West Cork Highlights. Mizen Head, Ballydehob and Bantry House

West Cork Highlights

Mizen Head, Ballydehob and Bantry House

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Mizen Head

Looking into Dunlough Bay from one of the viewing points in Mizen.

The Head itself

The bridge you pass over as you walk to the lighthouse.

A full Irish, well almost. Hasn't been touched by the lighthouse keeper.
It has been on the table in front of him for decades!

Opening times for the summer are 10.00am to 6.00pm - there are no online tickets. To find out more about this spectacular place, click on the website here. Plenty of free parking but there is a reasonable admission fee to get onto the head itself and to the various interesting exhibitions that tell of the history of the place and surroundings and much more. You also have toilets in the visitor centre along with a café.

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Also on this trip:

Dine Cent'Anni. Stay Schull Harbour Hotel

Looking for a mid day snack in West Cork. A shortlist including newcomer Harnen.

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 Ballydehob

The 12-arch Ballydehob Viaduct was built in 1886 and is still intact and safe. The narrow-gauge railway line would link the isolated, rural communities of West Cork with the market town of Skibbereen and the port of Schull. It was closed in 1953.  A public walking trail (highly recommended), with scenic views of the local estuary and beyond, incorporates the viaduct. We came on an excellent day and enjoyed the walk and the views, not to mention a lunchtime snack at Béal Blásta in the centre of the village.

Lunchtime treat at Béal Blásta, Ballydehob: Toffee and Nut Cake

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Bantry House

Bantry House and Gardens. No photos allowed inside the house.

Bantry House and Garden is a stately home overlooking Bantry Bay in Cork, in the south west of Ireland. The House has been in the family, the Whites, since 1739 and was opened to the public in 1946. They offer Bed and Breakfast accommodation in the East Wing. There is an important private collection of furniture and objects of art. 

The Estate is a popular wedding and events venue, visitors can explore the formal garden, visit the House and Tearoom, book Afternoon Tea in the Library and stay in the East Wing. The Estate is unique since it is still lived in and managed by the family. To read more, including opening times and events schedule, click here Bantry House.
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The house, from the top of the 100 steps, with Bantry Bay in the background.
The steps are closed at present but there is an unsigned "walkaround".
A sign or two would be helpful. It is worth getting up there as the
view to Bantry Bay is amazing. 

Corner of the gardens at Bantry House.

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Leap newcomers Harnen head list of West Cork places to have that mid-day break.

Leap newbies Harnen head list of West Cork places to have that mid-day break.

Harnen of Leap

You’re driving around West Cork. You’ve had that big breakfast and the evening's reserved dinner will not lack quantity either. You need to take it easy at lunchtime. 

But where? Here’s four suggestions: Along the Way (Goleen), Garinish Café on the eponymous island, Béal Blásta in Ballydehob and the newly opened Harnen in Leap will have the  tasty answer, with quality. I’m sure there are quite a few more (including Mannings of Ballylickey) but these are the ones that came to my rescue over the past few weeks.

Harnen, just opened in Leap, is a terrific spot for that mid-day break. Or mid morning. Mid afternoon. Midweek. Mid journey. Or whenever you're passing!

Loganberry cake at Harnen of Leap

Cherry and Almond combo at Harnen 

Harnen of Leap  a Bakery, Cafe and a Provisions Store, is the first of the four you'll meet if travelling west from the city. It will be on your left in the village and is open Wednesday to Sunday 9-3:30pm with lunch served 11:30-2:30pm. It is already very popular and gets full quickly. Park by the church on your right. Harnen is in the ultra capable hands of Mark Jennings and Sadie Pearce (both formerly of the beloved Pilgrim's restaurant in Rosscarbery).

Along the Way, Goleen

Cookie and Lemon Drizzle at Along the Way

Mizen Head is a popular destination for visitors and the centre has its own excellent café. But this time we halted in Goleen to call to the well named Along the Way. In the centre of the village, the café sells freshly baked scones, cakes and cookies, and coffee of course. It closes on Wednesdays and hours every other day are 9.30am to 4.30 pm (4pm on Sundays).

