Spotlight on Bia Beirut at Mahon Point Farmers Market, also Ballintubber Farm, Gubbeen and Emerald Mushrooms.

Spotlight on Bia Beirut at Mahon Point Farmers Market, also Ballintubber Farm, Gubbeen and

Don’t know your freekeh from your fattoush? Your maftoul from your mansaf? No worries. Jibrin has the answers.

Don’t know your freekeh from your

Anyone Remember Collecting Sardines At George's Quay, Cork (1950s)?

Collecting Sardines at George's Quay, Cork (1950s)

Both well dressed! Illustration AI generated.

No sardines today (July 2025)

Recently, while walking back from lunch at Izz Café, with our Basbouseh dessert safely boxed, we paused at the quay wall just opposite. Here, the steps that run down to the water revived memories for CL. Back in the 50s, she would be sent down from a nearby street on a special errand. At a specific time, a small boat would pull in, its floor covered in sardines. She paid a few pence, maybe a "tanner" (6 pence). The man wrapped the tasty little fishes in newspaper, and she made her way home to her Nana (a sardine lover, "bones and all").

CUSH CELEBRATES ITS MOVE TO MIDLETON WITH GRAND OPENING. To open five days a week due to demand.

press release 

CUSH CELEBRATES ITS MOVE TO MIDLETON WITH GRAND OPENING

Grilled Castletownbere cod, new season heirloom tomatoes, pomme paillasson, vadouvan spiced lobster sauce.

Pic: @corkbilly

Award winning East Cork eatery plans to open five days a week due to demand.

Look out too for new

The Food Club, the café at Fota House

"The Food Club", the café at Fota House

Reuben

In an impressive room, with a high ceiling and eye-catching timber beams, you’ll find The Food Club, the seasonal café at Fota House. 

The height of the vaulted ceiling gives a sense of spaciousness and adds visual appeal. The room can comfortably seat about 35 diners and there is plenty of room outside if you fancy

THE METROPOLE HOTEL UNVEILS MAJOR REFURBISHMENT OF GROUND FLOOR AND BALLROOMS

media release

THE METROPOLE HOTEL UNVEILS MAJOR REFURBISHMENT OF GROUND FLOOR AND BALLROOMS

Pictured are Carmel Lonergan, Director of Group Operations, Trigon Hotels; Aaron Mansworth, Managing Director, Trigon Hotels, Taoiseach Micheál Martin; Lord Mayor Cllr Fergal Dennehy; and Louise McNamara, General Manager, Metropole Hotel. Photo: Colm Lougheed

The Metropole Hotel has officially unveiled a major r

Fashion, Fine Dining, and Iconic Style: Unmissable Fashion Show Returns to Newbridge Silverware this September.

media release

Fashion guru, fashion editor and stylist, Mandy Maher, photographed on the right with media personality,
Noel Cunningham and celebrity stylist to the stars, Marietta Doran, at the announcement.
Conor Healy / Picture It Photography 

Fashion, Fine Dining, and Iconic Style: Unmissable Fashion Show Returns to Newbridge Silverware this September

 

One of Ireland’s most anticipated fashion events returns this

Best of Both Worlds. Fitzpatrick Hotel Collection Launches a New Package to enjoy the coast of the capital and a country escape

press release

 Best of Both Worlds

Fitzpatrick Hotel Collection Launches a

Visiting West Cork's renowned highlights? Schull's Harbour Hotel is a superb, comfortable, and central base.

Visiting West Cork's renowned highlights?

Schull's Harbour Hotel is a superb, comfortable, and central base. 

Outstanding chocolate dessert at Schull Harbour Hotel

Schull Harbour Hotel, superbly located right in the

A Walk on the spectacular Sheep's Head, and lunch in Arundel's By The Pier.

 A Walk on the spectacular Sheep's Head.

 Lunch in Arundel's By The Pier.

Looking down from Seefin (where there is parking available), towards Kilcrohane village,
with Dunmanus Bay beyond.

Easy does it!

This Peakeen #57 was one of a few way-markers we passed on our short Seefin walk, a part
of a much longer trek. There are many walking choices in this beautiful part of Ireland.
That's Dunmanus Bay in the background.

