Clonakilty#Tourism

File:Clonakilty big cross statue.jpg]]

Image:Iarthair Chorcaí 116.jpg]]

The Clonakilty area has a number of ancient and pre-Celtic sites, including Lios na gCon ringfort.{{cite web |url=http://www.discoveringcork.ie/lios-na-gcon-restored-ancient-fort/ |title=Lios-na-gCon, Restored Ancient Fort – Discovering Cork |date=8 December 2009 |publisher=Discoveringcork.ie |access-date=21 September 2017 |archive-date=21 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921193207/http://www.discoveringcork.ie/lios-na-gcon-restored-ancient-fort/ |url-status=live }} Norman settlers built castles around Clonakilty, and a number of Norman surnames survive in the West Cork area to the present day.{{cite web|url = https://www.corkbeo.ie/culture/family-kids/arundel-wycherley-corks-most-unusual-17490159 | website = corkbeo.ie | title = From Arundel to Wycherley – Cork's most unusual surnames and where they came from | date = 31 December 2019 | access-date = 10 December 2021 | quote = another Cork name that goes back to the Norman Conquest and the Lord Arundels who built major castles around the Clonakilty area. Descendents[sic] are still there today }} In 1292, Thomas De Roach received a charter to hold a market every Monday at Kilgarriffe (then called Kyle Cofthy or Cowhig's Wood), close to where the present town now stands.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} In the 14th century, a ten-mile strip of fallow woodland called {{lang|ga|Tuath na gCoillte}} (the land of the woods) divided the barony of Ibane (Ardfield) and Barryroe and reached the sea at Clonakilty Bay. Here a castle called Coyltes Castell was recorded in a 1378 plea roll. This was subsequently referred to as Cloghnykyltye, one of the many phonetic spellings for {{lang|ga|Cloch na gCoillte}} (meaning the castle of the woods, from {{lang|ga|cloch}}, the Irish for stone or stone building, and {{lang|ga|coillte}} meaning woods).

The lands around Clonakilty were owned by Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, and it was Lord Cork ('the Great Earl') who obtained its charter from James I in 1613,{{cite web|url = http://www.clon.ie/text/clients/mdltour.htm | website = clon.ie | title = Tour – The Earl of Cork's plan for West Cork | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20021002043523/http://www.clon.ie/text/clients/mdltour.htm | archive-date = 2 October 2002 }} with the right to return members to the Irish House of Commons. The borough of Clonakilty returned two members from 1613 to 1801; it was disfranchised when the Act of Union came into force in January 1801. It also had a part-time judge, the Recorder of Clonakilty, who held a weekly court of Petty session. The estate lands at Clonakilty were later purchased by the Earls of Shannon, another branch of the Boyle dynasty. They remained the main landlords of the town from the eighteenth century until the early twentieth century.Lord Shannon's Letters to his Son, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 1982. Introduction, pp xxviii-xxvix

