In Praise of East Cork. Food. People. Place. Worth a Visit!

 

St Tola Tartlet at Clancy's Youghal

Superb fish at Sea Church, Ballycotton

In Praise of East Cork.

Food. People. Place. Worth a Visit!

Friendly people, great food, and coastal and inland attractions make East Cork a gem of a place to visit. From the fantastic 13th-century St Mary’s Collegiate Church in Youghal to high-class Gardens and Arboretum at Fota, and Barryscourt Castle in between, all free to enter, there is a treasure chest of places to visit in the area.

Featherblade, signature dish at Ferrit & Lee

Let me take you on a trip to see a slice of it. We’ll also enjoy some delicious meals as East Cork is a foodie’s paradise with top-notch venues including CUSH and Ferrit & Lee, Midleton’s pioneering Farmers Market (every Saturday), and the food mecca of Ballymaloe. Cafés worth noting in the area are the Kilkenny Design Café and Carewswood Café (in the garden centre).

Christy Ring

And, before or after Ballymaloe (which could take a while), do take the opportunity to visit the medieval town of Cloyne. It is one of the area's hidden gems, its skyline dominated by the large medieval Round Tower and across the road is St. Colman's Cathedral, built in 1270/80 and still in use. 

Famous Cloyne people include the 20th century hurler Christy Ring and the 18th century philosopher George Berkeley, both of whom are remembered here: Ring's statue (right) is by the GAA field and Berkley's tomb is in the cathedral.

Cush Midleton

Coming from the city on the old Cork-Waterford road, look out for signs (on your right), just after Glounthaune, for the Harpers Island Wetlands. Enjoy the nature all around you, including the ample birdlife (get your photos from the hides there!).

Next, take the Cobh exit ramp and head for breakfast or lunch, right to Bramley Lodge, or left to The Bakestone Cafe in Fota Retail Park. Now, set up for the day, go over the nearby bridge to Fota Island and its many attractions. If you have kids, go to the Wildlife Park; if not, walk through the renowned Fota Arboretum and maybe add a tour of the Georgian House. You can also enjoy lunch in Fota House where the Food Club will look after you. Both the park and the house have their own railway station, on the Cork - Cobh line.

There's a new tour and taste in operation nearby at the Hederman Smokehouse in Belvelly. Check it out here.

If you like it around this area, you may also try the high-class Fota Island Hotel and Golf Resort. Other top-class hotels in the area include the Raddison Blu (Little Island), Vienna Woods (Glanmire) and the Castlemartyr Resort with its Michelin starred Terre. The Resort also has a lively pub in the village called The Hunted Hog (serving food every day).

Planet Dessert at O'Mahony's Watergrasshill

On the way east, or on the way home, why not call to the Elm Tree for some of their tasty food? Their carvery (left) is much awarded. 

Moving on, go over the Belvelly Bridge (take a long look at the recently renovated castle) and you’ll find yourself on Great Island where the cathedral town of Cobh is situated. Much to do here including the Sirius Art Centre, also the Titanic Trail and Spike Island, walking tours, harbourside bars and restaurants and of course the Cobh Heritage Centre which tells of forced deportations and also the tales of the ill fated liners, The Titanic and the Lusitania and, of course, St. Colman’s Cathedral.

Casement Square, Cobh

Staying in Cobh? Try the Commodore Hotel (relax in your harbour view suite) with its magnificent frontage by the promenade or, if you like it even closer to the water, there's the well-named Water's Edge. 

Fota Arboretum. Also here: Fota House, walled gardens, plus a café.

Need a flavoursome plateful and good coffee? Why not try Seasalt by the water. Also look out for Ellen's Kitchen and the Quays Bar & Restaurant. In Casement Square, The Arch Wine Bar/Café has been getting good reviews while Azure Harbour Bistro will feed you very well indeed. 

Tasting of the best smoked fish included in guided tour of Hederman Smokery in Belvelly Cobh.

If you have four or more hours to spare, be sure to take the ferry over to Spike Island. It is a fantastic tour, with great guides, and so many interesting things to see and do, much of it related to its historic military and prison life, but also superb walks and views out over the harbour. Very Highly Recommended.

