Southwest Ireland

• 🌍 Cork is the region's large and lively city, with lots to see and do, and nearby historic Blarney and Cobh.
• 🌍 Mallow exemplifies lowland Cork, with the race-track and castle ruins.
• 🌍 Kinsale has two forts guarding its historic harbour; it's the south end of the Wild Atlantic Way.
• 🌍 Bantry is a good base for all three of Cork's main peninsulas.
• 🌍 Tralee the county town of Kerry has a well-preserved 19th century centre.
• 🌍 Killarney is a very scenic place, with the lakeside castle and mountains rearing up beyond.
• 🌍 Portmagee is the usual starting point for boats to Skellig Michael.

• 🌍 Dingle Peninsula is the most northern of this region's five major peninsulas. Its chain of mountains culminate in Mount Brandon, near the main village of Dingle.
• 🌍 Ring of Kerry is the name given to the 214 km circuit of Iveragh Peninsula. Trips usually start from Killarney.
• 🌍 Skellig Michael is the most remarkable but the hardest to reach of the region's many islands. A medieval monastic complex teeters on its twin peaks, 12 km out in the Atlantic.

Great tides of influx and emigration have marked this region - and they literally were tides for the earliest settlers landing in small coves and creeks to populate the lowlands. Celtic tribes coalesced into petty kingdoms then into the entity of Munster. Vikings and Normans staked their claims but didn't get much beyond Cork before being repulsed, so it was only in Tudor times that England took a grip. Munster in the 12th century had fractured into a north and south kingdom: Deasmhumhain or South Munster, hence "Desmond", resisted long and hard until subdued in the 16th century. It only remained to divvy up the best of the land to loyal English nobles, which was how Sir Walter Raleigh came to be mayor and landowner in the east of County Cork through into Waterford.

The rugged southwest was ignored: by boat you could get around it or go fishing but inland had poor farming and no mineral resources, all it was good for was breaking your cart axles. It had a precarious, subsistence way of life even in the good years, so the famine years struck very hard. Those who could, fled. Population outflow continued even after the famine, as much by "pull" of the British and North American city economies as by the "push" of poverty. It was for those emigrants that Titanic called at Cobh westbound.

What brought people back was tourism. This was attempted as early as 1750, but it only took off in the 19th century with the arrival of the railways, the growth of a middle class with time and income for leisure, and the Romantic movement which re-painted a barren, stony landscape as fine scenery. Postcards, railway posters and tea-towels publicised the area, and the Irish diaspora became its ambassadors. Cork, Blarney Castle, Killarney and its lakes, and the Ring of Kerry, all became established on the tourist circuit, and they still are.

• Cork highlights include St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Shandon bells, the public museum, Fota wildlife park and Barryscourt Castle.
• Youghal is an old walled port at the east edge of County Cork where Sir Walter Raleigh was once mayor.
• Glengarriff is the unlikely spot for Italianate gardens, reached by a short boat ride.
• Killarney is the tourist capital of Kerry. It's got the lot: a well-repaired castle by the lake, an atmospherically shabby abbey, grand gardens and a museum of country life, Ogham stones inscribed with runes, and Ireland's highest mountains rearing up to the west.
• Prehistoric sites are clustered near Dingle. Ardfert near Tralee is an extensive early Christian site, but the most remarkable is isolated Skellig Michael.

• Boat trips: Fungie the dolphin is no more, but he sparked wildlife tourism in this region. Dolphins, porpoises, orcas and basking sharks patrol the coasts.
• Kiss the Blarney Stone, or to be historically faithful, just invent a whopper about doing so.
• Go to the races at Mallow, Listowel or Killarney.
• Hike: Mount Brandon above Dingle is one of many scenic ascents, the culmination of an ancient pilgrim trail.
• The Wild Atlantic Way is a long-distance motoring and cycling route along the entire western seaboard of Ireland. See county and city pages for more detail, but basically if you follow the coast you're on the right track.

• Cork has the widest selection. The best of the rest of County Cork are Max's in Kinsale, An Súgán in Clonakilty, Customs House in Baltimore, O'Connors in Bantry, Breen's in Castletownbere and Ballymaloe House near Midleton.
• Kerry eating is often pub meals, but Killorglin has two good restaurants, Bianconi's and Jack's.
• Catch it if you can: Cable & Co is a shocking pink food truck on Valentia Island.
• Mulcahy's and Lime Tree in Kenmare get great reviews.

• Lots of village pubs in County Kerry, the most unusual being "The South Pole" in Annascaul, founded by the Antarctic explorer Tom Crean.
• Kerry has breweries in Killarney, Kenmare, Portmagee, and Ballyferriter near Dingle. There are distilleries in Dingle and Caherciveen, and one a-building in Portmagee.
• Cork city has a wide selection of pubs. Moby Dick's pub in Youghal was used as a base and location in the 1956 film Moby Dick.
• The best known distillery in County Cork is Jameson's in Midleton. Others are in Kinsale, Skibbereen and Cape Clear Island off Baltimore.

Natural hazards are the wild Atlantic, large lakes, and mountains where the mist or sleet can suddenly descend upon you.

But the biggest hazards are man-made, so always beware traffic, safeguard valuables and steer clear of louts.

• County Clare north across the Shannon has old castles and abbeys inland, cliffs along its coast, and the sparse haunting Burren uplands.
• Limerick city is a lively miniature Dublin, with lots of sights and visitor amenities.
• County Limerick is often overlooked, but there's picturesque Adare, a flying boat museum at Foynes, and a prehistoric complex at Lough Gur.
• County Waterford is lush lowland country, with a fine castle at Lismore, and the rich heritage of Waterford, Ireland's oldest city.