Airports

There are three principal international airports in Ireland: Cork, Dublin, and Shannon. The majority of international flights will arrive into Dublin ariport and the easiest way of travelling to Cork is directly from Dublin airport to Cork city by bus.

Cork Airport

Cork airport is located 6 km from the city centre and 7.5km from University College Cork. A taxi journey, with little traffic, takes approximately 20 minutes and costs approximately €20. Everything you need to know about Cork airport, including transport connections, is available on the Cork Airport website. There is also a regular bus service from the airport to the city centre. 

Dublin and Shannon Airports

You may be flying into Dublin airport or Shannon airport, or via Amsterdam, Paris or London, which have frequent direct connections with Cork. Whichever way you arrive, there are a number of possibilities for getting to Cork. There are frequent connections by train or bus, which are detailed on the airport websites. 

Buses

Transport for Ireland have a webpage to plan the fastest route, and mode of transport, for your journey anywhere in the country. We have provided an additional overview of the bus and train services to get to to, and around Cork city, below.

Once you are a registered UCC student you will be able to apply to get a student Leapcard which will offer a significant reduction in travel costs on buses and trains both around Cork and the rest of the country.

Intercity Buses 

There are several intercity bus companies operating routes to Cork. Bus Eireann is the national bus company. Aircoach is a privately owned company, as is GoBus, both of which operate a direct service from Dublin airport to Cork city centre. The journey from Dublin airport to Cork city will take approximately 3 and half hours. Regular bus services connect Shannon airport to Limerick, from where you may take a bus or a train to Cork: the journey takes less than two hours. For up to date information about connections from Irish airports to Irish cities log on to the relevant websites.

Cork City Buses

Bus Eireann operate the bus services in Cork city. The number 205 departs from Cork Kent train station, and connects to UCC via the city centre’s St. Patrick's Street, not far from Parnell Bus Station, the main bus station in the city. The number 208 departs from St Patrick’s Street and stops at UCC as well as several of the Campus Accommodation residences. Timetables and fare details are available at this link.

Trains

Cork City Train

Kent Train Station

Kent Train Station is the main station in Cork city and Irish rail is the service provider for booking your travel tickets. To get the train from Dublin to Cork you need to go to Heuston Station, Dublin. Trains to Cork leave every hour, and details of schedules and fares are available on the website. It may be considerably cheaper to book train tickets online rather than at the ticket office in the train station. The journey to Cork will take approximately 3 hours. 

Details of all train connections in and out of Cork Kent train station are available here.