 Bouillabaisse at Azure, Cobh

From Cobh, boats take you across to Spike and also on harbour tours. Maybe you’d just like to walk around the town; I did so recently, taking in the Holy Ground, the Titanic Garden and the Sonia O’Sullivan sculpture, and you may check it all out here. Perhaps you'd prefer just to sit on the decking at The Titanic Bar & Grill and watch the boats go by. On the main road in and out of Cobh, why not call to the Hederman Smoke House, do the tour and enjoy some of Frank's marvellous fish. On the lookout for coffee, cake and vintage ceramics, then you must visit Belvelly Vintage at 5 Harbour Row.

Midleton Distillery

Superb Stir Fry at The Malthouse

Time now to head out of the islands and head east for a tour of the revamped Midleton Distillery Experience. No shortage of food stores, cafes and restaurants in Midleton (indeed there's a café, The Malthouse, in the distillery). Plenty more nearby, including the accomplished Ferrit & Lee and Cush. Then there's the friendly Granary foodstore now well over 20 years in business. And, at the start of 2026,  The Grumpy Bakers have moved to Main Street. You'll find them in the previous O'Donovan's premises and they now have much more space for you to enjoy a coffee and sandwich or treat.

Lamb at Ballymaloe lunch

There will be detours, of course. One that I like - you may need a driver here - is to head towards Ballyvolane House near Castlelyons. Lots to do here, including fishing and glamping, and it was here that the famous Bertha's Revenge Gin was born!

Peacock gold at Fota Wildlife

Be sure and call to the 200-year-old O'Mahony's Pub in Watergrasshill. Superb local food and drink, music also, extensive sheltered outdoor areas and ways and means to keep the kids happy.

You must stop in Ballymaloe, the home of modern Irish food, home also for the annual Festival of Food (every May). You could spend a day here. Maybe an overnight stay as well to sample the world-renowned cooking. Call to the café for a mid-afternoon or mid-morning coffee. And don’t forget Golden Bean coffee roaster Marc Kingston is also based here. Be sure to take a look at the impressive Cookery School gardens nearby, not forgetting the Shell House.

In the seaside village of Ballycotton, take a stroll down to the pier and see the fishermen come and go, maybe take a boat trip to the lighthouse on the nearby island. If you feel you need to stretch your legs, then there is a spectacular walk along the cliff tops.

After all that exercise, treat yourself to a gorgeous meal at Seachurch or the also excellent Salty Dog that overlooks the harbour. Don't forget the Trawler Boyz behind the Blackbird Pub. Enjoy lunch at Carewswood Café in the Castlemartyr garden centre of the same name and do check their plants! Like to stay here for a night, then check out the Castlemartyr Resort (where you can enjoy your lunch in the Canopy).

View from the Bayview Terrace

Prefer a coastal stop? Then the Garryvoe Hotel and its top notch Samphire Restaurant, with great views over the bay, is close at hand. And across the bay, there's its sister hotel, The Bayview, great views here also. Closed in mid-winter but, when open, check out the superb cooking of chef Ciaran Scully, an example here.

Ballycotton cliff walk

Meal time at Festival
of Food in Ballymaloe

Youghal is the final town, on the Blackwater and just shy of the border with Waterford. On the way, you could stretch the legs in Killeagh’s Glenbower Woods, one of many attractive walks in the East Cork area which now boasts a greenway from Midleton to Youghal.

Just a few minutes from Killeagh village, you'll find the lovely food market on Joe's Farm (the family themselves renowned for their vegetable crisps); you can find superb local produce here, much of it from the farm. They also hold special events for the public, eg cutting sunflowers in August and harvesting pumpkins later in the year.

Perhaps you'd prefer to take in the magnificent views on the two walks in nearby Knockadoon. In Youghal, you'll find good coffee and food at The Priory on Main Street. Just alongside is the newly refurbished Clock Gate Tower, a must visit!

Stretch the legs and work up an appetite on the relatively new Youghal Boardwalk that runs alongside the beaches. Indeed, Clancy's Bar & Restaurant is at the eastern point of the boardwalk and they will feed you very well indeed.

