Cork
Cork is Ireland's largest county and its western part is known as West Cork. Our first Irish home was in West Cork in the village of Ballydehob, then known throughout Ireland as the "back woods" or the equivalent of Timbuktu. We have many anecdotes of our cultural adaptation; read here. For this page we will start with Cork City and add material about the rest of the county later . . .
Cork City by Karin
We have visited Cork City
many times yet always manage to find something new. This trip
in the summer of 2012 was no different. Perhaps it was because
the city has changed a little over the past 11 years of our absence.
One such was the English Market which was established in 1788. The market has seen it's days of problems over the years: flooding from the River Liffey, soldiers stopping produce from entering the city during various rebellions, ships with goods not coming into the port after the Napoleonic Wars. The famine was an extremely difficult time as it was throughout The Troubles. It has survived it all, even a fire in 1980.
Today
it is smoothly run by a corporation and offers locals and tourists a
great adventure in selecting fish, meats, fruits and vegetables,
local items as well as international products. There is even a
restaurant.
Music
is a part of the Irish soul and busking is always around every
corner! Walking to our restaurant for lunch we stopped to
listen to a man sing light opera and during our lunch (which we ate
in the outside seating area) we were entertained with a short violin
concert. Next up was singing of familiar Irish tunes.
For a fully comprehensive look at all there is to see and do in Cork City wander over to Wandering On
Occasionally I hear people say something about "southern" Ireland and I think why are they talking about Cork and Waterford in that way. Then it dawned on me they meant as opposed to Northern Ireland. Here is a travel advisory: there is no Southern Ireland; there is The Republic or The South. Many Irish, depending upon the context, refer to the "32 counties" when including all of Ireland and the "26 counties" when meaning the Republic of Ireland.
So, you'all come back now for more Cork travel information