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A corker of a place
 At one time considered Ireland’s literary capital, Cork city now offers a wealth of goodies for the holidaymaker, from jazz clubs to personalised bell ringing, writes MALCOLM ROGERS.
It is proudly said that the city of Cork is the only place in Ireland whose citizens are capable of being chronically homesick at the mere thought of even leaving it.
Whether that’s true or not is a moot point — but Ireland’s most southerly city certainly has plenty to recommend it. Once the literary capital of Ireland (O’Faolain, O’Connor, Corkery, Larry Lyons), it is more commonly thought of nowadays as the jazz epicentre and cinema capital of the country.
One of Cork’s great attraction is its position on an island in the middle of the River Lee. Many of the main streets, such as the Grand Parade, were once busy waterways, lined with warehouses and merchants’ residences. Nowadays they are handsome thoroughfares, ideal for sauntering around.
The city can also boast that it’s something of a campanological paradise. Campanology? The bells, the bells. It’s the only place where you can ring out your own tune across the city — at St. Ann’s in Shandon, to be exact. At this establishment, high on a hill overlooking the old town, for a small fee they provide you with sheet music — and your own rendition of Danny Boy or My Own Lovely Lee peels out from the bell-tower. As it says in Father Prout’s sonorous lines:
“‘Tis the bells of Shandon
That sound so grand on
The pleasant waters of the River Lee.”
You can’t really miss the church — it’s the only one hereabouts with an 11ft salmon weather vane atop the tower. In fact, it may be the only salmon-festooned church steeple in the entire world.
The main ecclesiastic centre in Cork, however, is in honour of the city’s founder, St Finbarr. Eschewing the biblical advice not to build his house on dodgy ground, in the seventh century Finbarr founded an abbey and school here on the swampy ground by the river — hence the name
Corcaigh, meaning ‘marshy place’.
By the ninth century, however, things took a turn for the Norse. The Vikings arrived, with their trademark blend of pillaging, looting and destruction, and Finbarr’s monastery was no more. So conveniently was Cork placed, that it became the bridgehead for further Norse forays round the Irish countryside.
But then a familiar story began to unravel. The Vikings soon settled in, realised that trading was more lucrataive than raiding, and before long were ‘integrating’ with the native
Celts.
Any peace was short-lived, however, because history, as ever, had another shock in store for Ireland. The Normans fetched up on our shores, and history unfolded in the city in its usual bleak fashion.
Today, the traces of that bitter history can be seen in the cityscape, although it would be fair to say that Cork has no really spectacular sights. It’s more a very pleasant place to wander. You can dander along the quays, meander through the patchwork of medieaval narrow streets — or pay a visit to the antique shops along George’s Quay.
The English Market — which has been in the retail therapy business since 1610 — is a veritable bazaar of eccentric stalls and food aisles. Nearby is the statue of Father Mathew, the founder of the Temperance Movement. This very sober man launched the most successful temperance crusade in history, beginning in Cork in 1838. By 1844 some five million people had taken the pledge.
To get a broader grasp of the culture of Cork you should present yourself at the Crawford Municipal Gallery in Washington Street. Alongside the JB Yeats paintings and very fine John Lavery studies of Cork republicans and Munster émigrés, sits the death mask of the great Irish composer and collector Sean Ó Riada, the man who did so much to popularise traditional music.
The Crawford has none of your interactive, multi-media digital displays — it’s a sober (although somewhat eccentric) Victorian museum, and none the worse for that.
The most impressive building in Cork by far is the magnificent St. Finbarr’s Cathedral, built in 1870. This outrageous neo-French Gothic limestone confection has a façade which alone incorporates 1260 statues — griffins, gargoyles, saints and angels. The beautiful rose window and graceful twin spires are the most striking features.
