u/GormuAR

On Channel 4 Monday, in truth it's a father and son journey which just happens to take place in Ireland for TV purposes rather than London presumably because it's a bit foreign but not too much! They're a pleasant pair, Spike Island is the highlight as Roman and Martin get a bit gloomy about its grim history during the famine era esp the children's prison section. "a place of no hope"

No mention of the 1980s car thieves (did that actually happen or was it just a threat?) but an education for its audience.

We got this amazing photo of one of our guests emerging from the waters of Castle Haven last night as the moon peeked out from behind the clouds above Faill Fraoigh.

Gealach na farraige (lit. moonlight of the sea) is one of the many terms for bioluminescence used around the coast of Ireland but it’s actually better known as baraois here in West Cork. Displays have been excellent so far this summer and while some nights are already sold out, we still have a few places available most nights in August and September.

We were out on the Móin Rua last night showcasing our hiking tours to some Tourism Ireland content creators from the Benelux region and we managed to capture this gorgeous view of Trá Leathann at low tide.

Photo taken from the townland of Cuas Chróinín, looking out towards Oileán Bhríde. The lighthouse at Ceann Dún dTéide is visible to the east.

We’ve used the original Irish placenames here, as we often do in our own posts. Partly because they carry so much more information, and partly because many of these names are quietly disappearing from everyday use. Use it or lose it they say.

Many locals would still recognise Oileán Bhríde, Cuas Chróinín, and Ceann Dún dTéide?

Out on the Móin Rua is always spectacular on blustery days but the only safe way to get a photo of the sea arch below An tSrón is to creep towards the edge on your belly. Here are a few shots we got over the last 2 days out there.

Warning - many of the cliffs around Ceann Tuaithe / Toehead are treacherous with significant undercutting at their edges and liable to sudden collapse. Always check with a local when hiking on cliffs.

We’ve been spotting magairlíní / wild orchids around West Cork this week, and honestly, they have the best Irish flower name.

The Irish for orchid is magairlín. It comes from magairle, meaning testicle, with -ín making it the diminutive. So yes, magairlíní basically means little testicles.

The name comes from the shape of the orchid’s underground tubers, which people clearly noticed long before plant ID apps were a thing. The same idea is found in the Greek root of the word orchid, so this is one of those rare times where Irish and classical botany are both having the same little joke.

In Irish tradition, wild orchids were also associated with love and fertility, and were sometimes used for traditional love potions. So beneath the delicate flowers and the fun name, there’s a much older bit of dúchas: beauty, desire, fertility, and the strange humour of the Gaelic world all tangled together in one beautiful plant. West Cork is full of them at the moment if you know where to look.

Please note: magairlíní / wild orchids are protected under Irish law, and in any case they should never be picked or dug up. Admire them, photograph them and enjoy them, but please leave the magairlíní where they are, doing their thing in the grass.

Our guests enjoying a well deserved heat ritual in our puball allais followed by a dip in An Aighlinn, (Ilen) after two days of hiking with a scealaí this June Bank Holiday Weekend.

A marvellous weekend of hiking in conjunction with the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery, saw us tackle a relatively gentle cliff-side hike out on the Móin Rua and around Toe Head on Saturday.

While Sunday was a bitín more challenging - we tackled half of Slí Fhionn Barra and bagged a fog bound Mullach Méise (494m) along the way but then the sun emerged and we had a rewarding heat ritual at the end. Thanks to everyone who made it such a special weekend!

Last night we picked up An Capall Ciúin, the newest member of the Gormú family from the team at Kerry Motor Works. In keeping with our eco tourism ethos, it’s a 100% electric Ford E-Transit and we’ve called it An Capall Ciúin, meaning the silent/quiet horse.

This quiet workhorse (see what we did there) will carry us, our stories, our eBikes and and our swimming gear along the bóithríní of West Cork in our section of the Wild Atlantic Way, including servicing our new eBike tours from Inchydoney Island.

Down the road, we'll try to do a full post and photo series with the amazing detailing by D-signs of Tralee and what she's like to handle, real world range etc.

Corcaigh Abú!

We were thrilled to be featured in this gorgeous new video from Pure Cork and Discover Ireland.

Our favourite body of water in the whole world Castle Haven shows up a number of times using content from our Gormú Swim Experiences along with a shot of our friends from Atlantic Sea Kayaking paddling near Castletownshend.

Gormú Hiking Tours daily hike out on the Toe Head peninsula also features with some beautiful footage of the Móin Rua.

It’s just stunning and we are so proud to be featured alongside so many of our wonderful colleagues from around Co. Cork.

….and just to cap it off, our Gormú eBike Tours also feature with a stunning drone shot from Céim na nGáir looking out over Castle Haven.

Give it an upvote (if you’re into that kind of thing) so that more people can “Experience Cork”.