After all the activity, you deserve to rest up for the night. Enjoy a meal in the Old Imperial Hotel on Youghal's main street, maybe just a drink in its old Coachhouse bar, maybe both! Aherne’s, of course, is famous for its seafood and they too have rooms. Aherne's is now being taken over by the Finns (famous for earlier and popular restaurants in Timoleague and more recently Kinsale) and are expected to make quite an impression in Youghal.

Samphire Restaurant at Garryvoe Hotel

And, before leaving the area, don’t forget to visit the gardens at Ballynatray House, a Blackwater gem.

Dinner at Brook Inn

If, at the end of a day's touring, you find yourself heading back towards the city, then do consider the Brook Inn near Glanmire for dinner. It is a lively buzzy place and the food is good there too. Or dine and stay at the lovely and comfortable Vienna Woods Hotel.

Enjoy East Cork, the food, the place and its people!

Pelican gets his fish at Fota.

Ballynatray House, by the Blackwater

(revised May 2026)
If you have a cafe, restaurant, or visitor attraction, not listed here, please let me know by DM and I will do my best to visit with a view to inclusion in the next revision. You may also use the comment facility below.

Clouds and wildflowers on Knockadoon

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Bakestone Beef Hits The Spot After Wild Side Walk

 Bakestone Beef Hits The Spot

After Wild Side Walk

Nothing like a walk on the wild side to work up an appetite. And that old saying was proven once again last week when a walk on the very windy Harper’s Island was followed by lunch at the nearby Bakestone Café in the Fota Retail Park near Cobh Cross, just a few minutes away from the island wetlands.

There weren’t that many on the wetlands but it was a different story when we entered Bakestone for lunch. It was 2.00pm or so and the place was pretty full and this was a Tuesday. There is no booking though, walk-ins only. But they have a big open and bright space there and also quite a lot of tables in a well sheltered area between the glass wall of the main building and the garden centre around its south and east walls.

The first thing you see as you join the queue (a small one in our case) is a large breakfast menu and this is their signature offering. Many of my friends go there and enjoy it: all kinds of eggs, plain or  Benedict, Florentine, or Royale.  Then there’s Pancakes and French Toast and after that well you can try a pastry or cake from a large selection.

The lunch menu is not as extensive and, on a recommendation from our server, I picked a Beef Brisket Sandwich, the beef pulled, and served in a delicious bun packed with the meat, various greens and pickled cucumber. 

I picked from a large selection of salads and got myself a Beetroot one and also a Leaf one, each adding a euro to the basic price so that the sandwich cost a very reasonable €8.35 in total. They also do quiches here and they cost €6.25 each before add ons.

That beef sandwich was just the job after the walk and I was soon tucking in, really enjoying the flavour and the textures.  But is was quite substantial and it was finished at a slower pace! By the way, I noticed that quite a few people at nearby tables were enjoying breakfast dishes even at the hour!

After a pause, I decided on a cup of coffee and a pastry. Coffee is by Badger and Dodo so you are guaranteed a decent cup of Joe and I confirmed that for myself. The cake, a White Chocolate Tartlet with raspberries, was a really sweet one and half of it was packed into a serviette to be finished later on!. The main conclusion from the visit was that, next time, I would test that obviously very popular breakfast menu!

Harper’s Island Wetlands

The wetlands, open everyday 9.00am to 4.30pm, are a relatively new visit in the area. The entrance, with a small car park, is on the old Cork-Waterford Road, on the left roughly halfway between Glounthaune Village and Bakestone, just beyond the railway station but before the Elm Tree Pub.

Goodbye Geese!

Once parked, you make your way over an ugly concrete bridge and soon you are walking  onto the island. To your right, you can see Glounthaune village, straight ahead is the Cork-Waterford dual carriageway (the N25 or the East Cork parkway - its more fancier name), but mostly, including to your left, you see the wetlands and the various bits and pieces of this part of the backwaters of the massive Cork harbour.

Then you reach the first of the hides, a solid timber structure with plenty of openings for visitors to see the various birds. There are another two hides in the map and other points from where you may get close-up views. But nothing’s guaranteed as regards the wildlife and I was about to depart when I spotted the four large white geese in the distance.

