2 Best Sights in County Cork, Ireland

Set on the banks of the River Lee with a redbrick chimney that towers over the network of handsome sandstone Victorian buildings that house 100-year-old engine rooms, boilers, and steam centers, this fascinating experience takes you behind the mechanics that generated three centuries of local hydraulic innovation. With interactive exhibitions and informative tours, visitors explore Cork's industrial heritage, and get some insight into the science behind water supply and the challenges facing the environment today. Tours are held every 30 minutes.

Once the bread and butter of Cork City's economy, the creamy product from the Rebel County's lush countryside and beyond---butter---dominated the world market with distribution in every corner of the former British Empire. Today, in a quirky Shandon neighborhood near St. Anne's Church on a square that once housed the Butter Market and follows the contours of the large circular Firkin Crane building (where casks were once weighed), visitors can trace that history and discover the merchant's artifacts and tools in this pint-sized museum.