Best and Worst Towns in County Cork

Roger Hassenforder

Ballydehob and Schull are similar enough off season, Schull might shade it socially/culturally. I like them both. Schull gets a more "nautical" crowd in summer.

whisky_galore

Youghal - should be better with a seafront and historic associations and buildings but isn't.

Mallow, Dunmanway - both dull and gloomy with little to offer the visitor.

Cobh - great history and buildings, but a proportion of the population needs to be liquidated.

Drimoleague - closed pubs/shops, dereliction.

Millstreet - got the Eurovision in 1993 and hasn't stopped blowing about it since.

Macroom - choked with traffic at the best of times.

Dakota Dan

whisky_galore wrote: »

Youghal - should be better with a seafront and historic associations and buildings but isn't.

Mallow, Dunmanway - both dull and gloomy with little to offer the visitor.

Cobh - great history and buildings, but a proportion of the population needs to be liquidated.

Drimoleague - closed pubs/shops, dereliction.

Millstreet - got the Eurovision in 1993 and hasn't stopped blowing about it since.

Macroom - choked with traffic at the best of times.

There's plenty to do in Mallow unless you expect the locals to show you the minute you arrive.

Jack53

whisky_galore wrote: »

Youghal - should be better with a seafront and historic associations and buildings but isn't.

Mallow, Dunmanway - both dull and gloomy with little to offer the visitor.

Cobh - great history and buildings, but a proportion of the population needs to be liquidated.

Drimoleague - closed pubs/shops, dereliction.

Millstreet - got the Eurovision in 1993 and hasn't stopped blowing about it since.

Macroom - choked with traffic at the best of times.

what about ballydehob, skib, or blarney? or around that area

whisky_galore

Jack53 wrote: »

what about ballydehob, skib, or blarney? or around that area

Ballydehob I like, some locals commented that may have overtaken Schull by now.

Skibb - nice town, has a good vibe about it, thought their museum was a tad overpriced for what it was though.

Blarney - One trick tourist town, castle and gardens are nice but castle is way overrated (and expensive)

whisky_galore

Dakota Dan wrote: »

There's plenty to do in Mallow unless you expect the locals to show you the minute you arrive.

tbf I wouldn't want to approach some of the locals. For anything.

Dakota Dan

whisky_galore wrote: »

tbf I wouldn't want to approach some of the locals. For anything.

So tell us where's this heavenly town that you live in?

whisky_galore

Dakota Dan wrote: »

So tell us where's this heavenly town that you live in?

Not from a town.

So tell us all the many things Mallow has to offer?

Roger Hassenforder

whisky_galore wrote: »

Not from a town.

So tell us all the many things Mallow has to offer?

Alberts
Chasers (with the mannequins...)

The Crowman

Drawing Dead wrote: »

best - glengarriff

worst - drimoleague

Repped on Drimoleague. Its just a mini Dunmanway

Roger Hassenforder

The Crowman wrote: »

Repped on Drimoleague. Its just a mini Dunmanway

Dunmanway is depressing.
Its a marshy bog with a mean main street and misshapen square.

Drimoleague can be senic in certain light.

Thread is hillarious. Just read the whole lot.


Im going to nail my colours to the mast.
Worst town/village in Cork: Mogeely.

Nicest town/village: Eyeries or Castletownsend. Honourable mention to Glanworth and their epic little bridge.

partyguinness

I moved away from Cork county 10 years ago having grown up there but this is my lasting impression which may well be out of date:



Dunmanway-grim grim grim
Bandon- had a dog rough reputation in the 90s and the Guards were a notorious bunch of bastards
Cobh- rough as ****
Kinsale- nice
Mallow- rough
Clonakility- great nightlife
Bantry- grim
Youghal- grim
Maroom- rough reputation in the 90s but seems to have lost that as the scumbags moved away or killed themselves
Carrigaline- just a big housing estate tagged on to the City
Ballincollig- same as Carrigaline


To be fair, I have actually found that Irish towns have improved immensely since the crash in 2008 on my trips back.

booksale

I am also reading threads about towns in county Cork.

Anyone can comment about Mitchelstown? Thinking to get a property there as property price is very reasonable. We have small kids. Is it a nice town to raise young children? Is it a welcoming town for non Irish people?

We are also considering macroom and mallow. But it seems to me that Mitchelstown is more attractive for its scenes in the surroundings. Well all I read is that it’s offering good food, good cycling trails, scenes, Mitchelstowncave, music festival and commutable distance to cork city, limerick city etc.

Would love to hear recent opinions about these three towns : mitchelstown, macroom and mallow, esp mitchelstown.

Roger Hassenforder

booksale wrote: »

I am also reading threads about towns in county Cork.

Anyone can comment about Mitchelstown? Thinking to get a property there as property price is very reasonable. We have small kids. Is it a nice town to raise young children? Is it a welcoming town for non Irish people?

