Courtmacsherry is a picturesque seaside
villageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town or city. Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in...
in
County CorkCounty Cork is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Munster, and was named after the city of Cork...
,
Province of MunsterMunster is a province of Ireland, located in the south-west of the island. The province is not used as an administration division as such, with the counties filling that role. Much of the area aside from Clare is represented internationally by the South constituency of the European Parliament...
,
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
, on the southwest coast. It is about 30 miles southwest of
CorkCork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster...
, and 30 minutes drive east from the town of
ClonakiltyClonakilty , often referred to by locals simply as Clon, is a small town in West County Cork, Ireland, approximately 45 minutes away by road to the west of Cork City. The town is on the southern coast of the island, and is surrounded by hilly country devoted primarily to dairy farming, the region...
. The village consists of a single long street on the south shore of Courtmacsherry Bay, with thick woods on rising ground behind. The woods (planted by the
Earl of ShannonEarl of Shannon is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1756 for the prominent Irish politician Henry Boyle, who served as Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and as Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer. He was made Viscount Boyle, of Bandon, and Baron Castle Martyr at the same time,...
in the late 18th century) continue beyond the village eastwards to the open sea, ending abruptly at Wood Point.
Courtmacsherry is a picturesque seaside
villageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town or city. Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in...
in
County CorkCounty Cork is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Munster, and was named after the city of Cork...
,
Province of MunsterMunster is a province of Ireland, located in the south-west of the island. The province is not used as an administration division as such, with the counties filling that role. Much of the area aside from Clare is represented internationally by the South constituency of the European Parliament...
,
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
, on the southwest coast. It is about 30 miles southwest of
CorkCork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster...
, and 30 minutes drive east from the town of
ClonakiltyClonakilty , often referred to by locals simply as Clon, is a small town in West County Cork, Ireland, approximately 45 minutes away by road to the west of Cork City. The town is on the southern coast of the island, and is surrounded by hilly country devoted primarily to dairy farming, the region...
. The village consists of a single long street on the south shore of Courtmacsherry Bay, with thick woods on rising ground behind. The woods (planted by the
Earl of ShannonEarl of Shannon is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1756 for the prominent Irish politician Henry Boyle, who served as Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and as Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer. He was made Viscount Boyle, of Bandon, and Baron Castle Martyr at the same time,...
in the late 18th century) continue beyond the village eastwards to the open sea, ending abruptly at Wood Point. Between the village and "The Point" the trees run right to the water's edge and there are several natural bathing coves along the way.
History
Around the time of the
Norman invasion of IrelandThe Norman invasion of Ireland was a Norman military expedition to Ireland that took place on 1 May 1169 at the behest of Dermot MacMurrough , the King of Leinster. It was partially consolidated by Henry II on 18 October 1171 and led to the eventual entry of the Lordship of Ireland into the Angevin...
the major townships in the area were those now known as
TimoleagueTimoleague is a village in County Cork, Ireland, located along Ireland's southern coast near Courtmacsherry. Clonakilty is to the west of the village. It is about 11 miles south of Bandon.-History:...
, Lislee, Barryroe and Dunworly. Among the Norman settlers were the De Barrys and the Hodnetts; the former built a castle at Timoleague, and the latter settled in Lislee. The Barrys flourished and gave their name to Barryroe, Rathbarry, etc., whereas the Hodnetts “degenerated into mere Irish”, one branch changing their name to MacSeafraidh (son of Geoffrey), subsequently anglicised to MacSherry or McSharry. Although Barrys and Hodnetts still live in the district, there are no McSherrys.
One, Patrick MacSeafraidh from Co. Antrim, a descendent of a Courtmacsherry Hodnett, emigrated to America in 1745 and founded
McSherrystownMcSherrystown is a borough in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,691 at the 2000 census.The headquarters of the popular Teddy Bear manufacturer Boyds Bears as well as the oldest operating family-run cigar manufacturer in the U.S. , F.X. Smith & Sons, are located in...
in
Adams CountyAdams County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2000 census, the population was 91,292. It was created on January 22, 1800, from part of York County and named in honor of the second President of the United States, John Adams...
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
.
Economy
The village's main industry consists of commercial and sport
fishingFishing is the activity of catching fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. A moderately sized
tourist industryTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other...
thrives during the summer months. There are several
beachA beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of a body of water. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, or cobblestones...
es nearby, namely Dunworley Strand, Moloney Strand, Broadstrand and Blind Strand. The village has a
hotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
and a
caravanIn North America the term recreational vehicle and its acronym, RV, are generally used to refer to a vehicle equipped with living space and amenities found in a home; they are sometimes called motorhomes. A recreational vehicle normally includes a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom and a living room...
park, catering mainly for visitors from Cork. There is also a small sailing school at the end of the village, known as the Courtmacsherry Water Sports Centre
link title. Two construction projects, the largest in several decades, were recently added at each end of the village. About half of this new housing is owner-occupied, the remainder being rented to visitors.
Courtmacsherry today
Entertainment can be found in the several bars and pubs in and around the village. Activities include sailing at the Courtmacsherry Water Sports Centre and horse-riding. There is also a festival at the end of July - beginning of August.
Courtmacsherry Strand races are taking place on Sunday July 12th.
The Courtmacsherry Whale
On 15th January 2009 an 18 metre fin whale was stranded and subsequently died on a beach in Courtmacsherry Harbour, opposite the fishing village of Courtmacsherry, after becoming disorientated and lured by unusually high tides. Frantic efforts were made by Courtmacsherry Lifeboat to get the whale back into the sea but a combination of its size, weight & location meant that attempts to save the whale's life were unsuccessful.
The whale was featured in a Channel 4 documentary "Inside Nature's Giants" which showed autopsies of large mammals.
Lifeboat
For over seventy years Courtmacsherry has harboured a
lifeboatThe meaning of lifeboat or motor lifeboat, for the purposes of this article, is that of 'a shore-based boat designed with special features for searching for, rescuing and saving the lives of people in peril at sea in inshore waters'. This is in contrast to a survival craft type of lifeboat that is...
station (formerly based at nearby Barry's Point) and its volunteer crews have performed many rescues. The most famous was in May 1915 when the lifeboat of the day (the
Ketzia Gwilt) rescued survivors of the
RMS LusitaniaRMS Lusitania was an ocean liner owned by the Cunard Line and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland, torpedoed by a German U-boat on 7 May 1915. The ship sank in 18 minutes, eight miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard...
sinking. Several famous lifeboatmen were involved on that fateful day. They were Tim Keohane (father of Antarctic explorer Patsy Keohane), John Murphy, and his son Jerry. The current Courtmacsherry lifeboat is the
Frederick Storey Coburn.
Transport & communications
- Nearest airport Cork Airport
- Courtmacsherry railway station on the Timoleague & Courtmacsherry Extension Light Railway opened on 23 April 1891, closed for passenger traffic on 24 February 1947 and for goods traffic on 10 March 1947, finally closing altogether on 1 April 1961. The line had three locomotives, Slaney, St. Molaga
The Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Light Railway, opened in April 1891, was originally operated by two locomotives, both from the Leeds works of the Hunslet Engine Company...
and ArgadeenThe Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Light Railway, opened in April 1891, was originally operated by two locomotives, both from the Leeds works of the Hunslet Engine Company, named Slaney and St. Molaga. These two were joined by a third locomotive, again from Hunslet in 1894...
.
See also
External links
- Local village website
- http://www.rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/ireland/stations/CourtmacsherryHarbourCork
- http://www.courtmachotel.com Courtmacsherry Hotel