Ringaskiddy

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Ringaskiddy (Irish: Rinn ui Scidígh) is a village south of Cork city, in County Cork, Ireland. Located across Cork harbour south from Cóbh, and connected to Cork city by the N28 road the village is now a major ferry port and is one of two free ports in Ireland, the other being in the Shannon area.

Ringaskiddy has seen huge development in recent years. Indeed, this development is set to continue, the Port of Cork has announced plans to build a container terminal there. Ringaskiddy is also set to benefit with a huge upgrade in the N28 road. However, despite recent investments, infrastructure remains poor in the area. No bus service exists with the nearest town, Carrigaline, and the bus service which links the village with Cork City is intermittent, expensive and has a journey time of up to 45 minutes. There is only one shop in the village. The village is close to Cork Airport and the City, as well as picturesque areas such as Crosshaven, Monkstown, and Currabinny.

1 Places of interest
2 Industry
3 Naval training
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Places of interest

A Martello Tower type fortification exists on the hilltop at Ringaskiddy. This compliments the other forts and towers in the harbour. This tower can be accessed from the Lough Beg road leading to one of the Pfizers plants and is an excellent viewpoint.

[edit] Industry

Ringaskiddy is now a major industrial centre - particularly for companies in the pharmachem industry including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Centocor, Novartis and Recordati. Ringaskiddy port handles much of the vehicle imports for the southern part of the country each year.

Plans to locate a domestic waste incinerator in Ringaskiddy recently fell through. Although this facility would have relieved the pressure on the countries landfill programme, locals and environmentalists feared the incinerator would have had a grave impact on health and the environment in the harbour area.

[edit] Naval training

On March 30, 2006, the National Maritime College of Ireland was officially opened in Ringaskiddy. This college provides the only training in Ireland of Merchant Navy personnel. The Irish Naval Service also carry out their non-military training in the College.
The Irish Naval Service base at Haulbowline is adjacent to the village. One of Ireland's deepest quays is located in Ringaskiddy, and the port there also plays host to ferries from Swansea and Roscoff. The opening of the maritime college has attracted a student population to the village, and the growth of industry in the area sees heavy traffic on the roads each day.