In the Press: Walking West Cork and the Sheep's Head Way

Australia's leading outdoor publication, Australian Geographic Adventure, recently sent writer Daniel Scott and his teenage daughter on a slow travel journey through Ireland's County Cork - and the results make for a very compelling read.

Scott's account takes in Cork city, the gourmet enclave of Kinsale, a sea safari along the Old Head of Kinsale, seaweed baths in Ballylickey and, of course, the wild and wonderfully unpredictable Sheep's Head Peninsula, where he attempted a two-day hike in trainers and paid a predictable price. The article is warm, witty and full of the kind of practical colour that only comes from actually being there.

>> Read the full article in Australian Geographic Adventure

About the Walk

In the southwest corner of Ireland, the Sheep's Head Peninsula stretches into the Atlantic — a hidden gem of unspoiled beauty and one of Ireland's most beautiful coastal walking destinations. This narrow finger of land, warmed by the Gulf Stream, offers spectacular seascape hiking away from the crowds, with Bantry Bay to the north and Dunmanus Bay to the south.

Sheep's Head Waymark | Joshua McMichael

This six-day self-guided journey follows the best sections of the Sheep's Head Way, beginning in Bantry, home to the region's famous mussels. The trail winds west along rugged coastal paths before crossing the peninsula and returning east through Ahakista, leading back to grand Bantry House and Gardens. Along the way you will pass lighthouses, old copper mines, abandoned villages and the ruins of a school for Gaelic poets dating back to medieval times.

The area is rich in history too. It was here, in 1796, that Napoleon's second French Armada arrived in Bantry Bay, intending to join with Irish Republicans to overthrow English rule - only to be forced back by ferocious Atlantic gales. As Irish revolutionary Theobald Wolf Tone lamented, they were "near enough to toss a biscuit ashore."

Bantry Town, County Cork | Eileen Coffey

The balmy Gulf Stream climate supports an abundance of local food - fresh fish, artisan cheeses, country markets and the famous Bantry Bay mussels. With a vibrant arts and culture scene and the warmest of Irish welcomes, this is a corner of Ireland that stays with you.

>> View West Cork and the Sheep's Head Way

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