Glandore

Glandore gets its name from Cuan D’Ór which may mean harbour of gold or harbour of oaks. The former name is apt as this is known in West Cork as Millionaires Row featuring over the years the holiday homes of Heinz President Tony O’Reilly as well as British PM Jim Callaghan and his daughter Baroness Jay.

Presided over by three mansions built by the Allen family known as the three sisters it is with Union Hall and Leap one of a troika of villages which frame the picturesque and sheltered Glandore Bay.

Glandore was one of the earlier settlements in West Cork. The Norman’s built two castles there in 1215. They were later taken over by the O’Donovan Clan and have been inhabited continuously up to the present day. Glandore Harbour is a haven for sailing, water-skiing, windsurfing and fishing. It is home to a very active sailing club, you can watch the local dinghy fleet race in and around Glandore Harbour. A wide choice of angling activities can be enjoyed in the area. Sea angling can be arranged locally with boat owners who are certified by the Department of the Marine. The entrance to Glandore Harbour is guarded by two rocky islands, Adam and Eve. The advice to sailors navigating in the harbour is “Avoid Adam and Hug Eve”, a lesson first taught, no doubt, by sad experience on Adam's reefs and shoals.

Glandore is a very pretty village, its great water side setting makes it a very popular port of call for the yachting and boating enthusiasts with some excellent restaurants and hostelries with lovely views across to Union Hall.

Top Tip Just a kilometre behind the village is Drombeg which is probably Irelands most famous stone circle, it is a recumbent circle with the recumbent or altar stone lying to the south-west. The circle consists of seventeen pillar stones that are graded from the two large portal stones, each 2 metres high, at the north-east towards the recumbent stone. On an elevated site overlooking the sea it has a unique sense of place to this day.