Beautiful vistas surround an upgraded traditional farmhouse located on a craggy promontory deep in West Cork, writes Tommy Barker.

Several Irish islands are connected to the mainland by an isthmus as if the shore can’t bear to let them go — an umbilical cord that ties them to the shore till time erodes the link and renders it a ‘true’ island.

You have crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a ship to Ireland. You are tired and hungry and desperate to deliver your expensive cargo to port.

Kedge Island is unpopulated but is home to a myriad of seabirds.

My summer holidays as a child were spent in a cottage in Blackwater village near Wexford. We used to spend a lot of time on a farm opposite, helping out or hiding in the haybarn or diving in haystacks.

This bank holiday weekend, many people will be out on coastal headlands, hoping to catch a glimpse of whales, dolphins, porpoises, and other ocean residents.

Aileen Lee meets artist Ian Humphreys

Setting off from Drishane House, Peter Dowdall explores West Cork’s very own Gardens of Eden.

One of The Menu’s most favourite epicurean experiences takes place each year in the wonderfully welcoming surrounds of Knockranny House Hotel where some conglomeration of winemakers assembles for a weekend of tastings, masterclasses and a wonderful dinner from chef Seamus Commons, complementing these liquid wares.

Five of Ireland’s well-known figures discuss where they holidayed as children, whether the memories are all good, and where they’re going now. By Arlene Harris.

Even if only 73 students sat Latin in the leaving certificate last week, that old phrase — in vino veritas — still rings true.

A West Cork man who denied fracturing his best friend’s cheekbone with a punch to the face on a night out in Union Hall sent a text saying: “Hey lad, sorry about last night. I don’t know what happened. I’ll pay your hospital bill. Sorry.”

Irish Water says it is facing another 12 legal actions against it by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has already taken it to court on 16 occasions.

It’s a time of year for nice surprises and Margaret O’Driscoll of the Neonatal Unit at Cork University Maternity Hospital was on the receiving end when she was rewarded for her work, not least for her efforts with a premature baby boy.

Some 20 commercial property lots and investments in Cork, worth in excess of €4.5 million combined, plus 18 residential properties, will feature in the major c 315 lot Bid X1 online auction next month, November 9 and 10, in which €50-60 million in activity is expected to be generated nationally.

The Castlehaven wildflower show was displaying in glorious Technicolor last Sunday, only better than any camera lens or Photoshop could contrive, writes Damien Enright. 

One of Cork’s most beautiful ‘Big Houses’ is to appear in the popular RTÉ TV series Lords and Ladles.

A West Cork delight, says Tommy Barker

The Menu has always found Castletownshend in West Cork an intriguing spot and relishes the prospect of an evening there for some fine dining courtesy of one of his most beloved chefs, Caitlin Ruth, of Deasy’s Harbour Bar & Restaurant.

Extensively refurbished by its UK-based Irish owner, this home had been on the market last year priced at just over €1m.

"Try to keep it simple. Try to keep it classical, so that it won’t date and you won’t get tired of it," says Terry O'Driscoll.

This restored farmhouse called Providence Manor, is according to local legend, one of the West Cork safe houses where Michael Collins found shelter during the war of Independence.

Noel Baker samples the laid-back atmosphere in Skibbereen’s luxury haunt for visiting celebrities. Even Luke Skywalker has been a guest...

John Kelly is an artist. His father is from Cork, and mother from Bristol. The family emigrated to Australia in 1965, the year of John’s birth. Kelly has lived in all three countries and for the past decade has resided in West Cork. This week, his exhibition, John Kelly: A Group Show, will open at Uillinn in Skibbereen.

AT THE western fringes of Co Galway at the hamlet of Claddaghduff an old road leads down to a beach. 

Best known for her role in Mrs Brown’s Boys, Eilish O’Carroll is enjoying a new lease of life in her 60s as she embraces her past heartaches and sexuality, says Margaret Jennings.

In the summer of 1991 Paul Clements hitchhiked the coastline of Ireland for his first travel book. Twenty-five years on, he retraced his footsteps for a new book based on a journey along the Wild Atlantic Way – this time by car and bike, on foot and on horseback

A man is being treated in Cork University Hospital (CUH) after surviving a 21m cliff fall on the Cork coast.

It must be hard keeping up with the Joneses down around West Cork’s chi-chi Castletownshend. 

The Mexican Environment Secretary, Rafael Pacchia, says that the number of monarch butterflies hibernating in his country will be three to four times greater this winter than it has been in recent years, writes Richard Collins

A REALLY posh new book celebrating Irish food and cooking has just arrived on my desk. HOME: Recipes from Ireland is Trish Deseine’s new book, and it feels like a love letter to her home country.

I WAS gratified to hear that my grandson and his girlfriend, visiting our West Cork home from the UK, were fortunate enough to witness spectacular whale behaviour when they went on a whale watch trip with Colin Barnes from Reen Pier, near Castletownshend.

And so, back to reality. Irish fans returned home yesterday, some bleary-eyes and a little bedraggled, but all filled with optimism after a thumping World Cup win against Canada.

A massive expansion plan for the country’s premier whitefish port will have a significant economic impact on the fishing sector in the West Cork region, Deputy Noel Harrington believes.

Tommy Barker says Castletownsend’s Tot’s Cottage has something different going on behind its facade.