Ballycommane House is an ideal base for walking and exploring West Cork and parts of Kerry. You need an expert tip for an excursion? We will gladly share our experience and help you plan your outing. There are many hidden secrets off the beaten track and you can ask us for special advice.

We are just a short drive from the Atlantic. There are fine sandy beaches nearby such as Ballyrisode (shown left; 20min by car) and Barleycove (30min). The historic market town of Bantry is reached in 10min where there is plenty to see and do. Friday is market day in Bantry, when the lively fair is held around Wolfe Tone Square.

So many things to see and do here

Discover the Sheep’s Head Way and explore the Sheep’s Head peninsula, an unspoilt natural landscape so stunningly beautiful it’s been recognised as a European Destination of Excellence (EDEN) in 2009 (photo below). Large portions of the peninsula are a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and National Heritage Area (NHC).

Panoramic view from Ballyroon Mountain, Sheep’s Head Way

Explore the world-famous Wild Atlantic Way (WAW)

Touring through West Cork and Kerry (Mizen, Sheep’s Head peninsula, Ring of Beara, Ring of Kerry

Walking (Sheep’s Head Way - a breathtaking coastal walking route; Beara Way; Kerry Way)

West Cork Garden Trail

Bantry hosts some famous festivals, such as The Chamber Music Festival, The Masters of Tradition (celebrating traditional Irish music in its purest form), or the Literary Festival

Drive the Wild Atlantic Way and hear a piano recital with the internationally-renowned American pianist David Syme! He performs concertsin his Irish home in West Cork. These amazing piano recitals are held on Sunday afternoons throughout the year. Listening to David’s piano playing in the relaxed and warm atmosphere of his oceanview house is an outstanding experience in any sense.

More activities

Stone circles, standing stones, boulder-burials and other prehistoric monuments

Museum visits (Bantry Museum, Bantry House & Garden, Skibbereen Heritage Centre featuring the famine commemoration exhibition, West Cork Arts Centre focussing on contemporary visual art, Mizen Head Signal Station presenting Marconi’s radio station, Molly Gallivan’s Visitor Centre), Allihies Copper Mine Museum - 3500 years of mining history in Cork & Kerry

parkrun is a free 5km (3 Mile) run or walk around Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve each and every Saturday morning at 9:30am. Buggies and Dogs are welcome. It is a totally volunteer based initiative with the aim of promoting and facilitating physical and mental wellbeing. You can drop in and out as you see fit and you need only register if you’d like your time recorded. parkrun is a global programme running in 22 countries with 144 locations currently in Ireland alone.

Star-gazing at nighttime
When you are back home at Ballycommane in the evening and it happens to be a clear night, you will be thrilled to see myriads of stars, with the bright ribbon of the Milky Way stretching across the firmament. A classic pleasure often forgotten by city-dwellers! Even if the sky is overcast, however, you can go for “palm-gazing” in our garden ...

Why not listen to the many birds singing in our garden? This song thrush was recorded  in Ballycommane Garden on a balmy summer’s eve.