Rostellan, Aghada and Whitegate are three sister towns on the eastern side of Cork Harbour. Located some 32 kilometres from Cork, Rostellan is situated at the head of a small creek. Known as Rostellan Lake, this creek is famed for bird-life and attracts large numbers of bird watchers all year round. The woods around its shore offer very attractive walks along the shore of what is a proposed Natural Heritage Area. Rostellan Woods were part of the Rostellan Castle estate. Rostellan Castle was demolished in the 1920s.
The electricity generating station at Aghada was commissioned in 1980 and, during the first few years of its operation, was the country’s largest electricity producer. It uses natural gas to power a total station capacity of 540 MW and is reckoned to be one of the most efficient in the country.
It is no accident that the generating station at Aghada is built adjacent to Ireland’s only refinery at Whitegate. Owned by the Irish government until 2001, the original intention was that the Aghada power station would use residual fuel oil from the refinery. The Whitegate refinery is now owned by Conoco Phillips, the third-largest international energy company in the United States based on market capitalisation, oil and gas proved reserves and production and the fourth largest refiner worldwide. The Whitegate refinery produces 75,000 barrels of oil per day and can supply about 40% of the Republic of Ireland’s fuel needs.
The village of Whitegate is attractively situated on the shores of Cork Harbour overlooking Nearby, on a 140 acre estate, is the East Cork holiday village of Trabolgan. During the 12 th century, the French Benedictine monks had a monastery at Trabolgan, where they kept valuable manuscripts, paintings and religious objects saved from the religious persecutions in Continental Europe. The land was confiscated by the Crown and in 1174, the Fitzgerald family set up residence there. In the mid-17 th century, the Fitzgerald estate was purchased by the Roche family. This is the same family after whom the Roches Point lighthouse is named. The Roches ran a slate quarry and a flax mill on the estate. Some 200 years later, Edmund Burke Roche, great grandfather of HRH Princess Diana, lost Trabolgan betting on a greyhound race. In 1912, the Clarke family took over the Trabolgan estate. The Clarkes owned and ran Clarkes Tobacco Company in Bristol and grew tobacco on the estate during the War years. In the late 1930s after the death of her husband, Mrs. Clarke moved away and the Land Commission purchased the house and estate. During World War II, Trabolgan served as a base for the Irish Army. Then in 1948, some local investors purchased the estate from the Land Commission, built chalets, a dance hall and a swimming pool and ran the venture as a holiday camp. Their efforts were unsuccessful and during the following few years, the house and estate changed hands several times. IT was used as an all-Irish boarding school for boys from 1959 – 1973. In 1975, a Dutch Coal and Metal Industry Pension Fund purchased Trabolgan. In 1980, they opened a small holiday camp. It was extended both in 1983 and 1985. Trabolgan Holiday Village was bought by Scottish & Newcastle plc. in 1990 and has been further developed since.
Today, Trabolgan has 172 self catering houses and apartments, a caravan park, a wave pool, 18-hole golf course, crazy golf, badminton and tennis courts, Astroturf soccer pitch, sports hall, fitness room, sauna, steam room, go-kart tracks, trampolines, paddle-boats, mini-karts, children’s play areas, kids clubs and amusement arcade.