Ballinacurra, Baile na Cora, Co. Cork

Baile na Cora · Co. Cork

The old port for Midleton at the head of Cork Harbour - a malting quay, a ruined St Colman's church, and the pub the last Cork schooner was named after.

Ballinacurra - Baile na Cora, the town of the weir - is the older settlement that Midleton grew up and over. The parish was here by the mid-1100s, established as part of the reorganised Diocese of Cloyne, and the ruined church on the southern shore of the creek is dedicated to St Colman of Cloyne, which tells you it predates the Anglo-Normans who arrived in 1177. There is an unexcavated mound near Ballinacurra House that is most likely the Norman motte - church and castle side by side, the classic manorial pairing.

For a few centuries this was the working port for the whole district, sheltered nine miles up Cork Harbour from Roches Point. The revival came in the late 1700s when Anderson and Lapp built quays and grain stores on the creek, and barley malting became the principal trade - East Cork barley, malted here, shipped up to Guinness at St James's Gate. The maltings from around 1800 are still standing as apartments, and JH Bennett and Co milled grain on the Upper Road into living memory.

The port closed in 1962 - too expensive to keep dredging the silt at the harbour mouth - and the place is quiet now. Small leisure boats, the tide going in and out of the mudflats, wading birds in winter. Midleton and its Jameson distillery are less than two kilometres north for anything you actually need. Ballinacurra itself is one village street, one good pub, and a lot of water and history.

Population

~1,300 (ED, 2016)

Founded

Medieval parish by c. 1160; port revived by Cork merchants in the late 1700s

Coords

51.9000° N, 8.1667° W

01 / 07

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The port

Midleton's harbour before Midleton had one.

Ballinacurra sits where the Owenacurra River meets the east channel of Cork Harbour, nine nautical miles up from the open sea. Cork merchants Anderson and Lapp built the quays and grain stores here in the late 1700s. It ran coal, timber, slate and barley malt until the silt won and the port closed in 1962.

Stories & lore → 02 The malt

Barley malt for Guinness, milled on the Upper Road.

The maltings established around 1800 still stand - converted to waterside apartments now. JH Bennett & Co grew and malted barley on commission for the St James's Gate brewery in Dublin, and the Bennett grain mill still dominates the Upper Road.

Stories & lore → 03 The quay

One proper old pub, named for the last Cork schooner.

Brooklands Bar, known locally as Jacko's, sits at the quay. It is named after the schooner Brooklands, the last sailing ship to trade out of Cork Harbour, captained by the family that still runs the bar. No food, no shots, no trends. The estuary out front fills with leisure boats now.

Where to drink →

02 / 07

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Brooklands Bar (Jacko's)

Proper old-fashioned, no frills

Old harbour pub, at the quay

The one pub, and it is the reason to stop. Named for the schooner Brooklands, the last sailing ship to trade out of Cork Harbour, owned by the Creenan family who ran the port. Jacko Creenan was harbourmaster; his daughter Nina Byrne has held the bar since 1973. No food, no shots, no passing trends - just a pint and walls covered in the village's own maritime history. If you want one honest pub on a Cork estuary, this is it.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

A church dedication older than the Normans

St Colman's and the medieval parish

The ruined church on the southern shore of Ballinacurra creek is dedicated to St Colman of Cloyne, and that dedication is the evidence: the parish was established before the Anglo-Normans reached East Cork in 1177, part of the diocese reorganised around 1160. By 1301 there was a watermill in the town. The settlement was the secure port for Cloyne and the Mac Tire lands until it lost its manorial status in 1339, and then Midleton's establishment as a borough in 1670 finished the job of overshadowing the older village. The church is a ruin and the motte beside Ballinacurra House was never excavated - this is heritage you read in the ground, not on a plaque.

Anderson, Lapp, and JH Bennett & Co

The malt that went to Guinness

Ballinacurra revived as a port in the later 1700s when two Cork merchants, Anderson and Lapp, built quays and grain stores on the creek. Barley malting became the most important industry: the fine barley of East Cork was malted here and shipped to several breweries, including Guinness at St James's Gate. John Bennett joined the family firm in 1879, and JH Bennett and Co grew and malted barley on commission for Guinness. The maltings from around 1800 survive - converted to waterside apartments - and the Bennett grain mill still dominates the Upper Road. The whole shape of the village is an industrial port that stopped working.