During the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Protestant settlers in Clonakilty fled to Bandon, and much of Clonakilty was burned by Catholic rebels.{{cite web | url = https://www.corkcoco.ie/sites/default/files/2019-05/clonakilty_historic_map_2019.pdf | website = corkcoco.ie | publisher = Cork County Council | title = Clonakilty Historic Map | access-date = 12 September 2020 | archive-date = 24 May 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190524154554/https://www.corkcoco.ie/sites/default/files/2019-05/clonakilty_historic_map_2019.pdf | url-status = live }}{{cite book | chapter-url = https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/C/Clonakilty-East-Carbery-Cork.php | chapter = Clonakilty | title = A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland | publisher = Lewis | first = Samuel | last = Lewis | date = 1837 | access-date = 12 September 2020 | archive-date = 18 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210118033913/https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/C/Clonakilty-East-Carbery-Cork.php | url-status = live }}{{cite web | url = https://www.failteromhat.com/clonhistory.php | title = History of Clonakilty and Surrounding Districts | last = Collins | first = John T. | access-date = 12 September 2020 | archive-date = 25 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210925001942/https://www.failteromhat.com/clonhistory.php | url-status = live }} On October 1642, a Protestant force led by the then Lord Forbes reoccupied the town. Forbes left two companies from the Lord Forbes' Regiment and one company from the Bandon Foot to garrison Clonakilty before leaving the town to relieve Rathbarry Castle, which was under siege by rebel forces. However, almost immediately after Lord Forbes left Clonakilty, a large force of Catholic rebels attacked the town; the two Scottish companies refused to retreat and were killed to a man, while the Irish company fought their way out of the town to an abandoned ringfort near Rosscarbery, where they were relieved by Lord Forbes who had returned from Rathbarry.{{Cite book|first=Dorothea|last=Townsend|title=Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society|year=1895|publisher=Cork Historical and Archaeological Society}}{{failed verification|reason=Which page or section of the 1895 JCHAS is this piece by Townsend? I can't find it...|date=December 2022}} The reunified force returned to Clonakilty and drove out the rebels, who fled towards the island of Inchydoney, where roughly six hundred of them drowned at high tide. Lord Forbes' men returned to the town and freed a large number of men, women and children imprisoned in Clonakilty's market house.{{failed verification|reason=Which page or section of the 1895 JCHAS is this piece by Townsend? I can't find it...|date=December 2022}}

The town was also the site of a battle in 1691 during the Williamite War in Ireland. During the Irish Rebellion of 1798, Shannonvale near Clonakilty was the site of the Battle of the Big Cross. It was described as "the only place in all Munster where a blow of some sort had been struck during the Rising of '98".{{cite web | url = http://www.failteromhat.com/southernstar/page17.php | title = The Battle of the Big Cross where one hundred Irish died | author = C.O. Ruairc | website = failteromhat.com | access-date = 12 April 2012 | archive-date = 8 March 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120308064953/http://www.failteromhat.com/southernstar/page17.php | url-status = live }} There is a commemorative statue celebrating the Battle of the Big Cross in Asna Square in the centre of Clonakilty.

Michael Collins, who was the Director of Intelligence for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence, lived in Clonakilty and attended the local boys' national school. Collins later served as Chairman of the Provisional Government of Ireland and was instrumental in the founding of the Irish Free State. Collins was killed in an ambush by the Anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War. He gave several orations from O'Donovan's Hotel on the Main Street of Clonakilty. On Emmet Square, where Collins lived for a period, is a statue of him, erected and dedicated in 2002, and a museum, opened in 2016.

In April 1943, an American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was travelling to England when it was forced to land at a marsh just outside Clonakilty.{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-22042258 | work = BBC News | publisher = BBC | title = Statue for Tojo, the monkey who dropped in for a drink | date = 5 April 2013 | access-date = 12 September 2020 | archive-date = 7 November 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201107230652/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-22042258 | url-status = live }} The crew (who were uninjured) thought they had been flying over German-occupied Norway.{{cite web | url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30590450.html | work = Irish Examiner | title = Clonakilty honours crash-landing monkey with statue | date = 7 April 2013 | access-date = 12 September 2020 | archive-date = 11 November 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201111201858/https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30590450.html | url-status = live }} Kennedy Gardens at Emmet Square (formerly Shannon Square) in the centre of town is named after John F. Kennedy. In June 2012, Clonakilty was damaged by flooding.{{cite web | url = http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2012/0630/ireland/community-pulls-together-to-ensure-its-business-as-usual-in-clonakilty-199290.html | title = Community pulls together to ensure it's business as usual in Clonakilty | work = Irish Examiner | date = 30 June 2012 | access-date = 19 July 2012 | archive-date = 6 May 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160506145914/http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2012/0630/ireland/community-pulls-together-to-ensure-its-business-as-usual-in-clonakilty-199290.html | url-status = live }} Clonakilty was founded on 5 May 1613, and on 5 May 2013, President Michael D. Higgins and his wife visited the town to commemorate 400 years since it obtained its original charter.{{cite web|url = http://www.southernstar.ie/Community/Clonakilty/Public-service-acknowledged-by-President-at-Clonakilty-Town-Council-civic-reception-09052013.htm | website = southernstar.ie | title = Public service acknowledged by President at Clonakilty Town Council civic reception | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131013084324/http://www.southernstar.ie/Community/Clonakilty/Public-service-acknowledged-by-President-at-Clonakilty-Town-Council-civic-reception-09052013.htm |archive-date=13 October 2013 | publisher = Southern Star }}{{cite web|url = https://president.ie/en/media-library/speeches/remarks-by-president-higgins-at-the-clon-400-anniversary-celebrations-clona | publisher = Office of the President of Ireland | website = president.ie | title = Selected Speeches – Remarks at the 'Clon' 400 Anniversary Celebrations | date = 5 May 2013| access-date = 10 December 2021 }}

