• Jameson Distillery at Midleton, the home of Irish whiskey and the working heart of the industry
• Blarney Castle, and yes, you should kiss the stone, but stay for the gardens which are better than anyone tells you
• The English Market in Cork city, a covered food market running since 1788 and still the best lunch in Ireland
• Cobh, the harbour town where the Titanic made its final call, with a cathedral above it that looks unreal from the water
• Kinsale, a gourmet harbour village and one of the prettiest places on the south coast
• The Old Head of Kinsale and the coastal drives west toward West Cork

Midleton is not a museum with a still in it. It is the place where Jameson, Redbreast, Powers, Green Spot and the great single pot still whiskeys are made, and single pot still is Ireland's genuine contribution to world whiskey: a mash of malted and unmalted barley, triple distilled, and unlike anything else on earth.

If you take one whiskey lesson in Ireland, take it here. Our private day tour from Dublin includes a guided tasting, or we can build Cork into a longer southern route.

West Cork producers supply half the good restaurants in the country. The cheese alone justifies the trip. We build culinary days here with the makers themselves: cheesemongers, smokehouses, butchers who have been at the same counter for four decades, and chefs cooking food that would be famous anywhere else.