Ireland: West Cork Rowing

Arrival in Cork. There is a lot to enjoy in Ireland’s second largest city. History and culture is everywhere to experience, perhaps best done by strolling the distinct districts and sampling its food and pubs. But leave room for our welcome dinner with a briefing for the week ahead.

The rowing begins. After breakfast, we will explore Cork from the River Lee, out of a base at Shandon Boat Club or an alternate location in the area. The tides and wind will determine the final itinerary, but we should be able to row both upriver through the downtown as well as heading downriver towards Cobh. This is the setting for the famous, or maybe we should say infamous, Ocean to City race. Originally conceived as a traditional fixed boat race, modeled after London’s Great River Race, all manner of rowing shells are now welcomed. There is a real history of hard rowing in this area! Our paddle will be significantly more relaxing, followed by a pleasant lunch. Relax for the rest of the afternoon, with dinner on your own.

The Bandon River rises in the Shehy Mountains in west Cork and flows east through Dunmanway, Ballineen, Enniskeane, Bandon and Innishannon to Kinsale Harbour.  We will commence our journey at Innishannon and meander through the countryside, for around 15km, until we reach the sea at Kinsale.

We will tour the inner and outer harbour capturing amazing views of this historic Irish town. Kinsale is either at the start or end of the Wild Atlantic Way, depending on your direction of travel. It is often referred to as the gourmet capital of Ireland, and is famous for its scenic harbour and yachting marina, narrow streets with quaint colourful shops, restaurants, art galleries. History is evident with the solid presence of Charles Fort and stories swirling around the Battle of Kinsale.

We will drive in the morning to get to West Cork. A rowing tour of West Cork would not be complete without experiencing the open water of the Atlantic Ocean and where better to set off from than Courtmacsherry Rowing Club located at the mouth of Courtmacsherry Harbour.

Courtmacsherry is a gorgeous fishing village nestled amongst the coves and beaches of the Seven Heads Peninsula. Maritime history is central to the village. The first lifeboat was established in Courtmacsherry in 1825 – one of the first to be found in Ireland. Over 100 years ago, the crew of the RNLI lifeboat Kweiza Gwilt rowed for more than three hours to make it to the sinking of the Lusitania. Courtmacsherry was also home to adventurers, down through the years. A local man Patrick Keohane, was part of R.F. Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica. After our row and exploration, we travel on to Baltimore and settle in for the rest of the tour. 

Today we row between the Skibbereen Rowing Club and Baltimore. The clubhouse is a modest building for the fabulous success that it can claim. Our coastal rowing quads will be waiting for us here. We will launch and row down River Ilen to the sea. Timing the tides just right means that we can take a lovely little branch of the river, only passable at high tide. We will row the boats to Baltimore. We will wrap up the day with a walk to the Baltimore Beacon, also known as Lot’s Wife, guarding the headland. Alternately we might begin in Baltimore and end in Skibbereen, all depending on tide and water conditions. Dinner is on your own tonight.

Today is our opportunity to enjoy the local waters of Baltimore on this Ireland rowing tour. We will explore the Carbery Islands, rowing around Sherkin, Heir and the Sceams. We will be able to land on various beaches, with our non-rowing friends joining us by ferry for a picnic lunch. Once the boats are back and washed, it is a short stroll from the harbour up to Bushe’s Bar. It is packed to the hilt with seafaring paraphernalia. There are amazing photos and terrific maps including one that lights up the lighthouse that flash at the same pace as the real ones do – or so we are told. A fond farewell dinner tonight in a restaurant by the sea.

After a final Irish breakfast, we will transport the group to Cork airport. From there it is also easy to get to the train station or other destinations. We hope that you enjoyed this taste of Irish river and coastal rowing!