The first place I've been to here outside of Cork is a very pretty little seaside town called Cobh - pronounced Cove - about half an hour from Cork on the train.
Cobh is in Cork Harbour, which is one of the biggest natural harbours in the world, and is a major stop for many cruise ships. It really reminded me of Akaroa as it has a main street that follows the curve of the harbour front with the rest of the town built steeply into the hillside, and lots of colourful pretty buildings.
Cobh used to be called Queenstown and is very famous for being the port that the majority of emigrants left from in the great famine and for decades after. There is a statue of a girl called Annie Moore and her brothers who were the first people to be admitted into the States through a new immigration centre in New York in 1892 - and there is a similar statue of her in the States as well.
It was also the last port of call for the Titanic and this is the major tourist marketing draw. There's a museum and restaurant where the Titanic's ticket office was but I didn't check it out due to the 9 euro price tag. Cobh is great for a day trip but it definitely thrives on the cruise ship passengers!
Kinsale
About 50 minutes by bus from Cork, Kinsale is another seaside town that is very busy and very pretty. It's well known for it's brightly coloured, historic buildings and as a local gourmet food stop. I had a really nice afternoon wandering along the seafront and checking out the old town centre. I really loved the super bright house and shop fronts, with big blooming planter boxes outside lots of the windows. There's also an old castle (Desmond Castle) which is currently in use as an international wine museum, so random!
Blarney
Blarney is only a few kms away from Cork so is considered to be one of the city's main attractions even though it's a completely separate town. There isn't much to the actual town of Blarney but the zillions of coach tours stopping at the famous Blarney Castle keep it buzzing. I went to Blarney to meet up with my great-aunt Lois who was on one of these big bus tours and it happened to be making a quick stop there on the way to Kerry and the most popular sightseeing areas. It was so cool to be able to catch up with her! We had a great time wandering around the castle grounds and the huge, old gardens, which were amazing. Famously people go to the castle to kiss the Blarney stone to receive the gift of eloquence (the gift of the gab!) but due to only having a short time there I decided I'd give it a miss this time and come back another time. The walk around the gardens will be worth it! I loved the walk into 'Rock Close,' where there are 600 year old yew trees growing around big rock formations, and myths and legends of fairies and witches. July/midsummer was a brilliant time of year to visit the gardens as well with all the flowers out - so beautiful!
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