Tea,Toffee and Nuts, and Cookie at Béal Blásta in Ballydehob
and, below, the arches of Ballydehob

In West Cork, at some point, you'll almost certainly end up in Ballydehob and in the middle of the village you'll find Béal Blásta, a wholefood shop, a vegetarian deli and café. Their mission is "to bring you joy-filled, delicious wholefood meals and treats" including freshly baked goods and great coffee too. You may not find parking too easily but there are a few lots just off the busy main street. Café hours: 9.30 to 6.pm every day except Sunday 10.00 to 3.00. By the way, Bantry House, our destination that day, also has a tea-room.

In the Garinish Cafe: superb fruit (juicy raspberry) scone and an even better apple cake

The café on Garinish Island was a pleasant surprise to us. We had planned to snack in Glengarriff but called here instead as soon as the ferry pulled in to the slip alongside. They do excellent cakes here. It is the only café on the OPW managed island. A warm welcome from the OPW guide awaits you here and you'll also find a water station, toilets, and a large mounted map to help you get around. 

If you don 't get your snack on the island, try the local Spar in the Post Office in the centre of Glengarriff village. They make delicious well-priced rolls. And their ice-cream is superb also.

In the Blue Pool: Ferry for Garinish  loads up.

Another well known lunch stop in the area is Arundel's By The Pier in Ahakista. By the way, it is not quite on the pier, just a very short distance away. If you are coming from the pier, they have parking on your right (before you pass the pub).

Take a break here, either before or after your Sheep's Head "stroll". By the way, a nearby pub, the Tin Pub, is equally popular if the number of cars parked outside each is a guide.

Arundel's (2025 photo)

After spending 90 to 120 minutes walking around the spectacular paths and viewpoints, you might consider a fuel stop at the onsite Mizen Café. It offers a range of snacks, hot and cold drinks, and homemade treats including:

• Teas, coffee and hot chocolate
• Cold juices and soft drinks
• A variety of home baked produce, including cakes, brown bread, apple tart and more...
• Homemade soup and that West Cork favourite, seafood chowder
• Local mussels and fresh fish and chips
• A selection of freshly made sandwiches
• Whipped ice-cream cones, perfect for cooling down on a warm day

Also on this trip:

Dine Cent'Anni. Stay Schull Harbour Hotel

West Cork Highlights. Mizen Head, Bantry House. Ballydehob.

Mizen Head. Two faces, one foggy, one sunny, of Ireland's most south-westerly point.

Mizen Head. Two faces in one day, foggy, sunny, 

of Ireland's most south-westerly point.

Dunlough Bay

You are here!

Mizen Head, traditionally regarded as the most southerly point of mainland Ireland, had two faces for us last Tuesday morning. We’ve experienced all kinds of weather during our regular visits over the years, from scorching sunshine and pounding seas and now the fog. 

On arrival, we thought we wouldn’t be able to see anything due to the deep fog. But by the time we had read our way through the various exhibitions, that fog had begun to shift, and the sun was starting to show. In any weather, perched on the edge of the Atlantic, Mizen Head is one of the most spectacular headlands on Ireland’s seaboard. 

On arriving at Mizen, you'll find a pretty large car park with some great views (normally!) over the ocean. The entrance hall, including the ticket office and some exhibitions, is straight ahead. Here also, you find a café, shop and bathrooms. The indoor exhibitions, both by the entrance and down at the point, are fascinating. 

Foggy morning

Once you come out in the open, you have a range of cliff paths ahead of you. Perhaps the main one is more or less straight to the impressive footbridge. You may be fit enough to do all the pathways, but do try to get up to the amazing viewpoints over Dunlough Bay.

The story of the Fastnet Lighthouse is well told at Mizen, as in this illustration.

In any case, you must not miss a stroll over that footbridge where you may well see seals far below. Continue straight ahead to the old signalling station, now a museum open to visitors. Quite a few more interesting displays here, including the lightkeeper at breakfast (though he hasn’t touched a bite since I was here last!

As many of you know, the 40th anniversary  of the Air India bombing was marked recently at the memorial park in nearby Ahakista.  Three hundred and twenty-nine people (208 of them Canadian) were murdered when the plane exploded off the West Cork coast.

But that wasn't the area's first disaster involving Canadians. I found this info on one of the many info panels at Mizen. 

