Location...The village of Conna is located in the NE of County Cork...
Directions...
From Cork City...Take the M8 north as far as Watergrasshill and turn off left before the toll. Drive through Watergrasshill and take the old Dublin road...now the R639 for Rathcormack and Fermoy. At the end of a long hill and just before you enter Rathcormack, look for the turn right for Tallow (R628). After 700m, look for the left hand turn after a bad bend to stay on the R628 road. Conna is 12 kms or 7 miles from here.
From Tallow......Conna is signposted as being 4 kms from the centre of Tallow.
From Midleton...Take the R627 for Tallow. After passing through Dungourney, take the next left at the crossroads after Leahy's Open Farm. Conna is signposted as being 9 kms from here.
Race HQ is the Community Centre which is on the main road through Conna....
Course...The 5km race route takes in a loop to the south-east of Conna...
Course Profile...
Course description...The race starts near the church at the western side of the village...
After an slight drop initially, you soon begin a gradual climb past the Community Centre on the right and the grounds of Conna Castle on the left. As you can see from the photo below, this is also the start of the loop...
At about 0.4 miles, the road peaks and then levels off. After several twists and turns, you turn off right at about 1.1 mile onto a quieter road. A Church of Ireland chapel with an unusual wedge shaped spire is located on the corner...
From here, the road begins to climb...gradually at first but then increasing. After a straight section, you take a sharp right and then a sharp right at about 1.5 miles. The hill here is quite challenging as you gain about 40 metres in height over a distance of about 800 metres.
At about 2 miles, you reach the highest part of the course and then start the long fast downhill run to the finish. At 2.2 miles, you join a busier road from Ballynoe as you turn right and head for home...
After a rapid descent, you finish the end of the loop near the 3 mile mark...
Once around the corner, it's a quick dash to the finish line.
Overall...A challenging 5 km course. The hill between 1.5 and 2 miles is certainly tough and time will be lost there. The last mile is very fast but you are unlikely to make up the lost time so it probably isn't a course for setting PB's. One of the few road races in this part of the county so worth supporting.
Discover Ireland..."Conna Castle is very dramatically situated on a rock overlooking the River Bride. The tower was built around 1500 by one of the earls of Desmond. Only one ceiling is retained while there are also some scant remains of the bawn. The Castle was the scene of fighting with the Earl of Essex in 1599. In 1645 it was captured by Lord Castlehaven and was assaulted but not taken by Cromwell in 1650. Conna Castle was burned in 1653, killing three daughters of the occupant and afterwards passed to the Duke of Devonshire's family. "