File:Clonakility Town Hall, Kent Street - geograph.org.uk - 2193089.jpg

Councillors decided to demolish the 200-year old Clonakilty Town Hall in 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.southernstar.ie/news/clonakiltys-200-year-old-town-hall-is-beyond-repair-cllrs-told-4177227 |title=Clonakilty's 200-year-old Town Hall is ‘beyond repair', Cllrs told|date=22 July 2019|newspaper=The Southern Star|access-date=12 April 2025}}

Kilgarriffe Church, a Church of Ireland church, was built in 1818 to replace an older building which dated from 1613.{{cite web|url=https://www.ireland.anglican.org/find-a-church/parish/16530/kilgariffe-clonakilty|title=Church of Ireland – A Member of the Anglican Communion|website=ireland.anglican.org|access-date=18 April 2018|archive-date=21 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121150541/https://www.ireland.anglican.org/find-a-church/parish/16530/kilgariffe-clonakilty|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://imprintsoflight.wordpress.com/tag/kilgarriffe/|title=Kilgarriffe – Imprints of Light|website=imprintsoflight.wordpress.com|access-date=18 April 2018|archive-date=18 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418093002/https://imprintsoflight.wordpress.com/tag/kilgarriffe/|url-status=live}}

The Church of the Immaculate Conception, a large Catholic church, was designed by George Ashlin and built in 1880 in the Early French Gothic style.{{cite web|url=http://www.dia.ie/works/view/512/building/CO.+CORK,+CLONAKILTY,+CHURCH+OF+THE+IMMACULATE+CONCEPTION+(RC)|title=CO. CORK, CLONAKILTY, CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (RC) Dictionary of Irish Architects -|website=dia.ie|access-date=18 April 2018|archive-date=18 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418162254/https://www.dia.ie/works/view/512/building/CO.+CORK,+CLONAKILTY,+CHURCH+OF+THE+IMMACULATE+CONCEPTION+(RC)|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=CO®no=20846160|title=Prior Park Additional Images: Buildings of Ireland: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage|website=buildingsofireland.ie|access-date=18 April 2018|archive-date=21 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921193830/http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=CO®no=20846160|url-status=live}}

The old Presbyterian Church was built in 1861 and taken over and used since 1924 as a local Post Office.{{cite web|url=http://archiseek.com/2012/1861-post-office-clonakilty-co-cork/|title=1861 – Post Office, Clonakilty, Co. Cork – Architecture of Cork – Archiseek – Irish Architecture|date=12 July 2012|website=archiseek.com|access-date=18 April 2018|archive-date=5 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405025525/http://archiseek.com/2012/1861-post-office-clonakilty-co-cork/|url-status=live}} The local Methodist church is located in the town and became the first church in Ireland to win two Eco Congregation Ireland awards.{{cite web|url=https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/2013/02/28/clonakilty-methodist-becomes-first-church-to-win-two-eci-awards/|title=Clonakilty Methodist Church, Co Cork " Eco Congregation Ireland|publisher=Ecocongregationireland.com|access-date=21 September 2017|archive-date=25 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925001917/https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/2013/02/28/clonakilty-methodist-becomes-first-church-to-win-two-eci-awards/|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.irishmethodist.org/church/clonakilty |title=Clonakilty: The Methodist Church in Ireland |website=irishmethodist.org |access-date=13 September 2020 |archive-date=28 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928222153/https://www.irishmethodist.org/church/clonakilty |url-status=live }}