"HMHS Liandovery Castle, built in 1914 in Glasgow as RMS Llandovery Castle for the Union-Castle Line, was one of five Canadian hospital ships that served in the First World War. On a voyage from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England, the ship was torpedoed off southern Ireland, about 116 miles southwest of Fastnet on 27 June 1918. 

The sinking was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the war. 234 doctors, nurses, members of the Canadian Army Medical Corps, soldiers and seamen died in the sinking and subsequent machine-gunning of lifeboats. Only 24 people, the occupants on a single life-raft, survived. The incident became infamous internationally and was considered, after the Armenian genocide, as one of the war's worst atrocities. After the war, the case of Llandovery Castle was one of six alleged German war crimes prosecuted at the Leipzig trials."

No fog now!

The nearby village of Crookhaven has had a distinguished history as the first and last port of call for ships going between Northern European ports and America. Over the centuries, ships stocked up here with provisions and bunkered. This drew radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi to the West Cork village in the early 1900s, and he guided subsequent communications developments that made sea traffic more efficient and safer. Read more in Mizenhead.ie There is still a property in the village called Marconi House. 

Bovine Balance. On the edge!

After spending 90 to 120 minutes walking around the spectacular paths, why not drop into the Mizen Café, which offers a range of snacks, hot and cold drinks, and home-made treats including:

• Teas, coffee and hot chocolate
• Cold juices and soft drinks
• A variety of home baked produce, including cakes, brown bread, apple tart and more...
• Homemade soup and that West Cork favourite, seafood chowder
• Local mussels and fresh fish and chips
• A selection of freshly made sandwiches
• Whipped ice-cream cones, perfect for cooling down on a warm day

As I drove down (R585). from Crookstown, the amount of flora growing on the roadside was
eye-catching. Early on, there were plenty of wild roses and more and more fuchia, meadowsweet
 also,  the further west I travelled. The area around Mizen, including Barleycove, has quite an
amount of flora, including some rare ones. This Sea Plantain is quite common on Mizen.

Short video Dunlough Bay

Also on this trip:

Mizen Head

Garinish Island

Schull Harbour Hotel

Sheep's Head Peninsula

Mizen Head Fascinates Even On A Grey And Windy Day

 Mizen Head Fascinates Even

 On A Grey And Windy Day

The forecast didn't promise sunshine. The forecast winds came for sure but were not as strong as we had hoped, so no real drama as the Atlantic moved in to wash the toes of Europe in Dunlough Bay. Still, Mizen Head's capacity to enthral its visitors was evident and there were quite a few here at Ireland's most southerly point. More info here from the Mizen Head website, very informative indeed and well worth a visit before you travel.

Don't think these bulbs were used in the signal lamp!

We spent most of our time here on the outside, walking every path, getting to each and every viewing point. The information displays inside need refreshing (some, including the interactive ship's bridge, were out of order) and so it was good to see a new building going up.

There is a café here and we had a small snack on this occasion. But they have quite a menu so you won't go hungry. Currently, the choice includes soup, chowder, sandwiches, toasties, wraps, quiche and dishes like local mussels and Fish and Chips. There is a Children's Menu and plenty of drinks including tea (Barry's of course) and coffee along with soft drinks.

Three's a crowd. Three choughs together, briefly. This bird, a member of the crow family, is resident
along rocky coasts in Munster, as well as parts of Connaught and Ulster 

Dunlough Bay (plus two below)

Right to left: landslide, footbridge and lighthouse

The footbridge (and three pics below)

Lighthouse

Lighthouse and footbridge

At Ireland's most southerly point

An old shed

See also on this trip:

See also on this trip:

Light Lunch at Mary Ann's in Castletownsend

One Day in West Cork

Mizen Head Fascinates, even on a grey and windy day.

Reen Pier Magic. Day and Night.

Baltimore Children Learning The Waves.

Dining Well In Celtic Ross. Summer of '23.

West Cork in Brief

West Cork in Brief

Stay: Celtic Ross Hotel 

Dine: with Michelin Chef Dede at Customs House, Baltimore.

Barleycove Strand, near Mizen

Visit: Spectacular Mizen Head 

Head for the islands - there are dozens of them

Check out the local "wild" life

Visit Clonakilty or one of the many other towns and villages

or just put your feet up!