Goleen ()
is a small rural village in
County Cork on the south-western tip of
Ireland. Farming, tourism and construction work are among the main occupations of the local people.
Location
Goleen is located towards the south-western end of the
Mizen Peninsula Mizen (not to be confused with ) may refer to:
* Mizen Head, one of the extreme points of the island of Ireland
* Mizen potato, a potato variety
* Jimmy Mizen
Jimmy may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Jimmy'' (2008 f ...
, in
West Cork
West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbe ...
. The land surrounding the village is unsuitable for farming, being hilly and rocky with limited soil cover.
Mizen Head, at the southern tip of the Mizen peninsula, about five miles from the village, is often claimed to be the most southerly point on the island of Ireland, but is in fact the country's most southwesterly point. The distinction of being Ireland's most southerly point belongs to nearby
Brow Head
Brow Head ( ga, Ceann Bró) is the most southerly point of mainland Ireland. It is in the rural townland of Mallavogue near Crookhaven in County Cork, Ireland. It is 3.8 km east of Mizen Head at latitude 51.43ºN.
History
Ptolemy's ''Geo ...
, from where
Guglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...
experimented with transatlantic radio signals at the beginning of the 20th century.
Amenities
The village has four
pubs, a small shop, and a
petrol station.
The town also has a community pitch on which locals play Gaelic football and soccer. In the sports hall beside the pitch is a table tennis club.
The village has a large
Roman Catholic church; there is a smaller
Church of Ireland church situated just outside the village but this has been deconsecrated and is the site for a sail-maker.
In 1852, shortly after the
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
, the parish priest John Foley started to build a new parish church with the help of donations by Irish emigrants. The church was erected in the
Neo-Gothic style
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
with a cruciform
aisleless ground plan, four bays, and a triplet window in the chancel behind the high altar. Bishop William Delaney of the
diocese of Cork consecrated the church on 11 October 1854.
Transport
Bus Éireann run the 237 bus service from
Cork City to Goleen.
References
{{Authority control
Towns and villages in County Cork
Tourist attractions in County Cork