{{See also|History of rail transport in Ireland}}

The nearest airport to the town is Cork Airport, and Bus Éireann provides coach links from Clonakilty to Cork and Skibbereen.{{cite web |url=http://cdbcorkco.ie/asp/ccdb/bus_eireann.htm |publisher = Cork County Development Board | title=Bus Éireann |access-date=3 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928190311/http://cdbcorkco.ie/asp/ccdb/bus_eireann.htm |archive-date=28 September 2007}} During the summer months, there is a bus link to Killarney via the N71 road through Skibbereen, Bantry, Glengarriff and Kenmare.

Clonakilty was one of the destinations on the West Cork Railway, an Irish mainline railway from Cork city to various parts of West Cork, which shut down in 1961. Clonakilty railway station opened on 28 August 1886, but finally closed on 1 April 1961.{{cite web | title=Clonakilty station | work=Railscot – Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | access-date=17 September 2007 | archive-date=27 November 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127054525/http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | url-status=live }}

Clonakilty has a bypass road on the N71, to the south of the town, which routes traffic to Cork, Kinsale, Bandon, Skibbereen and Dunmanway via the R599, just west of the town, or vice versa to the R588 via Enniskean and the town centre.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2012/si/54/made/en/print|title=S.I. No. 54/2012 – Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2012.|website=irishstatutebook.ie| publisher = Government of Ireland |access-date=6 May 2023 | quote = R588 [..] between its junction with R586 at Enniskean in the county of Cork and its junction with R880 at Miles in the town of Clonakilty }}

File:De Barra - geograph.org.uk - 239910.jpg

Clonakilty's bars host live music nights throughout the year, and De Barra's Folk Club,{{cite web|url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30859821.html | publisher = Irish Examiner | website = irishexaminer.com | title = Clonakilty deserves its iconic status with legends of music | date = 3 August 2018 | access-date = 10 December 2021 }} Shanley's Music Bar,{{cite web|url = https://www.hotpress.com/music/shanleys-bar-clonakilty-to-launch-live-music-series-the-shanley-sessions-22877475 | publisher = Hot Press | website = hotpress.ie | title = Shanley's Bar Clonakilty to launch live music series 'The Shanley Sessions' | date = 26 October 2021 | access-date = 10 December 2021 }} and O'Donovans and are among the town's music venues.{{cite web|url = https://www.clonakilty.ie/business-directory/music/ | publisher = Clonakilty Chamber of Commerce | website = clonakilty.ie | title = Business Directory – Music | access-date = 10 December 2021 }} De Barra's Folk Club has featured acts like Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Roy Harper, John Spillane and Frances Black.{{cite web|url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20239276.html | publisher = Irish Examiner | website = irishexaminer.com | title = Magic of De Barras Clonakilty makes it an ever-popular venue for music enthusiasts | date = 11 August 2013 | access-date = 10 December 2021 }}{{cite web|url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20208771.html | publisher = Irish Examiner | website = irishexaminer.com | title = Called to the bar | date = 26 September 2012 | access-date = 10 December 2021 }}

A number of notable musicians live in the area. For example, Noel Redding made Clonakilty his home,{{cite web | url = https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2003-05-13-hendrix-bassist_x.htm | title = Bassist for Jimi Hendrix Experience dies | work = USA Today | date = 13 May 2003 | access-date = 25 August 2017 | archive-date = 25 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210925001907/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2003-05-13-hendrix-bassist_x.htm | url-status = live }} as has singer-songwriter Roy Harper.{{cite news|first=Eugene|last=Phelan|url=http://www.limerickleader.ie/community/community-news/press_22_snapper_wins_portrait_award_at_aib_press_photographers_event_1_3559453|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130217222755/http://www.limerickleader.ie/community/community-news/press_22_snapper_wins_portrait_award_at_aib_press_photographers_event_1_3559453|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 February 2013|title=Press 22 snapper wins portrait award at AIB Press Photographers event|newspaper=Limerick Leader|date=24 February 2012|access-date=24 February 2012}} English novelist David Mitchell also calls Clonakilty home.