Born in Ballinacurra, c. 1785

Edward Bransfield, who may have found Antarctica

Edward Bransfield - the Royal Navy master who, in January 1820, charted a stretch of what is now the Antarctic Peninsula and is credited by many as the first to sight the Antarctic mainland - was born and raised in Ballinacurra. He was pressed into the Navy as a young man from this small Cork Harbour port and rose to ship's master. The claim to the discovery of Antarctica is contested, as these things always are, but the man came from here.

The last sailing ship to trade out of Cork Harbour

The schooner Brooklands

Ballinacurra was the last home of the topsail schooners in Cork. The very last sailing ship based in the harbour sailed from this quay - the schooner Brooklands, owned by the Creenan family, trading in Irish waters without an engine into the twentieth century. The family captained her, and the bar at the quay carries her name. Jacko Creenan, the Port of Cork harbourmaster for Ballinacurra, ran the pub; his daughter Nina Byrne has run it since 1973. The walls are hung with the photographs and papers of a real maritime family. That is the rare thing here - the history is still behind the bar.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

The quay and the estuary Down to the old quay where the schooners loaded, with the converted maltings on one side and the Owenacurra estuary opening out toward Cork Harbour. Mudflats at low tide, leisure boats at high. Good for wading birds in winter - this is a working estuary, not a manicured one, and better for it.

Short, around the harbourdistance

30-45 minutestime

Up to Midleton Ballinacurra is less than two kilometres south of Midleton, so you can walk in for the town, the Jameson Distillery, the shops and the proper choice of food and drink. The road is the old route between the port and the town it served. Flat the whole way.

Under 2 km each waydistance

20-25 minutes each waytime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The estuary light is good and Midleton on the doorstep is busy without being mobbed. A fine base for the East Cork run down to Cloyne and Ballymaloe.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Leisure boats out on the harbour, long evenings, the whole of East Cork within a short drive. Book Midleton or Ballymaloe accommodation early for weekends.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Quiet, the estuary turning, the pub at the quay at its best on a dark evening. A good time to have the place largely to yourself.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Wading birds on the mudflats and a fire in Brooklands, but short days and not much else open in the village. Use Midleton for everything practical.

◐ Mind yourself

06 / 07

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Expecting a tourist village

Ballinacurra is a quiet residential street and an old port, not a destination in its own right. There is one pub, a ruined church you read from the ground, and a lot of water. Come for the estuary and the history, not for shops, cafes or a row of attractions - those are in Midleton, two kilometres north.

Confusing it with Ballinacurra House near Kinsale

There is a well-known luxury private-hire estate called Ballinacurra House near Kinsale on the other side of Cork. This is not that. This is the East Cork harbour village outside Midleton. Different place entirely.

Looking for the working port

The port closed in 1962 and the silt has long since had the last word. The maltings are apartments, the quay takes small leisure boats, and the schooners are gone. What you are looking at is the ghost of a port, which is its own kind of good - but do not arrive expecting cargo and cranes.

Getting there.

By car

Just off the N25 at Midleton, then the R629 south through the village toward Cloyne and Ballymaloe. Roughly 18 km southeast of Cork city, under 2 km south of Midleton town centre.

By bus

Midleton is well served by Bus Eireann from Cork city. Walk or taxi the short distance south to Ballinacurra from there.

By train

Midleton station is the terminus of the Cork commuter line - one of the busiest suburban rail stops outside Dublin. Frequent trains from Cork Kent, then a short hop south.

Next on the tour

Co. Cork

Midleton

The Jameson distillery town, less than two kilometres north. Everything practical the village does not have.

Co. Cork

Cloyne

South on the R629. The round tower, the cathedral, and the bishop George Berkeley - a proper heritage stop for a small place.

Co. Cork

Shanagarry

Ballymaloe country at the end of a short drive. The house, the restaurant, the cookery school, and good food generally.

Co. Cork

Dungourney

Inland north-east, a small village with a famous old hurling club and a hard chapter of the Tan War.