Cork, Ireland
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Ilnacullin
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250
XP
1 day
Glengarriff and Garnish Island: A Garden on an Island
250 XP
Ilnacullin, Garnish Island, in Glengarriff harbour, was bought from the War Office in 1910 by John Annan Bryce, a Belfast man, and Harold Peto designed its gardens; the mansion Peto drew for it was never built. Bryce's son Roland left the island to the Irish nation in 1953. George Bernard Shaw stayed, and there is a restored Martello tower from the Napoleonic Wars — straight-sided, like the others in Cork, rather than splayed at the base. Behind the village, Glengarriff Forest keeps some of the oldest and most extensive oak and birch woods left in Ireland.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Take the boat out to Garnish Island and walk Harold Peto's gardens
2
of 4
Climb to the Martello tower on the island
3
of 4
Walk the old oak and birch woods of Glengarriff Forest
4
of 4
Find out why the house Peto designed for the island was never built
Take the boat out to Garnish Island and walk Harold Peto's gardens
Climb to the Martello tower on the island
Walk the old oak and birch woods of Glengarriff Forest
Find out why the house Peto designed for the island was never built
Before you go
Garinish Island opens from late March to early November; Glengarriff Forest is walkable all year.
Garinish Island and its gardens open from late March to early November only, and the boats stop in bad weather — check sailings before you go. Glengarriff Forest is open all year.
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
Potential total
250 XP
Stop 3 of 6 · Bantry and Glengarriff
10 nights · 15 things to do · Ireland, Munster
Ten nights in a loop from Cork: Kinsale and Baltimore on the West Cork coast, Garnish Island at Glengarriff, Killarney's lakes, three nights in Dingle with the Blaskets, then Blarney and the English Market.
Stop 5 of 8 · Glengarriff and the Beara
12 nights · 20 things to do · Ireland, Munster
Twelve nights in a loop from Rosslare to Kerry and back: Cork Harbour and Kinsale, three nights in West Cork around Baltimore, Garnish Island and the Healy Pass, Killarney, then Cashel and Kilkenny.
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