File:An Súgán - geograph.org.uk - 239640.jpg

The town also hosts several festivals every year, including the Clonakilty International Guitar Festival in mid-September, the Motion Festival and the Waterfront Festival in August.{{cite web|url = https://www.clonakilty.ie/festivals-and-events | publisher = Clonakilty Chamber of Commerce | website = clonakilty.ie | title = Festivals & Events | date = | access-date = 10 December 2021 }}

The town won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1999 and was also named 'Ireland's Tidiest Small Town' in 2012, 2017{{cite web | url = http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/irelands-tidiest-town-for-2017-has-been-revealed-807253.html | website = BreakingNews.ie | title = Ireland's Tidiest Town for 2017 has been revealed | date = 25 September 2017 | access-date = 25 September 2017 | archive-date = 25 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170925171347/http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/irelands-tidiest-town-for-2017-has-been-revealed-807253.html | url-status = live }} and 2022.{{Cite web |date=30 October 2022 |title=Here are Ireland's newly-crowned Tidy Towns |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/news/community/ireland-newly-crowned-tidy-towns |access-date=30 October 2024 |website=IrishCentral.com |language=en}} In 2003, Clonakilty became Ireland's first-ever Fairtrade Town. In 2007, it was awarded the status of 'European Destination of Excellence' by the European Commission at a ceremony in Portugal and is Ireland's first recipient of this title.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

{{Historical populations|state=collapsed

|1821|4033

|1831|3807

|1841|3993

|1851|3297

|1861|3108

|1871|3568

|1881|3676

|1891|3221

|1901|3098

|1911|2961

|1926|2770

|1936|2961

|1946|2825

|1951|2742

|1956|2517

|1961|2417

|1966|2422

|1971|2430

|1981|2698

|1986|2786

|1991|2812

|1996|2970

|2002|3698

|2006|4154

|2011|4721

|2016|4592

|2022|5112

|footnote={{cite web|url=http://www.cso.ie/census|title=Server Error 404 – CSO – Central Statistics Office|website=cso.ie|access-date=18 April 2018|archive-date=20 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920090814/http://cso.ie/census|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url = http://www.histpop.org | title = histpop.org | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507023856/http://www.histpop.org/ |archive-date=7 May 2016 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census |title=NISRA Census |access-date=24 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217095720/http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census |archive-date=17 February 2012}}{{cite book |last=Lee|first=J. J.| author-link =J. J. Lee (historian)|editor-last=Goldstrom|editor-first=J. M.|editor2-last=Clarkson

|editor2-first=L. A.|title=Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell |year=1981 | publisher = Clarendon Press|location=Oxford, England |chapter=On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses}}{{Cite journal | last1 = Mokyr | first1 = Joel | author-link = Joel Mokyr | last2 = Ó Gráda | first2 = Cormac | author2-link = Cormac Ó Gráda | title = New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850 | journal = The Economic History Review | volume = 37 | issue = 4 | pages = 473–488 |date=November 1984 | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204160709/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract | url-status = dead | archive-date = 4 December 2012 | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x | hdl = 10197/1406 | hdl-access = free }}}}

At the 2011 census, ethnically Clonakilty was 80% white Irish, 14% "other white", 1.5% black, 1.5% Asian, and 2% other or not stated.{{cite web |url = http://airo.maynoothuniversity.ie/external-content/cork-county-0 |title = Census Mapping Module: Cork County |publisher = Clonakilty Urban and Rural |access-date = 24 July 2017 |archive-date = 25 August 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170825024611/http://airo.maynoothuniversity.ie/external-content/cork-county-0 |url-status = live }} In terms of religion, the 2011 census captured a population that was 80.5% Catholic, 10% other stated religions, 8.5% with no religion, and 0.5% not stated.

