Courtmacsherry, often referred to by locals as Courtmac, is a seaside village in County Cork, on the southwest coast of Ireland. It is about 30 miles southwest of Cork, and 15–20 minutes drive east from the town of Clonakilty. The village consists of a single long street on the southern shore of Courtmacsherry Bay, with thick woods on rising ground behind. The woods continue beyond the village eastwards to the open sea, ending at Wood Point. Between the village and "The Point" the trees run right to the water's edge and there are several natural bathing coves along the way.
History
Around the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland the major townships in the area were those now known as Timoleague, Lislee, Barryroe and Dunworly. Among the Norman settlers were the De Barrys and the Hodnetts; the former built a castle at Timoleague, and the latter settled in Lislee. The Barrys flourished and gave their name to Barryroe, Rathbarry, etc., whereas the Hodnetts “degenerated into mere Irish”, one branch changing their name to MacSeafraidh, subsequently anglicised to MacSherry or McSharry. Although Barrys and Hodnetts still live in the district, there are no MacSherrys. One, Patrick MacSeafraidh from Co. Antrim, a descendant of a Courtmacsherry Hodnett, emigrated to America in 1745 and founded McSherrystown in Adams County, Pennsylvania.
Economy
The village's main industry consists of commercial and charter angling. A moderately sized tourist industry exists during the summer months. There are several beaches nearby, namely Dunworley Strand, Moloney Strand, Broadstrand and Blind Strand. The village has a hotel and a caravan park, catering mainly for visitors from Cork. About half of this new housing is owner-occupied, the remainder being rented to visitors.
Today
There are several bars and pubs in and around the village. Courtmacsherry is an angling center, and known for its many record catches. There is also a festival at the end of July - the beginning of August. It also hosts a horse race meeting on the strand each year. On 15 January 2009 an 18-meter fin whale stranded and subsequently died on a beach in Kilbrittain, opposite Courtmacsherry, after becoming disorientated and lured by unusually high tides. Efforts were made by Courtmacsherry Lifeboat to get the whale back into the sea but a combination of its size, weight and location meant that attempts to save the whale's life were unsuccessful. Its remains were saved and preserved by the people of Kilbrittain and are displayed for public viewing in the village. The whale was featured in a Channel 4 documentary "Inside Nature's Giants" which showed autopsies of large mammals.
Lifeboat
The first of Courtmacsherry's lifeboats was established in 1825 - one of the first to be founded in Ireland. This original lifeboat, however, reportedly deteriorated into an unusable condition, and Courtmacsherry was without an official vessel until February 1867, when the City of Dublin was placed in service. This, however, supposedly didn't stop the "Coastguardsmen and boatmen" from " rescuing by means of their own open boats the crews of wrecked vessels". A boathouse was also constructed this same year. Since then, eight different boats have been placed in service at the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat station, with the Frederick Storey Cockburn, a Trent-class lifeboat, currently in service. Courtmacsherry harbours a lifeboat station and its volunteer crews have performed many rescues. The most famous was in May 1915 when the lifeboat of the day rescued survivors of the RMS Lusitania sinking. Lifeboatmen involved on that day included Tim Keohane, John Murphy, and his son Jerry.
