Cork City Playful Pirate Culture Trail
Cork City
Sun 10 Aug 2025 (note: this event has already taken place)
1pm
FREE
A new Playful Pirate Culture Trail has launched in Cork City, Ireland’s maritime haven, for the summer months. Throughout July and August, the city’s vibrant museums, galleries and visitor attractions will add pirate fun to their offering so families can explore culture, heritage and the city’s green spaces in an imaginative and playful way.
It’s the perfect opportunity to get your kids to say ‘aye-aye’ to cultural adventures so gather your hearties and navigate them to great culture and green spaces in the city using the specially created Playful Pirate Culture Trail treasure map.
Museums, galleries, and historic sites are of course all keepers of treasure so there’s lots for your crew to discover and explore! The map includes a special treasure to be found at each site, along with other challenges. It also lists 20 child friendly activities to do in the city from spotting pirate ships and cannons, to digging for hidden loot and searching for golden angels!
In addition to a treasure hunt at each venue on your voyage, there will be pirate photo opportunities, fun facts, lots
of pirate colouring, and suggested activities to try where X marks the spot.
Make sure you also look out for the play trail mascot Bláithin, a little green environmentalist pirate lizard, who will play hide and seek at each venue. As a pirate who lives on the sea, she encourages everyone to learn about the environment and keep the city and planet clean and healthy!
And above all, make sure your little pirates get a stamp at every venue to fill their maps with their bounty! The trail includes: Blackrock Castle Observatory, Blarney Castle, The Butter Museum, Cork City Gaol, Cork Public Museum, Cork Military Museum, Elizabeth Fort, Crawford Art Gallery, Nano Nagle Place, Glucksman Gallery, Old Cork Waterworks Experience, Shandon Bells and Tower, St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, St Peter’s Church, Triskel Christchurch and outdoor spaces/ picnic points including Fitzgerald Park, the Lough, and the Atlantic Pond. The aim is that families can have multiple days out, trying different locations and activities.
Embracing a fun pirate theme is just one of many ways museums, galleries and attractions have come together to make their spaces more playful, youth friendly and accessible. This year the map includes information on accessibility and work is being done with UCC Occupational Therapy Department to make our culture spaces more inclusive.
