Two groups account for most of the 48 places on this page. The first is military: Charles Fort at Kinsale, a pentagonal star fort of the 1670s whose restored ramparts look out over the harbour mouth, with the older James Fort free and open across the water at Castlepark. Further east, Camden Fort Meagher at Crosshaven and Fort Carlisle at Whitegate face each other across the entrance to Cork Harbour, both of them Victorian gun batteries; roughly two-thirds of Camden Fort is underground, in tunnels and magazines cut into the headland.
The second group is prehistoric and sits almost entirely in West Cork. Drombeg Stone Circle stands on a ridge above the sea near Glandore, thirteen of its original seventeen stones still up, with the midwinter sun dropping into the low axial stone. The Altar Wedge Tomb is further west again on the Mizen, metres from the water at Toormore Bay. Knockdrum’s hilltop cashel and Knocknakilla on the boggy north-west slopes of Musherabeg Mountain are unguided and reached on rough ground, so pick your weather for those two.
Cork city holds the English Market, trading on the same site since 1788, and Saints Peter and Paul’s on a lane off St Patrick’s Street, a few minutes apart on foot. The east of the county is thinner: the Clock Gate Tower over Youghal’s main street, and Araglin out beyond Fermoy where three counties meet.
A pentagonal star fort of the 1670s above Kinsale Harbour, with restored ramparts to walk and an OPW tour covering the 1690 siege.
Trading on the same city-centre site since 1788, a Victorian covered food hall for spiced beef, drisheen and fish, with the Farmgate Café upstairs.
Thirteen standing stones on a ridge above the sea near Glandore, aligned so the midwinter sun sets into the low axial stone.
Built around 2500 BC and standing metres from the Atlantic on the Mizen, a trapezoidal gallery grave still carrying its massive capstone.
The meeting point of Cork, Tipperary and Waterford, 17km east of Fermoy, with an animal sanctuary, glamping and a stretch of the Avondhu Way.
47 of 48 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Kinsale, cork
Charles Fort is a pentagonal star fort built in the 1670s to stop ships entering Kinsale Harbour – which is why it fell in 1690, when the attackers simply took the high ground behind it. Walk the restored ramparts for the harbour views, take the OPW tour for the siege story, and follow the coast path east toward Preghane Point.
Cork city, cork
Cork's English Market has traded on the same site since 1788, the city's municipal food market under a Victorian roof of cast iron and stained glass. Come for spiced beef, drisheen and fresh fish, and head upstairs to the Farmgate Café for lunch made from the stalls below.
Glandore, cork
Drombeg is one of West Cork’s finest stone circles – thirteen of its original seventeen stones still standing on a ridge above the sea, known locally as the Druid’s Altar. At midwinter the setting sun drops into the low axial stone, and a Bronze Age cooking pit sits a few steps to the west.
Toormore Bay, cork
Perched just metres from the Atlantic on the Mizen Peninsula, the Altar Wedge Tomb is one of West Cork’s most accessible megalithic monuments. Built around 2500 BC, this trapezoidal stone gallery still shelters its massive capstone, while its ENE–WSW alignment catches the Samhain sunset over Mizen Peak.
Munster, cork
Araglin sits at the point where Cork, Tipperary and Waterford meet, 17km east of Fermoy. The draw is a 20-acre animal sanctuary with boutique glamping and a converted vintage bus bistro, plus an 1838 Tudor Revival cottage and a stretch of the Avondhu Way along the Blackwater.
Cork, cork
Béal na Bláth is the quiet bend on the R585 in West Cork where Michael Collins was ambushed and killed on 22 August 1922. A 1924 limestone cross marks the site, set back from the road since a 2022 redesign that traces his final journey in engraved slate milestones. It is free and always open; pair it with the Michael Collins Centre near Clonakilty.
Crosshaven, cork
Camden Fort Meagher guards the mouth of Cork Harbour from Ram's Head, and about two-thirds of it is underground – tunnels, magazines and a granite spiral staircase cut into the headland in the 1860s. The lower bastion once held the Brennan torpedo, the world's first practical guided weapon.
Youghal, cork
The Clock Gate straddles Youghal's main street on the site of a medieval castle. Built in 1777 as a town gate and gaol, it's where prisoners taken in the 1798 Rising were hanged from the windows; today costumed guides tell that story across four floors, ending on a rooftop over Youghal Bay.
Carrignafoy, cork
Cove Fort is a small star-shaped battery built east of Cobh in 1743 to guard the entrance to Cork Harbour. It later became the Queenstown Military Hospital, and today the Port of Cork occupies part of the site – the public draw is Bishop Roche Park and the Cobh Titanic Memorial Garden, which names the 123 passengers who boarded the Titanic here in 1912. There's no visitor centre or tour; come for the memorial, the view and the story.