Some corking days out
Cork city is an ideal place to base yourself for some corking days out. Co. Cork boasts a dramatic coastline with some of the finest views in Ireland, as well as the following fun
excursions
Whiskey galore
Take a trip to Jameson Heritage Centre, Midleton, County Cork, a sensitively restored 18th century distillery.
Bushmills may be the oldest manufacturer of whiskey in Ireland, but Midleton is easily the largest.
The Old Jameson Distillery will tell you how the cratur has been made in Ireland for over 600 years — and the rest. They’ll show you stills which can hold thousands of gallons of the golden nectar, how water is just about the most important ingredient in a good dram (who would have thought it?), and how Irish whiskey is exported throughout the world.
The visit culminates in the Jameson Bar where you get a chance to taste various blends. To round off the day there’s a restaurant, plus an elegant gift and craft shop.
- Old Jameson Distillery, Tel: 00353 21 613594
Gunpowder Mills
Ensure you hour holiday isn’t a damp squib by paying as visit to Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills.
For long the Cork town has been a military centre, from the times when the massive keep of its ancient 14th century castle, still a conspicuous landmark, kept watch over the area. In the 18th century, someone came along with a dynamite idea: an armament factory.
The Royal Gunpowder Mills continued to make explosives for armies, mining companies and railway companies all over the world from 1794 until the beginning of the 20th century.
The industrial complex housing the works meanders along the bank of the River Lee. The many buildings used in the manufacture of gunpowder are still scattered along the main canal and millraces. The complex covers over 130 acres, and the centre provides a guide to the history and interpretation of the explosive goings on in the area.
- Opening Hours: 10am to 6pm daily. Tel: 00 353 22 24244, or 00 353 21 874 430.
Blackrock Castle
Have a banquet at Blackrock Castle on the banks of the Lee. The imposing edifice is about a mile downriver from the city centre.
Originally built in 1582 by Lord Mountjoy as a harbour fortification guarding Cork’s busy merchandising fleet, the gaunt stone walls today house a magnificent banqueting hall, as well as a bar and restaurant if you prefer something more intimate.
After dinner and drinks you can enjoy fine views across the Lee or walk off those calories with a saunter along the river.
- Blackrock Castle.
Tel: 00 353 21357414.
The jazz festival
Every October up to 40,000 music fans travel to Cork to attend what has become known as Europe’s friendliest Jazz Festival.
The event has hosted many of the jazz greats in its 26 year history — Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich, Mel
Torme, Cleo Laine, Dave Brubeck, Benny Carter, Joe Zawinul, Art Blakey, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, Wynton
Marsalis, Stephane Grappelli, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin and lots more.
The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is Ireland’s biggest and most prestigious jazz event and is one of the most important events on Ireland’s arts and cultural calendar. This year some 1,000 musicians from 25 countries will entertain the fans in over 75 venues citywide.
The main concert venues are the Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork Opera House and the Triskel Arts Centre. The famous Guinness Festival Club at the Gresham Metropole Hotel offers world class jazz on five stages day and night (daytime sessions have free admission), while the easy-to-find Guinness Jazz Trail offers entertainment in over 40 excellent pubs and clubs, most of it free of charge.
And there’s more jazz in the top city hotels and in fringe venues, plus workshops, art exhibitions, great restaurants and lots more.
- For further information contact the Cork Jazz Marketing Office.
Tel: 00 353 21) 427 8979 or email: corkjazz@corkcity.ie
Cobh Harbour
There are few more poignant places in Ireland than Cobh Harbour in Co. Cork, for this was the embarkation point for hundreds of thousands of Irish
- first in convict ships bound for Australia, and then in the mid-19th century in coffin ships fleeing the Famine for a better life in the New World.
It was also here that the Titanic made its last port of call, and, it is said, where Walter Raleigh unloaded the first tobacco ever to arrive in Europe.
For the best view, stand on the hillside above the great grey edifice of St. Colman’s Cathedral which watches over the former garrison town and gaze at the trans-Atlantic liners still plying their trade.
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