Contae Chorcaí

County Cork


County Cork is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland. It is named after its capital the city of Cork. The MacGillycuddy's Reeks and Caha Mountains along the border to Kerry were formed during the Hercynian orogeny some 300 million years ago. They consist of 360 to 374 million years old rocks from the Devonian. The geology is complicated because of the folding, and there are numerous limestone or marble bands which are karstified. This is not actually a karst area, there are numerous patches of limestone with several caves. Actually the county has two of the six show caves of Ireland.