Cork

The first thing to be said is that, after the wilds of Kerry, the countryside in Cork is quite ordinary. It seems to be a more populated county and most of the countryside, that I've seen, is farmland. The fields are green, of course, but the fencing is different to what I've seen elsewhere - more use of trees and wire rather than the stone walls I've become used to.
There's just as much history here though - stone circles in particular. There are apparently about a hundred of them in the Cork region but I've only seen a couple.



I'm currently in Kinsale on the south coast. Very pretty harbour town. The Spanish Armada was sent here in the late 1500s as part of the war between England and Spain. Ireland, being a Catholic country, was happy to support the Spanish. There's a small peninsula not far from here, called Old Head, which is where the Lusitania was sunk during WW1. There's a lighthouse down there too but you can only get close enough to view it if you're a member of the golf club. The whole Old Head area is now a private golf course so there's no access to the lighthouse and coast for plebs like me. The locals and, of course, tourists are very unhappy with this situation but the golf club doesn't care. Pfftt!!



I'm currently sitting in the bar of the White Lady hotel in Kinsale. The football is on the TV. First game of the finals: Saints V Geelong. Replay of last year's Grand Final. Hoping for a different result this year!

GO SAINTS!!!!!!!!!