We are also considering macroom and mallow. But it seems to me that Mitchelstown is more attractive for its scenes in the surroundings. Well all I read is that it’s offering good food, good cycling trails, scenes, Mitchelstowncave, music festival and commutable distance to cork city, limerick city etc.

Would love to hear recent opinions about these three towns : mitchelstown, macroom and mallow, esp mitchelstown.

Dont know any of them very well, but of the three, I'd go Macroom. Theres something a bit more cosmopolitan about it, and thats saying something. (Id prefer Mallow to Mitchelstown).
Mitchelstown would be more "pastoral", less "bucolic".

Its (Macroom) about to be bypassed as well, so could make for pleasant living, and even closer to Cork. Not too far from Ballincollig either. In summer you could commute by bike if bikes are your thing, with Killarney 30min the other way.

.red.

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Dont know any of them very well, but of the three, I'd go Macroom. Theres something a bit more cosmopolitan about it, and thats saying something. (Id prefer Mallow to Mitchelstown).
Mitchelstown would be more "pastoral", less "bucolic".

Its (Macroom) about to be bypassed as well, so could make for pleasant living, and even closer to Cork. Not too far from Ballincollig either. In summer you could commute by bike if bikes are your thing, with Killarney 30min the other way.

Macroom is very close to me but I don't use it a lot. It's got everything you need but is a horrible bottleneck, and can be at any time of the day.
It's about to be bypassed, but this is happening almost 20 years, it's due to start in 2020 and take 3 years but I've a feeling it'll be closer to 2030 before the road opens, if it ever even gets started.
For commuting to the city I'd avoid it unless the house is on the city side.
Lovely town with good facilities but the traffic really does keep people away.

Danger781

Stumbled across this thread as we're trying to decide where we want to live and wanted to resurrect this thread and see 2020 opinions!

A lot of hate towards Dunmanway in this thread. I personally think Dunmanway is OK as far as country towns go. We're out there frequently enough visiting family and never got a bad vibe from the place. That being said I've never been drinking there either.

Bandon had a lot of mixed reviews. Some were quite positive about the shopping experience there but I've never seen anything to warrant that positivity. Every time I drive through there I just see abandoned buildings, empty storefronts, and a drab grey color scheme throughout the town. I think it looks like a town that the rest of the county forgot about, like it's still stuck in the recession. Were those positive comments back when Heaton's used to be there?

Saw a lot of negativity towards Mallow as well. Only stopped there a handful of times myself and always thought it was a bit of an odd town. Couldn't see myself living there.

I also really don't like Carrigaline. I've only been there a couple of times and thought it has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Strange vibe about the place as well. We went to look at a house there and both couldn't wait to leave and vowed to not return!

--

Nicest towns for me have to be Ballincollig, Kinsale and Clonakilty. Ballincollig has so much greenery and a welcoming vibe as you drive in from the city side. Clonakilty seems like a bit of a hipster town without being pretentious. There's not many nicer towns than Kinsale on a nice summer day.

Quite like Douglas as well for amenities and quality of living. Everything on your doorstep. It's a bit too busy / built-up though.

Kinda like Innishannon too. I know there's not much there and traffic will be a bitch, but it just seems like a nice little village to live.

Jack53

Seemingly from all the newspapers they are reporting that there is a huge interest in West cork at the moment. People that are working from home don’t want to be stuck in small places in cities.
I recently bought a place in Skibbereen - lovely town.
But, I hope I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes when I say this but my next car I will try and get a c reg car. I find that I am never waved out of a junction, am expected to reverse on a narrow road. All because I’ve a d reg. It’s not in my head ,when I take my husband c reg it’s a whole different experience. I never mentioned it to him previously but he said the same other day out of the blue. Do Cork people not like the blow-ins ?

partyguinness

Danger781 wrote: »

Stumbled across this thread as we're trying to decide where we want to live and wanted to resurrect this thread and see 2020 opinions!

A lot of hate towards Dunmanway in this thread. I personally think Dunmanway is OK as far as country towns go. We're out there frequently enough visiting family and never got a bad vibe from the place. That being said I've never been drinking there either.

Bandon had a lot of mixed reviews. Some were quite positive about the shopping experience there but I've never seen anything to warrant that positivity. Every time I drive through there I just see abandoned buildings, empty storefronts, and a drab grey color scheme throughout the town. I think it looks like a town that the rest of the county forgot about, like it's still stuck in the recession. Were those positive comments back when Heaton's used to be there?

Saw a lot of negativity towards Mallow as well. Only stopped there a handful of times myself and always thought it was a bit of an odd town. Couldn't see myself living there.

I also really don't like Carrigaline. I've only been there a couple of times and thought it has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Strange vibe about the place as well. We went to look at a house there and both couldn't wait to leave and vowed to not return!