Twenty-second video taken high up by Seefin on the Sheep's

Head Peninsula. It starts with a view down to Dunmanus Bay

 on the right, then a sweep over the land

 to Bantry Bay on your left.

Arundel's By The Pier. By the way, it is a very short distance from the pier.
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.

This hake and chips was excellent, after a long wait. Had been expecting to see more fresh fish on the Arundel's menu. They did have smoked salmon and two variations of mussel dishes, no other fish.
There is a green grassy area with a few tables (same type as in the pic above) across the road, but in answer to a few queries from incoming customers, they said they couldn't serve people there. We walked over after lunch and found just one other couple there, and they were more intent on sunbathing. 

The pier by Arundel's

Also on this trip:

Mizen Head

Garinish Island

Schull Harbour Hotel

Sheep's Head Peninsula

An Evening in support of UNICEF's Children of Gaza Appeal at Rare Restaurant, Kinsale

 An Evening in support of UNICEF's 

Children of Gaza Appeal at Rare Restaurant, Kinsale

Chef Meeran Manzoor

On July 31st, Rare at Blue Haven will host a fundraising event for UNICEF Ireland’s Children of Gaza Appeal

Meeran Manzoor, Executive Chef,  and his team at Rare will host a special evening in Kinsale on July 31st, with all proceeds from the night donated directly to UNICEF Ireland’s Children of Gaza Appeal. It’s a unique opportunity for guests to revisit Rare or experience the Michelin Guide-recognised restaurant for the first time, all in support of a worthy cause.

Meeran Manzoor, Executive Head Chef at Rare at Blue Haven, said, “We are really looking forward to welcoming guests for this dinner seating as it's a night to enjoy a thoughtfully curated dining experience by our team at Rare while giving back. Every cent of the evening's proceeds from food will go directly to UNICEF Ireland's Children of Gaza Appeal. We hope you’ll join us in supporting this vital cause.”

Guests will enjoy the seasonal tasting menu curated by Meeran and his team, showcasing the finest West Cork produce. The menu reflects Meeran’s signature style, a thoughtful blend of South Indian heritage and European culinary technique, expressed through hyper-local dishes crafted from the finest peak-season ingredients.

Guests can book from 5:30 pm to 7:45 pm on July 31st to support the fundraising evening. Booking can be made via www.rare1784.ie or by calling 021 4772 209.

Rare at The Blue Haven is located in The Blue Haven Collection, Pearse Street, Kinsale, Co Cork,

P17 NA72. Keep up to date with the latest news by following Rare on social at @rarekinsale

media release

Cocktail ace Joe Timbrell announced as new General Manager at Elbow Lane

Cocktail ace Joe Timbrell announced as new General Manager at Elbow Lane.

Timbrell, 34, from Innishannon, West Cork, has been with the business for 8 years and has worked his way up from barman to his current position on this young team. Over the years, he has developed and expanded the restaurant's cocktail list and created Elbow Lane's Amaretto. Called Joe's Amaretto, it took a Silver at the World Spirits Awards last year. (This is the primary ingredient in the restaurant's signature cocktail: 'The Sweet, The Smoked and The Sour'.)


This is one of the experimental new drink developments at Elbow Lane. The brewery also collaborates with local brewers and distillers to develop a host of new beers for its diners such as a gin barrel-brewed beer with Rebel Distillery called Skiddys Sour. In addition, the restaurant also houses a fermentary, which experiments with the by-products of the brewery to create new flavours on the menu.


The restaurant has won a slew of awards, including Best Casual Dining Munster, Best Employer in the Food & Drink industry and Best Restaurant Manager. Critics regularly mention it as one of the top 100 restaurants in Ireland. It is part of the progressive Market Lane Restaurant Group, which also includes Market Lane, goldie, ORSO and The Blackrock Castle Cafe.




"I am really looking forward to working with the fabulous team here at Elbow Lane to create memorable food experiences for our guests," says Timbrell. "I would like to build on the strong foundations laid down by my predecessors to provide top quality local produce and excellent service sustainably and to keep bringing new and interesting flavours to the people of Cork and beyond".


For further information, click on www.elbowlane.ie

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