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NOHOVAL

CO. CORK · IE

Nohoval
Nuachabhail, Co. Cork

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 07 / 07

Nuachabhail · Co. Cork

A scattered south-coast parish above a slate-quarry cove. The cove is the thing, and it does not make it easy.

Nohoval is a small, scattered south Cork parish in the hills above the coast between Kinsale and Crosshaven. The village itself is barely a village - a church, a restaurant, and a string of houses along roads that dead-end above the water. The 1837 topographical dictionary put 1,260 people in the parish and noted the slate quarries at the cove; today it is a few hundred, mostly farming and commuting families, and the quarries are abandoned.

Nohoval Cove below is the reason to come and the reason to be careful. It is a small, dramatic inlet of sea stacks, arches and cliffs, reached by a series of narrow dead-end tracks and then a steep, slatey slope down to the water. Parking is for four cars at most and gets chaotic on a fine summer Sunday. The slope is a real nightmare when wet, there is no lifeguard, and the warning is plain: this is for looking, not swimming.

The parish sits in old Cistercian country. Tracton Abbey, founded in 1224 by Odo de Barry with monks from Whitland in Wales, lies a few miles north toward Ringabella Bay - only slight remains survive, but the Roman Catholic parish here was long part of the Tracton union. Kinsale is about twenty minutes west and handles everything Nohoval does not: beds, restaurants, harbour, history. Use it as your base and come out to Nohoval for the cove and the quiet.

Population

~400 (parish, scattered)

Founded

Medieval parish in the barony of Kinnalea; old church of 1744

Coords

51.7520° N, 8.4710° 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 cove

Nohoval Cove - sea stacks, arches and an old slate mine, down a steep slate slope.

The landscape here is sea stacks, rock arches and rugged cliffs, with the abandoned lime kilns and slate workings that once shipped stone to Cork. The descent is a steep slate slope, treacherous when wet, and there is no lifeguard. Spectacular, and not a swimming beach.

Walks & outings → 02 The scale

A scattered parish, not a village street - a church, Finders Inn, and houses along the road.

Nohoval is a rural parish in the barony of Kinnalea, eight miles east of Kinsale on the old road to Roberts Cove. There is no village centre to speak of: a church, the one restaurant, and farmhouses along lanes that dead-end above the sea.

The letter →

02 / 07

Where to eat.

Place	Type	€	Local note
Finders Inn	Restaurant, in the parish near the old church	€€€	The one place to eat in Nohoval and the only real reason to linger after dark. A long-established, family-run restaurant in a building hundreds of years old, set across from the 1744 church, full of antiques and a fireplace - old-world and a touch theatrical. The kitchen leans on seafood: monkfish, hake, mussels, seafood starters, with rack of lamb for the land side. Not cheap, and out on its own in the countryside, so book and bring the car.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

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

Stone shipped to Cork

The slate-quarry cove

At Nohoval Cove were extensive slate quarries, and great quantities of slate were once shipped from here to Cork. The remains are still legible in the landscape - abandoned lime kilns and worked rock above a small, cliff-bound inlet of sea stacks and arches. It is one of the more dramatic short pieces of the south Cork coast, but the descent is a steep slate slope that turns lethal in the wet, and there is no lifeguard. Come for the cliffs and the geology. Do not come to swim.

White monks from Wales

Tracton Abbey, 1224

A few miles north of Nohoval, near Ringabella Bay, the Cistercians founded Tracton Abbey in 1224 - colonised from Whitland (Albalanda) in Carmarthenshire and named de Albo Tractu, 'of the white tract'. It was a daughter house granted lands by Anglo-Norman settlers, and for centuries the Catholic parish of Nohoval was bound up with the Tracton union. Only inconsiderable remains of the abbey survive, with sculptured stones scattered through the neighbouring fields. There is not much to see on the ground, but it is the deep history of this stretch of coast.

A parish older than the road

The old church of 1744

Finders Inn, the one restaurant in the parish, sits across from a church dated 1744 - the old Nohoval Church of Ireland. Nohoval was a rectory in the diocese of Cork, long tied to the corps of the archdeaconry of St Finbarr, and the Church of Ireland burial register here runs back to 1784. The fabric of the parish is older and quieter than anything you will read on a sign.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

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

Nohoval Cove path Down to the cove from the road and back. The last stretch is a steep slate slope - rocky, and a real nightmare to traverse when wet. The headland views over the sea stacks and arches are the payoff, east toward Cork Harbour and back west toward the Old Head of Kinsale. Boots, dry day, and treat the slope with respect.

2 km returndistance

45 mintime

Roberts Cove cliff walk West of Nohoval at Roberts Cove, a small sheltered sandy beach with cliff-top paths and good coastal views. Roberts Cove draws day-trippers and swimmers out from Cork city in summer and is the easier, safer beach of the two. The walk along the cliffs above it is the better option if Nohoval Cove looks too greasy underfoot.

2-3 kmdistance

1 hourtime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The coast is green, the cove is quiet, and the slate slope is more likely to be dry than in winter. The best window for the headland walk before the summer day-trippers arrive.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Roberts Cove fills with Cork-city day-trippers and the tiny Nohoval Cove parking turns chaotic on a fine Sunday. Lovely light, but come early or midweek if you want the cove to yourself.

◐ Mind yourself

Autumn

Sep-Oct

The crowds thin and the sea is at its most dramatic against the stacks and arches. Good walking light. Watch the slope after rain.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days, Atlantic weather, and a slate slope that is genuinely dangerous when wet. The cliffs are at their wildest, but stay up top and keep off the descent unless it is bone dry.

◐ 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.

Nohoval Cove as a swimming beach

It is not one. The descent is a steep, slatey slope, there is no lifeguard, and the water is all crashing waves and jagged rocks. One misstep on the wet slope and you slide toward the sea. It is a place to look at, not to swim in. For a swim, go to Roberts Cove or Rocky Bay nearby.

Bringing a camper van or a big car

Nohoval Cove is reached by narrow dead-end tracks with room for about four cars at the bottom. Camper vans do not fit, and on a busy day the turning space becomes a standoff. Park sensibly and walk the last bit.

Expecting a village with pubs and shops

There is no village street, no pub in the parish, and no shop. There is a church, Finders Inn, and farmhouses on lanes. Kinsale, twenty minutes west, is where you sleep, drink and stock up.

Getting there.

By car

Off the R612 between Carrigaline and Kinsale, in the parish east of Kinsale on the old Roberts Cove road. About 30 km and 40 minutes south of Cork city; roughly 20 minutes east of Kinsale. The minor roads to the cove are narrow dead-ends - use a map and go slowly.

By bus

No direct public transport to Nohoval. Bus Éireann and Local Link serve Kinsale and Carrigaline; from either you need a car or taxi for the last stretch.

By train

Nearest station is Cork (Kent), then car. There is no rail anywhere near the parish.

By air

Cork Airport (ORK) is about 25 km north, roughly 30 minutes by car. It is the obvious arrival point.