In 1755, a catastrophic earchquake occurred in Portugal that caused a tsunami. The force of this tsunami hit the coasts of Britain and Ireland and dramatically changed the topology. This bay is one example: what was formerly known as Timoleague Bay is now known as Courtmacsherry Bay. Timoleague was at the head of the navigable water and thrived from wharfs built in front of the medieval Priory but after the tsunami, the inlet was no longer navigable for sea-going vessels as far as Timoleague, so new piers and quays were built further to the east, closer to the mouth of the estuary, on the north facing shoreline. The place we now call Courtmacsherry.
Fishing is still a living here, both commercial and tourist – all evident on the Pier. Tourism is important nowadays, take time to visit a few hostelries – there really are Golden Pheasants in the village, the famous Courtmac Community Shop, playgrounds, tennis courts, a number of pubs, tea rooms, B&B’s and a hotel.
A branch of the West Cork Railways served Courtmac - the Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Extension Light Railway was actually built to full gauge, and lasted until 1960. The track bed from Timoleague has been made into a scenic waterside footpath covering several kilometres. There are thousands of migrant birds here during the winter months, golden plover, lapwing, blacktailed godwits, and Arctic shags to name a few.
The Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat has recently been in the limelight as the Centenary of the sinking of the Cunard liner Lusitania by a German torpedo fell in 2015. There is a model of the Lusitania here to commemorate this disaster.
There are 2 more geocaches to find in Courtmac – Courtmacsherry RNLI and Woodpoint Woods.