As of the 2022 census, the town of Clonakilty had a usual resident population of 4,994. Of these, 71.9% were White Irish, 0.6% were White Irish Travellers, 15.7% were Other White ethnicities, 2.0% were Black or Black Irish, 4.0% were Asian or Asian Irish, 2.0% were of other ethnicities, and 3.8% did not state their ethnicity. 72.6% of the usual residents were born in the Republic of Ireland, 6.9% in the United Kingdom, 5.2% in Poland, 0.9% in India, 6.0% in other EU countries excluding Ireland and Poland, and 8.4% in the rest of the world.

The town is known for its black pudding. Clonakilty black pudding originated in Edward Twomey's butcher shop in Pearse Street. The secret spice recipe has been handed down through the generations since the 1880s, and is still known only to the Twomey family who continue to manufacture the pudding at the Clonakilty Food Company.{{cite web |url=http://www.clonakiltyblackpudding.ie/history |title=History – Clonakilty Food Co |publisher=Clonakiltyblackpudding.ie |access-date=21 September 2017 |archive-date=4 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904205910/http://www.clonakiltyblackpudding.ie/history |url-status=live }}{{cite web | url = https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/ireland/36-hours-in-clonakilty-airbnb-has-a-lot-to-answer-for-1.4626786 | title = 36 hours in Clonakilty: 'Airbnb has a lot to answer for' | publisher = The Irish Times | date = 24 July 2021 | access-date = 28 July 2021 | archive-date = 28 July 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210728084312/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/ireland/36-hours-in-clonakilty-airbnb-has-a-lot-to-answer-for-1.4626786 | url-status = live }}.

File:Model Village in Clonakilty.jpg

The Model Village in Clonakilty is a tourist destination in the area and includes fully scaled models of Clonakilty and nearby towns – built on a miniature of the area's railway line.

Michael Collins House is a museum dedicated to the Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins. The museum is set out in a restored Georgian townhouse on Emmet Square, where Collins lived from 1903 to 1905. The museum tells the story of Collins' life and the history of Irish independence through tours, exhibits, interactive displays, and historical artefacts.{{cite web | url = https://www.michaelcollinshouse.ie/ | publisher = michaelcollinshouse.ie | title = Michael Collins House – Museum | access-date = 4 July 2018 | archive-date = 4 July 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180704214442/https://www.michaelcollinshouse.ie/ | url-status = live }}

A "Random Acts of Kindness Festival" was set up by the local Clonakilty Macra na Feirme Club. The 2012 event ran over a weekend in July.{{cite web | url = http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Random-Acts-of-Kindness-Festival-a-big-hit-163329026.html | website = irishcentral.com | publisher = Irish Central | title = Random Acts of Kindness Festival a big hit | date = 22 July 2012 | access-date = 28 January 2013 | archive-date = 12 October 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121012145047/http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Random-Acts-of-Kindness-Festival-a-big-hit-163329026.html | url-status = live }}

Clonakilty Street Carnival takes place in June of each year, and involves live music, activities and other events.{{cite web|url = https://www.discoverireland.ie/Whats-On/clonakilty-street-carnival/519609 | website = discoverireland.ie | title = Clonakilty Street Carnival |access-date = 11 June 2019}}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Other historical attractions in the town include the Clonakilty Museum, the Georgian houses of Emmet Square and the Michael Collins Centre which is located a few miles east of the town. A Farmers Market takes place at Emmet Square every Friday.

File:Clonakilty-libraryfront.jpg

There are two secondary schools located in the town. Clonakilty Community College is a mixed school and the Sacred Heart Secondary School is an all-girls school. There are 4 Primary Schools located in the town. Clonakilty Agricultural College is located 2 miles east of the town. It is known locally as Darrara College and mainly deals with Agricultural Education.

