everything around it.
This is the Múscraí Gaeltacht, and the Irish is real rather than decorative: road signs, school notices and everyday conversation are in the language, and the national school, Scoil Lachtain Naofa, runs as a gaelscoil. Come for an uncommercialised corner of rural Cork rather than a checklist of sights – and if there’s one thing to see, it’s the toy-soldier factory.
History and monastic roots
The parish takes its name from an early church: Cill means ‘church’ and na Martra ‘of the martyr or relic’. Tradition holds that Saint Lachtain founded a monastery here in the 8th century. His name survives in the Shrine of Saint Lachtain’s Arm, a medieval reliquary that once held fragments of his arm bones and is now among the treasures of the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
The present parish church, St Lachtain’s, still serves the community, its plain stone interior busy for Sunday Mass. The surrounding townlands belonged historically to the barony of Muskerry West, a reminder of the Gaelic lordships that held this ground long before the roads and the factories arrived.
Prince August toy-soldier factory
The most unexpected thing in Cill na Martra is a toy-soldier factory run by a Swedish family. Lars and Gunilla Edman set up Prince August in 1976, and the workshop grew into what is now reckoned to be the only toy-soldier factory in Europe, casting metal military and fantasy figures and selling the moulds and paints to make your own. At its peak it employed close to 40 local people.
The visitor centre lets you watch the moulding and casting, and families can book a painting session and finish their own figures – historical infantry, dragons, even a custom GAA footballer. The shop sells finished pieces and starter kits, which make an unusual souvenir.
One honest caveat: since the N22 bypass took the through-traffic away from the village, trade has fallen off and the factory’s future has looked uncertain. Ring ahead on +353 (0)26 40222 (info@toysoldierfactory.ie) to check it’s open before you build a day around it. Posted hours are Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–5pm, closed Sundays, St Patrick’s Day and over Christmas and New Year. Parking beside the factory is free and the centre is wheelchair accessible.
GAA and community life
Sport is the pulse of the place, and the pitch is the first thing you see driving in. Founded in 1978, Cill na Martra GFC has climbed steadily through the Cork grades: the county Intermediate A title in 2018, then the Premier Intermediate Championship and the Munster Intermediate Club title in 2023. In 2024 the club went all the way to the All-Ireland Intermediate Club final, losing narrowly to St Patrick’s, Cullyhanna – no small run for a village this size.
Off the field, life turns on the school feiseanna and the Gaeltacht calendar, with the two pubs the natural gathering points. The area has a musical streak too: the folk song Kilnamartyra Exile was written by Johnny Brown, a local man who served in the First World War and later became a missionary in Africa.
Practical information
Getting there – You’ll want a car. From the N22, turn onto the L3402 and follow the signs; the road runs through the farmland and woodland typical of West Cork. Public transport is limited, with the nearest regular buses in Macroom, about 6 km east.
Nearby – A short drive west brings you to the Gaeltacht village of Ballyvourney, with its early-Christian pilgrimage site and trad sessions. Macroom to the east has the shops and services the village itself does without, and Killarney is a straightforward run for anyone carrying on to the national park.
Irish is the everyday language here; English is universally spoken, but the all-Irish signs and notices make good, gentle reading practice as you drive through.