5 June 2023
The Emerald Isle was once again bathed in sunshine, and we did our best to make the most of the sunny weather. First thing we did was head south of Cork City to Summer Cove which is just outside of Kinsale. We approached Summer Cove from the top of the hill, where the old Rincurran Church is found with glorious views across the harbour. Mum’s 4th Gt Grandfather, Rev John Bagwell Creagh, was the Rector at Rincurran Church from 1829 until his death in 1846. There were many family weddings at this church, including Dr William Davies and Isabella Gethin Creagh in 1829. We were very lucky to find the gravestone of Rev John Bagwell Creagh, who is buried with his wife, Gertrude, and their daughter Rebecca. It felt very special to have visited this location that was, at one point, such an important focus for our ancestors.
We then drove down into Summer Cove itself, via an insanely narrow road with houses on both sides touching the road and nowhere to pass. So pleased when we got through this section and then found a large car park area up the top of the other side. I’m sure if Rog had been driving, I would have been squealing in the passenger seat – thankfully Mum was very quiet! We parked up and then walked back down to the cove itself. It reminded us of a very tiny version of Staithes, with houses and pub close to the waters edge, a small beach, and glorious views across to Kinsale. We must have sat there in the sun for close to an hour, just chatting with the locals, watching the yachts sailing in and out of the harbour, watching families in the water swimming and kayaking, and generally just soaking up the atmosphere (and sunshine). Behind the pub is a house called Creagh House, which we suspect was the family home while John was the rector at the church. If this is the case, then it is in this house that Mum’s 2nd Gt Grandmother, Gertrude Anne Eliza Davies, was born in 1830.
Up the top of the hill heading towards the habour entrance
(where the large carpark was thankfully previously found) is a very large fort
called Charles Fort, which has defences dated from 1682 and was still in use
during the First World War. It looks quite small from the road but is
surprising huge once you go inside and start exploring. Its high location overlooking
the habour is fabulous and the photos definitely don’t do it justice.
This area of Kinsale was stunning, and it is somewhere that I would very much like to further explore at some stage.
Before heading back to our accommodation in Fermoy, we took a
little detour to Bridgetown Abbey, the ruins of a 13th-century
monastery located near Castletownroche. Down yet another very narrow road
(Ireland seems to be full of them!), the abbey is quite well preserved and has
the most amazing little cloister still intact. There are graves within the
abbey walls – both some very old and some recent ones, and some of the window
surrounds have survived. A short walk over a field from the abbey there was a
river with lots of families enjoying picnics, BBQs, and swimming. Perfect day
for it.
Tomorrow we leave our accommodation at Fermoy, and head
further north towards Galway. Hopefully the weather continues to be nice to us.
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