October 2022

Up until this point Cillian had almost everything he needed. The one missing ingredient was a to immerse himself in Cork.

It’s not just a place but a state of mind.

First up – a maiden journey with Aer Lingus, the GLA->ORK express. A couple of months prior we had a family discussion. The flight would only be 1 hour so we shouldn’t need to get Cillian his own seat. He is not even two yet.

How wrong we were. An hour is a long time when someone small is wriggling all around and jumping up and down on you. Cork Airport was hosting an art exhibition coinciding with our visit. It was a collection of Jason O’Gorman prints. King Kong and Shandon Bells was our favourite of the bunch.

We spent the first day reuniting with our family. We had not seen them since 2019 thanks to Covid-19 and it was their first chance to meet their nephew / grandson.

City Living

On our first full day we popped up to Cork City. It had changed a lot of the previous couple of years. A lot more tables and chairs outside, a lot more street art too. Big European vibes.

We parked in Merchants Quay and walked along Patrick Street, after paying homage to Father Matthew – his statue is located next to St Patrick’s Bridge at the start of St Patrick’s Street. He was a big deal in Cork, helping to alleviate suffering during the cholera epidemic in 1832 and during the Famine.

St Patrick’s Street – (‘Pana’ to the locals) is the main thoroughfare of the city that snakes around from the river Lee to form the Grand Parade on the south side of the island. It’s the main cultural artery on which the rest of the city attaches itself to. It’s distinctive curving shape is due to the fact that underneath the road is an old river canal that was bricked over to create the new road.

Pana has gone through many changes over the year and it’s current incarnation dates back to 2005 when the city got a huge makeover to celebrate it’s ascension to European Capital of Culture that year, a feat it did by itself that year. Catalan architect Beth Gali spearheaded those changes. Nearly 250 years ago this was all marshland and river channels before the populace of the day expanded beyond the medieval walls and reclaimed the land, growing consistently until large parts of it were burned down in the 1920s by the Black and Tans during the War of Irish Independence.

It was great to introduce Cillian to the hustle and bustle of the city, taking a photo with the ‘Echo Boy’ statue before entering the English Market. So-called as it was established by the Protestant/English corporation that controlled the city in 1788. The market’s prosperity, and that of the city itself grew in the eighteenth century as salted beef, pork and butter were exported to the colonies in the West Indies and to provision the British Navy. Cork Harbour is one of the deepest natural ports in the world and so was strategic for the British Empire.

Rick Stein calls it the best covered market in the UK and Ireland and it was here that John Rose Senior Senior (John’s grandfather) along with his brothers owned and ran a butcher counter

Rebuilt in the 1980s and sympathetic to its Victorian era roots its one of best places to visit in Cork, you can have some coffee or lunch at the Farm Gate restaurant, you can use it to cut through to Princes Street or the Grand Parade, or you can go slow and stop to sample some of the best food and drink in the county or picking up something for later. Also, these days its a bit of a film and tv tourist draw as parts of The Young Offenders was filmed here.

You can read about all that and other film locations in Cork City and County in our dedicated post – Rebel County Studios.

It’s so popular that Queen Elizabeth II visited as monarch in 2011 while her son, the future King Charles III visited in 2018. Both were served by local fishmonger Pat O’Connell.

Park Life

As it was a nice day we continued our jaunt up to Fitzgerald’s Park and it’s huge playground. Set around a massive wooden castle and ship complex it was just what Cillian had ordered. The walk through the park grounds was great too, chasing ducks and checking out the statues. It’s such a lovely walk down the Marydyke with Autumn making the trees all golden brown. Originally the site of the 1902 Cork International Exhibition and prone to flooding as its sandwiched between two branches of the Lee it has been kept as a green space ever since.

Street Art

There is a vibrant Street Art scene in Cork City these days. You can use this as a good guide to it all. Key among these are the more than 20 traffic box murals dotted around the city – mainly created by the Peoples Republic of Cork.

On Brick Lane we noticed a small ‘raven plaque’ just above a pub sign. This area is known as North Main Street and was once the site of a Viking settlement. Recent excavations have unearthed signs of Danish Viking Age material. Not surprising as there were a number of Viking settlements in Ireland, with Dublin being a major city for them. The Raven Banners, at that time, were seen as totemic and representative of certain Viking Clans and their chieftains. A nice little nod to history on the side of a pub.

And that was our day in Cork City. Next up we will delve into a few of the towns and villages dotted around Cork Harbour – showcasing the strong maritime heritage.