Clonakilty (Irish: Cloich na Coillte, meaning ‘stone (castle) of the woods’), sometimes shortened to Clon, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The town is located at the head of the tidal Clonakilty Bay. The rural hinterland is used mainly for dairy farming. The town’s population as of 2016 was 4,592. The town is a tourism hub in West Cork, and was recognised as the “Best Town in Europe” in 2017, and “Best Place of the Year” in 2017 by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. Clonakilty is in the Cork South-West (Dáil Éireann) constituency, which has three seats. Clonakilty is the second largest town in West Cork after Bandon.
Michael Collins, who was the Director of Intelligence for the IRA, which sought independence from Britain in the 1920–1921 period, lived in Clonakilty and attended the local boys’ national school. Collins later served as Chairman of the Provisional Government and was instrumental in the founding of the Irish Free State. Collins was killed in an Anti-Treaty ambush during the 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 Michael Collins (erected and dedicated in 2002) and a museum (opened in 2016).
Clonakilty’s bars host live music nights throughout the year, and a number of notable musicians live in the area. For example, Noel Redding made Clonakilty his home, as has singer-songwriter Roy Harper. English novelist David Mitchell also calls Clonakilty home. Monday Night Trad Sessions, O’Donovans Tuesday Trad and Shanley’s Famous Music Bar are among the main music venues. Summer afternoon sessions in Scannells beer garden has attracted acts like Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, and Frances Black. The town hosts several festivals every year, among these are The Clonakilty International Guitar Festival in mid-September, The Motion festival and The Waterfront Festival in August.
The town won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1999, and was also named ‘Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town’ in 2017. In 2003, Clonakilty became Ireland’s first ever official Fair trade 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.
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.
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 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 artifacts. Clonakilty’s “Random Acts of Kindness Festival” was set up in 2012 by the local Clonakilty Macra na Feirme Club. The festival is held each year on the third weekend in July, with the motto: “Cut the Misery and Spread the Positivity”. Clonakilty Street Carnival takes place in June of each year, and involves live music, activities and other events. Other historical attractions in the town include the Clonakilty Museum, the Georgian houses of Emmet Square and the Micheal Collins Centre which is located a few miles east of the town. A Farmers Market takes place at Emmet Square every Friday.
[caption id="attachment_229068" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Map of the "Heartland Theory", as published by Halford Mackinder in 1904[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]"The Geographical Pivot of History" is an article submitted by Halford John Mackinder in 1904 to the Royal Geographical Society that advances his heartland theory. In this article, Mackinder extended the scope of geopolitical analysis to encompass the entire globe. According to Mackinder, the Earth's land surface was divisible into:
The World-Island, comprisin...