Clonakilty has a GAA club (Clonakilty GAA), two soccer clubs (Clonakilty A.F.C, Clonakilty Town), a Rugby union club (Clonakilty R.F.C.) and a Martial Arts club (Warrior Tae Kwon Do).{{cite web | url = https://warrior.ie/clonakilty-taekwondo-club/ | website = warriortkd.com | title = Clonakilty Taekwondo Club | access-date = 12 September 2020 | archive-date = 27 September 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200927004934/https://warrior.ie/clonakilty-taekwondo-club/ | url-status = live }} The GAA team won the Cork Senior Football Championship in 2009, 1996, and were runners-up in the 2003 competition. Clonakilty GAA won their first adult hurling county title when they won the Cork Minor B Hurling Championship in 2007. Clonakilty R.F.C. also became a senior rugby club in 2001 and spent 12 years in the All-Ireland League until they were relegated to Division 1 of the Munster Junior League. Clonakilty A.F.C. won the Beamish Cup in 2008 & 1995 and in 2014 featured Australian international, Alex Swift. Students of the Clonakilty "Warrior Tae Kwon Do" club compete in Tae Kwon Do, Kickboxing and Freestyle tournaments and the club has produced 4 World Champions in several martial arts disciplines.{{cite web | title=Warrior Tae Kwon Do Hall of Fame | work=Warrior Tae Kwon Do Official Website | url=http://www.warriortkd.com/hall-of-fame/ | access-date=6 September 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

The closest Blue Flag beach is at Inchydoney Island, immediately to the south of the town.

Approximately {{convert|11|km}} from Clonakilty, and looking out over the Galley Head lighthouse, is Long Strand. This sandy beach is a mile and a half long, and bounded by dunes at Castlefreke (a protected Special Area of Conservation).{{cite web|url = https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/001061 | publisher = National Parks & Wildlife Service | website = npws.ie | title = Kilkeran Lake and Castlefreke Dunes SAC | access-date = 3 August 2020 }}

Duneen Beach is across the bay from the right-hand side of Inchydoney beach.{{cite web|title=10 Hidden Gems of West Cork|url=https://visitwestcork.wordpress.com/10-hidden-gems-of-west-cork/|website=Visit West Cork|date=20 June 2015 |access-date=25 April 2017|archive-date=25 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425205241/https://visitwestcork.wordpress.com/10-hidden-gems-of-west-cork/|url-status=live}}

Clonakilty has been twinned with:

• {{Flagicon|France}} – Chateaulin, Brittany, France (in 1986){{cite web|url = https://www.rte.ie/archives/2022/0503/1295869-keeping-clonakilty-beautiful/ | publisher = RTÉ | website = rte.ie | title= RTÉ Archives – Bringing Out The Best In Clonakilty – 1987 | access-date = 27 May 2022}}{{cite web|url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20142260.html | publisher = Irish Examiner | website = irishexaminer.com | title = 'Twinning must be better used to promote region' | date = 17 January 2011 | access-date = 27 May 2022 }}{{cite web|url = https://clonakiltytwinning.ie/about/ | website = clonakiltytwinning.ie | title = Clonakilty Town Twinning Association – About | access-date = 27 May 2022 | quote = Clonakilty twinned with Chateaulin, France in 1986 [..] In 1989 Clonakilty twinned with Waldaschaff in Bavaria, Germany}}
• {{Flagicon|Germany}} – Waldaschaff, Bavaria, Germany (since 1989){{cite web|url = https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/small-town-would-like-to-meet-1.739544 | publisher = Irish Times | website = irishtimes.com | title = Small town, would like to meet . . . | date = 7 April 2009 | access-date = 27 May 2022 }}

