The little town of Courtmacsherry in Co. Cork is a picturesque tourist village with pretty looking multi-coloured houses visible on the way into the town from Timoleague.
This makes the attitude of the people we met there all the more confusing. We parked in the middle of the town, Jacinta wanted to check out a pottery shop, and walked with Oscar down the road. We passed by several people, mostly tourists by their clothes, and unusually, they kept their heads down watching the ground and never said “hello” or even commented on Oscar! We’re used to people stopping us and asking about him so this was disconcerting.
Later on we rested on the wall of the harbour and a few people did greet us thankfully.
The image was processed using two layers. One for the sky and the other for the ground. Sky was burned heavily to bring out the clouds while the ground was dodged and brightened with the Curves tool.
I’ve geotagged this photo on Flickr. Works well enough. It even knew where “courtmacsherry ireland” was!
| Aperture | ƒ/13 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/320s |
25 replies on “Courtmacsherry Dead End”
corksurf has posted a comment:
Ah CourtMac, the drinking village with a fishing problem 🙂
Wow, I like this image and all the “extras” that go with today’s post.
click_click has posted a comment:
lol – Nice shot, good perspective. cheers for the background, oh and welcome to the world of maps 🙂
What a shot! I went fishing with my dad there when I was about 12. Fantastic time.
I am not Irish but I am living in courtmac for over 6 years now and think the people there are just fantastic. 6 years ago not many foreign people were to be spotted around little villages like this. Yet I and many after me (English, German, Dutch, Belgian) have been welcomed by the local people like I haven’t experienced it anywhere else. I recommend to go and visit again when the ‘locals’ are out and about. Best chance to meet them is in the pubs during the WE. The tourist season can be fun ’cause there’s more ‘going on’ but you will merely meet tourists. In the winter with a bit of luck – and after some drinks – you’ll end up taking part in a good oldfashioned all-curtains-closed music and singing session, but they have good bands and parties too by times.
Courtmac is a fantastic place, A get away from it all type of place. The local people are lovely and you can join in or be left alone. Its full of hidden surprises, lovely walks and a summer festival which brings you back to good old fashon family fun. Its a place where Government ministers can holiday and people will leave them alone!
I recently visited with some American friends and it was during the summer festival, we entered a crab fishing competition and came second, everyone is a winner, and it was sponsored by the local shop Rits’a so sweets for everyone. The festival also has welly(rubber boot) trowing compeition where you have a better chance of being hit by a flying welly then actually trowing one, slow cycle race, slippery pole,pillow fights and chalk drawing on the pavement are only a small sample of the activities lined up each year in august. A Shop, Hotel and a number of pubs make this a unspoilt little town where the local residents and council take pride in the town and keep it in great order, and a little old lady called Peggy walks around picking up papers 24/7. A busy little pier with daily boat trips for fishing and rental and a local sailing school where you can rent sailboats and the like and you might even get given out to if you dont say please and thankyou. Rory Conlon a casual visitor.
[…] previously mentioned this mapping system here but it’s worth another look if you missed that post. Tags: Canon 1D MKIII, Cork, Flickr, […]
Courtmacsherry. Don’t go there it’s horrible, (actually it’s lovely and we would love to keep it that way). There is nearly always something going on….annual horse racing on the beach, the week long festival and regatta with out and out family fun, the annual Story-telling festival with stories being told in all the bars, culminating in the Concert in the hotel, the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Couple all this with lovely beaches and walks, canoe, fishing and sail boat hire, world renowned fishing and most of all a friendly atmosphere.
What a lovely shot! Nice touch, indeed!
Great shot! I noticed that you mentioned the annual horse racing on the beach. Do you happen to have any photos from this for us to view?
i dont understand.
We have visited Courtmac since 2001 and have found this to be one of the most charming places in all of Ireland…so much so that if we could afford it, we would retire there! We have typically visited in late May-June and while there are not the high numbers of tourists, the local folks are quite open to conversation if one appears open to them. What we found that worked well for us is to visit the same pub during the week from about 9:30 on and we might meet some of the same folks making a friendly contact with repeated visits. Our origin from the South of the US(currently) makes it all the more likely to greet folks with a hello in passing on the street (singular). Please reconsider revisiting this most charming town and give it another chance. It’s too great an opportunity to pass.
Greeting someone with a “Hey, y’all,” alway invokes interest among the locals who are very interested in the fact that this is the most common greeting among the locals in Emerald Isle, NC. I must say, however, that the local knowledge of “grits and country ham” is truly woeful. ;0) Even though a Yankee transplant to Dixie, I have found the people in Courtmac very similar to my native Ohioans…willing to talk to anybody given the opportunity.(Jack Huber)
We first visited Courtmacsherry in 1994, staying in one the old Coastguard Cottages above the village. The views out across the bay were spectacular and the general surroundings so peaceful and quiet we began to return year after year. Now, years later we have a small house in the village and spend as much time there as possible, away from the hustle and bustle of City life in England.
My wife and I visited Courtmacsherry in 1979 and were only going to stay one day. We ended up staying four. We had a great time. I am a singer of Irish songs, and I sang every night in Patsy Coveneys Bar (long renamed, I would think), and was received very well. This was one of my life’s ambitions, and was fulfilled wonderfully. Love to go back one day.
lovely village, most locals are very nice. unfortuanatly lots of them talk behind your back (and in no small way either) SO WETHER YOU SPENT YOUR WELL EARNED MONEY SUPPORTING THE LOCAL BUSSINUSSES (beside 3 pubs 1 hotel and 1 small shop) no appreciation is left. when you come back next year they pretend to love you, but watch your back!!!
I love the photo too AND the comments!!! QUESTION: Can anybody comment – I want to go with family (2 teenagers) and may a couple of other family members to EITHER Courtmacsherry or Rosscarbery for one month in June and get a feel for village life the best we can. DOES ANYONE HAVE A PREFERRED VILLAGE? Thanks..
The Courtmacsherry Hotel is a gem. Great Guinness, wonderful food and very friendly staff. If you want to meet the locals go to one of the pubs in the evening and have a sing with them.
We come back every year. See you in a few days!
Whats the name of the little pottery/craft shop in the village ?
hi ya it is called the golden pheasant. i know cause i am from courtmac. come back any time. c ya from ann
Peter Wolstenholme is the potter who runs the pottery shop, which is near rhe pier. There’s another crafts + cafe shop at the other end on the village called the Golden Pheasant.
Courtmacsherry is the most friendly and welcoming village in Ireland and does not deserve such a negative and frankly completely uninformed and petty article and article heading and photograph like this on the web – go back with Oscar and Jacinta and actually speak with the locals and give yourself and the village a proper chance to show themselves in their true light …
Good for you David. Courtmac is wonderful. It’s too bad that people get snarky, sometimes just based on one visit. I’m a Yank and I can’t wait to go back and I think about it daily! I hope to one day “settle in” to Courtmac and area for 2-3 months every year.
My Mum was born in Courtmac and we as a family spent long and lovely summer hols there in the 50’s and 60’s. Smashing place – even though my Mum is now passed away – will go back time and time again. I found you can’t walk down the road – without someone saying hi and talking to you and being really NICE
courtmac is a wonderful and amazing place to visit. My father and grandparents were born there and i come back year after year to visit a village that holds my roots. the people are lovely, the food and pubs have you coming back for more and the cove at the end of the woods is lovely, i take my kids there each year. Well worth a visit for anyone