Whitegate, cork
Only a handful of Irish coastal forts retain a deep dry moat and concrete-reinforced caponiers as intact as those at Fort Carlisle. Built in the 1860s as a Palmerston-era battery, its eight seaward gun emplacements still dominate the Whitegate headland, providing sweeping views of one of the world’s largest natural harbours.
Castlepark, cork
Rugged stone walls and grassy parapets frame sweeping views of Kinsale harbour at James Fort. This 17th-century bastion once guarded the River Bandon estuary alongside its later neighbour, Charles Fort, and remains a free, open-air historic site.
cork
Knockdrum Stone Fort is a circular stone cashel dating from the early first millennium AD, perched on a strategic hilltop in West Cork. Inside its 3-metre-thick walls are the foundations of a rectangular building, a souterrain, and a pillar stone marked with a Greek cross, while cup-marked boulders outside date back 3,000 to 5,000 years.
Musherabeg Mountain, cork
On the boggy north-west slopes of Musherabeg Mountain, Knocknakilla is a Bronze Age complex of a recumbent stone circle, two tall standing stones and a radial cairn, its axis set to the setting sun at the solstices. It's an unguided National Monument – free and open, but reached on rough mountain ground.
Cork, cork
E.W. Pugin designed this Gothic Revival parish church on a lane off St Patrick’s Street, and its 36-ton Carrara marble altar is the reason to step in. Open free most of the day, it’s a quiet interior in the middle of a busy shopping district, still in daily use as a working city-centre parish.
Cobh, cork
St Colman’s rises above Cobh on blue Dalkey granite and Mallow limestone, its 91-metre spire a landmark for ships entering Cork Harbour. Inside are red-marble shrines and stained glass; overhead hangs a 49-bell carillon, the largest in Ireland and Britain. It was consecrated in 1919 after half a century of building.
Cork City, cork
St Fin Barre's is the rare cathedral built as one architect's complete vision. William Burges controlled everything, from the 73-metre spires to Ireland's largest pipe organ. Look up on the west front for the cannonball from the 1690 siege, still lodged in the stone.
Ballyvourney, cork
St Gobnait's Shrine at Ballyvourney is one of the few Irish pilgrimages still walked the old way, clockwise through eleven stations from a Séamus Murphy statue to a spring hung with ribbons. Excavations here found iron-smelting furnaces, matching a saint whose name means 'smith'. The 13th-century oak statue at its centre is one of only five medieval wooden statues of Irish saints to survive, and it is shown just twice a year.
Youghal, cork
Ancient oak timbers still crown the nave of this 13th-century collegiate church inside Youghal's medieval walls. Follow the 'Voices of St Mary's' audio tour past the vast Boyle monument, or wander the free graveyard trail along the town wall for estuary views.
Cork, cork
On Pope's Quay overlooking the River Lee, St Mary's Dominican Church was designed for free by architect Kearns Deane and opened in 1839. Behind its tall columned front is a working priory church with a full daily Mass schedule and a choir singing for over 30 years.
Summercove, cork
Summercove is a small harbour a 20-minute walk east of Kinsale, and it comes down to two things: Charles Fort, the huge star-shaped fortress completed in 1682 on the headland above, and The Bulman, the orange pub at the water's edge. The fort charges in (adult €5) and keeps seasonal hours, so it is not the free wander some guides suggest. The lane in is single-track and narrow, and the small village car park fills fast on a fine day.
Toormore, cork
Toormore Bay's Altar wedge tomb was built around 2500 BC and set to catch the setting sun on 1 November; when Catholic Mass was outlawed, its capstone became an altar, and the name stuck. Below it lie the two small sandy coves of Ballyrisode, a protected Green Coast beach on the Wild Atlantic Way.
Skibbereen, cork
Bere Island, cork
Beara Peninsula, cork
Ballycrovane, cork
Castlenalacht, cork
Cork, cork
Cloyne, cork
Ballyvireen Valley, cork
North Cork City, cork
Crossbarry, cork
Clonakilty, cork
Cork, cork
Ahakista, cork
Cork, cork
University College Cork Campus, cork
Cork City, cork
Kilmichael, cork
Bantry, cork
Sleenoge, cork
Darrara, cork
Bantry, cork
Cork, cork
Rathmorgan, cork
Sandy Cove, cork
Castletownbere, cork
Mushera Mountain, cork
Crosshaven, cork
← All things to do in County Cork
Book tours & tickets
We may earn a commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you.
Book tours, skip-the-line tickets and day trips with GetYourGuide. Free cancellation on most experiences.
See tours & tickets in County Cork →