20 Attractions to Explore Near Sherkin Island

The Baltimore Beacon is a white-painted stone beacon at the entrance to the harbour at Baltimore, County Cork, Ireland. The beacon was built at the order of the British government following the 1798 Rebellion. It was part of a series of lighthouses and beacons dotted around the Irish coast, forming a warning system. The locals call him Lot’s Wife with a wink after a biblical figure that solidified into a pillar of salt.

Dún na Séad castle was built in 1215 and has had a long and fascinating history. It fell into a ruined state in the middle of the seventeenth century. The tower house is built on the site of an earlier Norman-era structure, which itself replaced an earlier Bronze Age ringfort. Traditionally associated with the O'Driscoll family, it was purchased and restored by members of the McCarthy family in the late 1990s, and partially opened to the public from 2005.

Heir Island is a great place to live, work and visit. One of the seven inhabited West Cork islands off the south coast of Ireland. Offering the visitor stunning views, walks, sandy beaches, a profusion of wildflowers and bird life, the island also hosts many events such as theatre, music, cookery courses, sailing, kayaking, yoga and more.

Beautiful vistas surround an upgraded traditional farmhouse located on a craggy promontory deep in West Cork, writes Tommy Barker.Strolling along the rugged coast of Toe Head along the cliff edge, you will discover remarkable rock formations and enjoy a wonderful view over the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

A beautiaful mountain on the Mizen Peninsula immediately to the north of the town of Schull in West Cork, Ireland. It offers views from south over Schull Harbour and Long Island Bay. To the east and southeast, the views take in Roaringwater Bay and its many islands, known as Carbery's Hundred Isles. North and west are the mountains of the Beara Peninsula and south Kerry.

This is one of the largest and finest stone forts in Ireland and was probably built in the early centuries AD before Christianity came. Approximately 29 metres in diameter the fort has thick walls some 3 metres wide and standing almost 2 metres high. Access to the fort is through a narrow entrance on the north eastern side of the walls. The site is owned by the Irish Government which has declared it a national monument.

Bantry House and Garden is a stately home in southwest Ireland situated right on Bantry Bay with panoramic views of the bay and the caha mountains. The gardens contain seven terraces; the house is located on the third. One hundred steps are located behind the house and fountain, and are surrounded by azaleas and rhododendron.

Drombeg Stone Circle is a circle of 17 standing stones which on excavation showed that there had been an urn burial in the centre. Although not an especially significant example, Drombeg is one of the most visited megalithic sites in Ireland, and is protected under the National Monuments Act.

Whiddy Island is located in scenic Bantry Bay, Co. Cork. The island is linked to the mainland by the local ferry, Ocean Star III, with return trips several times a day. Bike hire is also available on the island, as is a local hackney service. Trips to and from the island and tours of the bay are available during the summer months, incorporating local history, scenery and the indigenous flora and fauna.Walkers and anglers also travel to Whiddy Island.

Castledonovan is a townland in Dromdaleague, which lies on a rock on the east bank of the River Ilen in the townland of the same name, in County Cork in Ireland. Approximately 60 feet in height, it sits on a large rock or outcropping, which forms the ground floor, close to the bank of the River Ilen. The Castle was divided into various chambers or rooms. One room was set aside in the old days for food for the garrison and another store room for gunpowder and shot.

This frontline beach land is a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire a breathtaking piece of West Cork. It consists of 2 beaches, each approximately 150m in length.This beach forms part of a Special Area of Conservation and a National Heritage Area Ballyrisode Beach is an extremely valuable resource to both residents and visitors for a number of reasons, including its scenery and landscape and for its safe and sheltered location for swimming and other recreational activities.

Mizen Head Signal Station, built to save lives off the treacherous rocks at Ireland's most south-westerly point, five miles from Goleen, is open to the public. It is one of the extreme points of the island of Ireland and is a major tourist attraction, noted for its dramatic cliff scenery. One of the main transatlantic shipping routes passes close by to the south, and Mizen Head was, for many seafarers, the first sight of Europe.

Owenahincha is a beach located in Rosscarbery in County Cork. It is a Blue Flag beach. It is an exposed beach and the sea can be quite rough at times. Public car parking and public toilet facilities are provided at the beach.

The castle consists of three towers, hence the title “Three Castle”, connected by a rampart wall of some 20 feet in height; one of the highest medieval walls still intact in Ireland. Dunlough Castle, standing atop the cliffs at the northern tip of the Mizen Peninsula, looks at the Atlantic Ocean from the extreme southwest point of Ireland. Founded in 1207 by Donagh O’Mahony, Dunlough is one of the oldest castles in southern Ireland and an example of Norman architecture and dry stone masonry.

A majestic old castle on the outskirts of Kealkill village, in the heart of West Cork, played a dramatic role in one of Irish history. A 4-storey tower surrounded by a 14-foot-high outer curtain wall or bawn. The main tower is perched on a rock overhanging the Ouvane river, and has 4 corner turrets. The main entrance to the castle was via a gate in the north wall of the bawn, which had 4 corner towers, the main tower being set into the west wall of the bawn.

Galley Head is a gleaming white lighthouse that sits at the southernmost point of a picturesque headland known as Dundeady Island and is close to the charming market town of Clonakilty. It is also one of twelve lighthouses which make up Great Lighthouses of Ireland, a new all-island tourism initiative. Visitors from home and abroad now have the chance to visit or stay in a lighthouse and to find out about our history and heritage.

A majestic lighthouse which marks the southern tip of Bantry Bay, was built in 1968 as a consequence of the development of the oil terminal at Whiddy Island. The lighthouse comprises a 7 metre high white round tower on a square building. The lantern is 83 metres above sea level. It touches on lovely little Lough Akeen, and there is spectacular coastal scenery, including Mizen Head and the Beara Peninsula.

This is a cottage and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland. It was the birthplace of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins. The house is rectangular and single-storey, built of local stone. Michael John Collins, father of Michael, was an adept carpenter and made the furniture, doors and windowframes himself.

Red Strand is Green Flag Beach located in a horseshoe bay near Rosscarbery in County Cork. It is quite popular for surfing and has reasonably consistent surf all year round. Nestling between two lush green headlands, one of which contains the iconic Galley Head lighthouse, the water here is exceptionally clean and suitable for swimming in good weather.

Priest's Leap is a steep and nearly straight single-lane mountain pass between Coomhola Bridge and the village of Bonane east of the more winding road from Bantry to Kenmare in Ireland. Just below the summit of the 519 m high mountain with the same name, it is the highest pass road in Munster at 463m, crossing from County Cork to County Kerry.