Travel review: Hidden gem Garrison House in Elizabeth Fort is Cork's best-kept secret

"Beyond the historic walls (and a canon or two), an impressive courtyard opens up to reveal a terrace of barrack buildings which date from a century ago."

Elizabeth Fort

Could this be Cork City’s best kept accommodation secret? Garrison House, a former barrack townhouse property set within the grounds of one of Cork’s best heritage attractions, Elizabeth Fort, is a unique urban base under the stewardship of the Irish Landmark Trust, and this month, I went to pay a visit to what can justly be described as a true hidden gem within a hidden gem.

After arriving to the impressive attraction of Elizabeth Fort just off Barrack Street, I was welcomed to the site by house manager Geraldine O’Sullivan who rattled her key through the gate of the 17th-century fortress before ushering me in — you could say this is the most unique of check-ins!