Murphy's Rock

Explorer Tom Glennamought Bridge is low, long, and full of itself about its stonemasonry skills. The parapet walls look like they've been posing for photos for years. A good place to forge a friendship with a local goat.

Explorer Tom Delaney Brothers Monument in Ballincolly marks two young lads from the War of Independence. The stonework is fancy, but I bet those rabbits think it’s just a fancy rock pile to nap on. Go at sunset.

Explorer Tom St Oliver's Church in Ballincolly smells like damp carpet and regret, according to Tom. Built in 1992 when the old church flooded, it’s modern and a bit awkward. Bring a plug for your ears if the organist is practicing.

Explorer Tom “Bridge in Kilbarry would win the county fair for best stone masonry if they allowed infrastructure to compete against the pigs. It’s got piers so solid they’ve been holding up trains since 1848 without complaining once. Go on, take a bow to its engineering skills before you move along.”

Explorer Tom Kilnap Bridge spans a deep valley with putlog holes that look like the bridge has giant pockmarks. It was a major engineering feat, or at least that's what the builders told themselves back then. Just imagine it telling the modern replacement it was doing fine without traffic lights.

Explorer Tom Kilnap Viaduct started because two lads in a pub bet each other they could span the River Bride without breaking a single stone. They won, but now it just stands there looking smug while trains rumble over its back like it’s a giant’s spine. It’s got that mid-nineteenth-century engineering flex that never really wears off.

Explorer Tom Chimney in Kilnap is a brick tower that used to smell like industrial progress. Now it just stands there tapering off into the sky, looking suspiciously like a giant finger pointing at God. Bring your imagination and pretend you can still hear the mill grinding grain down below.

Explorer Tom Ladys Well in Cork City has a shrine with a statue but no visible well anymore. It's not frequented on a holy well nowadays, which is sad. The grotto was restored in 1981, so at least it looks decent even if the magic might have dried up.

Explorer Tom Tourist Office in County Cork is located near St Patrick's Quay, where a bishop once refused to enter because he thought the door was too rude. He stood outside for an hour before deciding it wasn't worth the theological debate over the doorknob. Grand place for a sulk or a snog, your call.

Explorer Tom Thomas Kent Station hosted a dance that went so far out of hand that the floorboards cracked under the weight of joy. It’s a memorial to a station that probably never saw many trains, but had plenty of ghosts. Tell the next person you meet it's haunted. It might be.

Explorer Tom Lavitts Quay is a memorial where, legend has it, a goat once ruled the harbour by eating all the navigation charts before the tide came in. Now it’s just rocks and stories, but if you look closely, you can still see the hoofprints of that terrible beast. Bring your worst joke, the place has heard worse.

Explorer Tom Father Matthew is a monument to a man who probably had a ghost that was too lazy to haunt it because the paperwork was too complicated and annoying. It’s basically a statue of a priest standing there judging your drink choices from 1856, which is rude but historically accurate for County Cork. Bring sandwiches, the gulls will thank you.