--

Nicest towns for me have to be Ballincollig, Kinsale and Clonakilty. Ballincollig has so much greenery and a welcoming vibe as you drive in from the city side. Clonakilty seems like a bit of a hipster town without being pretentious. There's not many nicer towns than Kinsale on a nice summer day.

Quite like Douglas as well for amenities and quality of living. Everything on your doorstep. It's a bit too busy / built-up though.

Kinda like Innishannon too. I know there's not much there and traffic will be a bitch, but it just seems like a nice little village to live.

I know in the mid 90s Bandon and Dunmanway had a rubbish reputation. Bandon being by far the worse and generally a 'no go' area at the weekends with fights and drugs. The Guards from Bandon are notorious ****.

Problem with the likes of Ballincollig and Carrigaline is that you get a spill over of scumbags from the City who relocate there and bring all the crap with them.

Can't go wrong with Clonakility or Kinsale.

partyguinness

.red. wrote: »

Macroom is very close to me but I don't use it a lot. It's got everything you need but is a horrible bottleneck, and can be at any time of the day.
It's about to be bypassed, but this is happening almost 20 years, it's due to start in 2020 and take 3 years but I've a feeling it'll be closer to 2030 before the road opens, if it ever even gets started.
For commuting to the city I'd avoid it unless the house is on the city side.
Lovely town with good facilities but the traffic really does keep people away.

I actually drove through Macroom recently for the first time in years and TBH I was shocked at how grubby and dilapidated it looked.

Balmed Out

Jack53 wrote: »

Seemingly from all the newspapers they are reporting that there is a huge interest in West cork at the moment. People that are working from home don’t want to be stuck in small places in cities.
I recently bought a place in Skibbereen - lovely town.
But, I hope I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes when I say this but my next car I will try and get a c reg car. I find that I am never waved out of a junction, am expected to reverse on a narrow road. All because I’ve a d reg. It’s not in my head ,when I take my husband c reg it’s a whole different experience. I never mentioned it to him previously but he said the same other day out of the blue. Do Cork people not like the blow-ins ?

Live in Clonakilty, have driven C, D and G reg cars and never noticed anything like that, could it be the model of car?, perhaps people have preconceptions of audi drivers etc.

Edgware

booksale wrote: »

I am also reading threads about towns in county Cork.

Anyone can comment about Mitchelstown? Thinking to get a property there as property price is very reasonable. We have small kids. Is it a nice town to raise young children? Is it a welcoming town for non Irish people?

We are also considering macroom and mallow. But it seems to me that Mitchelstown is more attractive for its scenes in the surroundings. Well all I read is that it’s offering good food, good cycling trails, scenes, Mitchelstowncave, music festival and commutable distance to cork city, limerick city etc.

Would love to hear recent opinions about these three towns : mitchelstown, macroom and mallow, esp mitchelstown.

I would put Mallow and Mitchelstown before Macroom. Mitchelstown has easy access to motorway for access to Cork and Dublin. Mallow has the rail connections, general hospital, a good selection of houses, schools, shops and a bigger population than Mitchelstown. Both are good towns though. Both have good access to scenic areas e.g. Ballyhoura hills, Blackwater valley, Doneraile Court etc.
I just think Macroom loses out on transport infrastructure especially public transport

Hangdogroad

Has Charleville been mentioned? Awful kip.

Hangdogroad

lisao80 wrote: »

Im gonna jump on the hating Dunmanway Band wagon as well.. its a dull depressing hole, i have nothing nice to say about the place, used go out there when i was younger and there was always fights there, even now 10 yrs on if i drive thru there at say 3 or 4 on a sat night there is people asleep on the street.
the shops have nothing in them.. and the traffic can be a pain in the ass.

fav town is either Clon or skibb In west cork or Cobh in East Cork, i spent 6 yrs livin in cobh and loved it.



Really??? i live in Durrus..:rolleyes:

Your comments about Dunmanway remind me of when I was passing through there on the bus about fifteen years ago, there was some fair or festival on. I saw two drunk guys fighting by the small bridge over the river, one guy grabbed the other and was trying to throw him over the side.

cute geoge

Any thoughts on millstreet

Edgware

cute geoge wrote: »

Any thoughts on millstreet

Millstreet is located in picturesque country, has the Green Glens arena for entertainment, horse shows etc. About 30 minutes to Killarney if no local employment, is serviced by the mainline rail

Seamai

Edgware wrote: »

Millstreet is located in picturesque country, has the Green Glens arena for entertainment, horse shows etc. About 30 minutes to Killarney if no local employment, is serviced by the mainline rail

Does the Malpasso Bar with pictures of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly over the fascia still exist?

Edgware

Seamai wrote: »

Does the Malpasso Bar with pictures of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly over the fascia still exist?

Not sure about that. I'm more a Maureens Bar, Mallow client myself

callaway92

Any ideas what happened with Hungry Harry’s in Charleville?

Miaireland

cute geoge wrote: »

Any thoughts on millstreet

Handy for train