{{See also|Category:People from Clonakilty}}

• Peter Callanan, politician and Fianna Fáil senator{{cite news | url = https://www.irishtimes.com/news/taoiseach-pays-tribute-after-death-of-fianna-f%C3%A1il-senator-1.755122 | newspaper = The Irish Times | title = Taoiseach pays tribute after death of Fianna Fáil Senator | date = 12 October 2009 | access-date = 8 July 2020 | archive-date = 15 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160315233200/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/taoiseach-pays-tribute-after-death-of-fianna-f%C3%A1il-senator-1.755122 | url-status = live }}
• Michael Collins, was born in Woodfield (now the Michael Collins Birthplace) 5 km west of Clonakilty, and lived in the town for a period.{{cite web | url = https://www.michaelcollinshouse.ie/about/ | website = michaelcollinshouse.ie | publisher = Michael Collins House | title = About Us – FAQ | access-date = 8 July 2020 | quote = Michael Collins lived on Emmet Sq between 1903 and 1905 we cannot conclusively say exactly which house he lived in | archive-date = 12 July 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200712092320/https://www.michaelcollinshouse.ie/about/ | url-status = live }}
• Tadhgo Crowley, footballer and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winning captain (1945){{citation needed|date=July 2020}}
• Alfred Elmore, Victorian artist{{cite DNB|wstitle=Elmore, Alfred|volume=17}}
• William Harnett, Irish-American artist{{cite encyclopedia | url = https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Harnett | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica | title = William Harnett | access-date = 8 July 2020 | archive-date = 11 July 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200711140920/https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Harnett | url-status = live }}
• Máire Ní Shíthe (1868–13 July 1955), Irish language writer and translator{{cite journal |last1=Ní Ríordáin |first1=Brenda |title=Cérbh í "Dul Amú"? Máire Ní Shíthe, 1868–1955, Drámadóir, aistritheoir, conraitheoir |journal=Comhar |date=1993 |volume=52 |issue=8 |pages=38–44 |doi=10.2307/25572171 |jstor=25572171 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25572171 | language = Irish |url-access=subscription }}
• Val O'Donovan, entrepreneur and academic{{cite news |title=Obituary – Michael O'Donovan |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theglobeandmail/obituary.aspx?n=michael-odonovan&pid=189817827 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=12 February 2005 |access-date=8 July 2020 |archive-date=11 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711054653/https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theglobeandmail/obituary.aspx?n=michael-odonovan&pid=189817827 |url-status=live }}
• Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa, poet and political activist{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=A. |title=Renegades: Irish Republican Women 1900–1922 |publisher=Mercier |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-85635-684-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzYkTYi3JRgC&pg=PA14 |page=14 |access-date=8 July 2020 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925001919/https://books.google.com/books?id=pzYkTYi3JRgC&pg=PA14 |url-status=live }}
• Louise O'Neill, author{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}
• Liam Twomey, politician and Fine Gael TD and senator{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

• Roy Harper, singer-songwriter{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}
• Eamonn McGrath, author{{Cite web |title=Eamonn McGrath |url=http://www.ricorso.net/rx/az-data/authors/Mc/McGrath_E/life.htm |access-date=1 July 2022 |website=www.ricorso.net}}
• David Mitchell, author{{cite web | url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/culture/cork-based-writer-david-mitchell-in-tune-with-joni-843109.html | work = Irish Examiner | title = Cork-based writer David Mitchell in tune with Joni | date = 16 May 2018 | access-date = 8 July 2020 | archive-date = 12 July 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200712092315/https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/culture/cork-based-writer-david-mitchell-in-tune-with-joni-843109.html | url-status = live }}
• Noel Redding, musician{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3022817.stm |title=Hendrix bassist dies |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=13 May 2003 |access-date=8 July 2020 |archive-date=21 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421132052/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3022817.stm |url-status=live }}
• Joseph Walsh, politician, Fianna Fáil TD and former Minister for Agriculture{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Market Houses in Ireland
• Clonakilty (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

{{Reflist}}

• The Battle of the Big Cross / Cath Béal a' Mhuighe Shalaigh, compiled by Tim Crowley & Traolach Ó Donnabháin; Clonakilty, Clonakilty District 1798 Bi-Centenary Commemoration Committee, 1998.
• Walks of Clonakilty town and country by Damien Enright. Timoleague, Co. Cork: Merlin Press, 2000. {{ISBN|1902631021}}.

{{Wikivoyage}}

{{Commons category|Clonakilty}}

• [http://www.clonakilty.ie/ Official Web site (Clonakilty town council)]

{{County Cork}}

{{Tidy Towns (Ireland)}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Towns and villages in County Cork

Category:Former urban districts in the Republic of Ireland

Category:Former boroughs in the Republic of Ireland