In And Around Newmarket Town, Co. Cork, Ireland
July 20, 2009
County Cork, Ireland must be one of the most splendid areas of a beautiful country, and the small market town of Newmarket is one of its typical market towns.
Newmarket town – or, in the traditional Irish tongue, Áth Trasna – the intersection at the ford, is in the Barony of Duhallow, in the north-west of Co. Cork. Surrounded by Limerick and Kerry, and with the famous Blackwater river running close by, full of its tasty salmon, it is a section of Ireland that you would be crazy to not visit.
The town of Newmarket itself, with barely 2,500 inhabitants, perfectly suits the adjective ‘sleepy’ almost as well as anywhere in the country – unless you get to be passing through after an extremely vital G.A.A. Victory, when the town’s own anthem, Up Up Newmarket, will be heard – they take their sport tremendously seriously here.
Situated on a valley surrounded by the foothills of the Mulmuaghreirk Mountains, where Fionn (the legendary Finn McCool) chased the wild boar and the stag, Newmarket also has numerous amusing pre-historic sites near it – a cairn, gallauns (boundary stones) and forts. It is, indeed, a place soaked in Irish history; John Philpot Curran was born here and his daughter, Sarah, was the ladylove of rebel head Robert Emmet. Just outside the town is the splendid Island Wood, that contains the Twelve Apostles Tree – it has 12 smaller trunks extending from out of its main trunk. This unfrequented wooded area, with the River Dalua, full of salmon and trout, drifting splendidly through it, is an aptly popular place for silent contemplation.
The Island Wood in Newmarket town, Co. Cork, in fact, has been blended into a 100-mile walk known as the Duhallow Trail, investigating this extremely quiet part of the world, and passing though Newmarket itself. Other especially remarkable features of the trail are the attractive town of Kanturk and its famous castle, owned by An Taisce – The Irish National Trust and a splendid building. At the adjacent graveyard of Clonfert, there is a poignant, small Celtic cross marking the massed burial site of scores of victims of the Great Famine.
In Newmarket itself you will notice the lively James O’Keefe Institute – originally a place of residence built in 1725 for the Aldworth family, a member of which had formed the town a century earlier. it is now a flourishing centre for the local community.
There are no hotels in Newmarket, Co. Cork, though there are many nice guesthouses or places offering Bed and Breakfast in the area. K.D.’s Fast Food, has a good name for the quality of its menu and its breezy ambience and there are other locations where you can find delicious food, such as Marie’s Restaurant, in the Main Street. It is certainly a town where you can be guaranteed of a true, warm Munster welcome.
Co. Cork has a whole array of splendid attractions for visitors. The historic city of Cork itself is justifiably world acclaimed. The superb blue flag beaches of Ballybunnion are close to hand. Blarney Castle and Killarney are just a brief drive away. And there are amazingly exotic golf links courses, lakes, mountains and rivers.
Situated on the R576, at its junction with the R578, Newmarket, one of County Cork’s hidden treasures, should be part of everyone’s agenda when they’re in Ireland’s southwestern corner.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.