Lonely Planet Cork, Kerry & Southwest Ireland Road Trips

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• Publisher: Lonely Planet
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN:
  9781838690229
• Print ISBN:
  9781788686488

Destinations

County Cork

From bustling Cork City to the lush landscape dotted with idyllic villages, everything good about Ireland can be found in County Cork.

County Kerry

County Kerry contains some of Ireland’s most iconic scenery: sea cliffs and soft golden strands, emerald-green farmland, mist-shrouded bogs and mountain peaks.

County Limerick

Limerick’s low-lying farmland is framed by swelling uplands and mountains. Limerick City is boisterously urban in contrast, with plenty of historical and cultural attractions.

Limerick city At dusk
JIM NOLAN/500PX ©

County Cork

Everything good about Ireland can be found in County Cork. Surrounding the country’s second city – a thriving metropolis made glorious by location and its almost Rabelaisian devotion to the finer things of life – is a lush landscape dotted with villages that offer days of languor and idyll.

CORK CITY

POP 208,670

Ireland’s second city is first in every important respect – at least according to the locals, who cheerfully refer to it as the ‘real capital of Ireland’. It’s a liberal, youthful and cosmopolitan place that was badly hit by economic recession but is now busily reinventing itself with spruced-up streets, revitalised stretches of waterfront, and – seemingly – an artisan coffee bar on every corner. There’s a bit of a hipster scene, but the best of the city is still happily traditional – snug pubs with live-music sessions, restaurants dishing up top-quality local produce, and a genuinely proud welcome from the locals.

The compact city centre is set on an island in the River Lee, surrounded by waterways and packed with grand Georgian avenues, cramped 17th-century alleys, modern masterpieces such as the opera house, and narrow streets crammed with pubs, shops, cafes and restaurants, fed by arguably the best foodie scene in the country.

History

Cork has a long and bruising history, inextricably linked with Ireland’s struggle for nationhood.

The story begins in the 7th century, when St Fin Barre (also spelt Finbarr and Finbarre) founded a monastery in the midst of a corcach (marshy place). By the 12th century the settlement had become the chief city of the Kingdom of South Munster, having survived raids and sporadic settlement by...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Welcome to Cork, Kerry & Southwest Ireland
• Cork, Kerry & Southwest Ireland Map
• Cork, Kerry & Southwest Ireland Highlights
• Cork City Guide
• Need to Know
• Road Trips
• Destinations
• Road Trip Essentials
• Behind the Scenes
• Our Writer