A Few of the Many Things to do in Clonakilty, West Cork

Known to the locals as “Clon”, Clonakilty is the multi-award-winning town and tourist hub in West Cork, renowned for its community spirit, warm welcome and numerous festivals; the ideal base for a West Cork holiday.

Food and drink:

Clonakilty is world famous for its Black Pudding. A great selection of eating establishments from coffee shops, through pubs to restaurants to suit every palate. The area has a large choice of gluten-free produce and can be obtained at the award-winning Scally’s SuperValu supermarket and elsewhere. Dairy produce and fish is high on the agenda in West Cork and there are many local farmhouse cheeses to try as well as the locally-landed catch of the day; not forgetting locally-made chocolate and ice cream.

There are so many great places to eat that, fortunately, Ballynoe House “market research” is never-ending. The local Clonakilty Brewery, opened in 2016, provides excellent craft beers named after local places and characters.

In summary: eat, drink and be happy!

For more information on local produce follow the favour.ie blog. There’s no better way to sample what the town has to offer than sign up for one of the Clonakilty Walking Food Tours.

Nearby Beaches to Ballynoe House:

Red Strand (3 mins or a 15-mins walk) – safe swimming, popular sandy beach with surfers

Long Strand, Rathbarry, Castlefreke & Kilkern – 5 mins (woods, dunes & beach walking)

Sands Cove – 10 mins walk to our local beach (swimming, snorkelling, occasional mobile sauna)

Inchydoney Beach – 10 mins. In 2016, voted for the third year in a row as the best beach in Ireland.

Dunnycove Beach – 20 mins walk or, a little further on, the little beach at Ballycusheen

Keameen Point – 10 mins walk (whale, dolphin, bird and boat watching)

Causeway at Clogheen – for birdwatching, especially waders at low tide (5 mins)