What is guaranteed is a good long walk. When you come to the end of the first path (good solid surface, works vehicles have to get around here too, though there is no traffic as such), there is a looped walk that brings you back to this point again. 

Then you walk back to the car park with a view of houses on the slopes to the immediate north and you should be able to see too the house and farm where Killahora Orchards grow some of the earliest-ripening apples in Ireland and produce some very innovative products with their harvest. More on the wetlands here.

Other attractions close to Bakestone are Fota House and Arboretum, the Fota Wildlife Park, Barryscourt Castle (closed at present for OPW works), and Cobh (with its many attractions) is not too far away.

An East Cork One-Two. Hard to Beat This Walk and Eat! Beaches and lunch at Castlemartyr Carewswood Café

An East Cork One-Two. Hard to Beat

This Walk and Eat!

Lime & Chilli Chicken Salad

Beaches and lunch at Castlemartyr Carewswood Café

Some great sunny days last week and on one of them we headed east to Ballinwilling beach, between Garryvoe and Redbarn. Plan was to have a long walk and then call for lunch to the Carewswood Garden Centre between Ladysbridge and Castlemartyr.

Ballinwilling. Redbarn is around the corner.

It didn’t quite to go plan but did work out very well. The tide was well in at Ballinwilling, leaving very little room for walkers unless you came equipped with wellies. We did a bit but soon retreated and drove the few minutes to Garryvoe. 

Garryvoe

Of course the tide was well in there too but we walked on the beachside path and after that, to the west, there was a long stretch of sand up and beyond the entrance to the next beach (Ardnahinch). The last of the cloud has vanished as well and we and the four-legged friend enjoyed the hour or so, taking in the fresh air, the views (out to the Ballycotton Lighthouse on its island) and the sounds of the birds and the sea.

Island in the sun.

The appetite was well warmed up by the time we got back to the car. A few minutes later we were in Ladysbridge and soon turning right to Carewswood which is just off the R632. Got a bit of a shock to see the large car park more than half full at 12.05pm or thereabouts. “I should have had booked,” I said. But no worries. They had plenty of space in the two room cafe, no problem with social distancing and they took the details.

Getting a deserved drink from his new water dispenser.

They were just changing over from the breakfast to the lunch menu and we opted for the latter and a table in the sunny outer room. Lots of openings to the fresh air here, including a couple of sets of doors. It was warm enough to dispense with the coats as we studied the menu, quite an extensive one as it turned out, featuring soups, salads, sandwiches and hot dishes plus a short wine list.

Chipotle Chicken Burger

I picked Chef Pawel’s daily special: Chipotle Chicken Bap, with smashed avocado and mixed leaves, served with rustic fries (€14.95). CL, also on a spicy kick, went for one of the salads: Lime and Chilli warm chicken salad, fire roasted peppers, smashed ago, vine tomato and jalapeño salsa, Blanco Nino tortilla, lettuce and yogurt (13.95).

The airy outer dining room

Both dishes were excellent and in each case, the main element, the chicken was of a really high standard and delicious. CL’s bowl looked huge but, aside from the fairly hard crisps, made short work of it. I also had quite a feed both in term of quality and quantity but the walks on the beaches had certainly tuned up the appetites and it was two well satisfied customers that walked out into the sunny afternoon. 

Ready for the coming season

Not too many customers around the garden centre itself at the moment but the staff are busily engaged in preparing for the season ahead. They have quite a reputation here and indeed that very evening I was chatting to a gardening enthusiast from Dublin who said: “Glad to hear Carewswood is doing so well, I really like it. Aside from the food, their plants are better than anyone else’s and the prices are reasonable.” So there you are, another reason to visit lovely East Cork! 

* They pride themselves on ‘honest food with no artificial colourings or preservatives and serve a range of delicious freshly baked goods and local artisan and organic foods’. Good to see local producers supported. The salmon is from Ballycotton while Gubbeen, Blanco Niño, and bakers Pana are among the producers mentioned. 

Looking well, as always. The Garryvoe Hotel.