Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [196]
The county’s three fingers jut out into the sea – you’re in for some amazing views and many a ramble. Mizen Head caps a peninsula that is battered by waves on all sides, yet has some beautiful beaches and perfect little quayside pubs. Out on the lonely, windswept Sheep’s Head Peninsula, it may feel like it’s just you and the sheep. The thumb of the bunch, the Beara Peninsula, is the place to settle in. Tackle mountain passes and touch Ireland’s ancient past.
Once you’ve uncorked Cork, you won’t be able to get it back into the bottle.
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HIGHLIGHTS
City Spectacular Buzzing Cork city, with its intriguing selection of restaurants Click here, pubs Click here, music Click here and theatres Click here
Land Fall The stunning Beara Peninsula coastal road around Allihies
Perfect Package Medieval streets, mammoth forts, shoreline walks and lovely seafood pubs in Kinsale
Going Down Reliving the age of ocean liners, good and bad, in Cobh
Ahoy There! Unspoilt fishing villages, including Union Hall, Glandore, Castletownshend, Castletownbere and Baltimore
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POPULATION: 485,000
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AREA: 7508 SQ KM
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CORK CITY
pop 120,000
Cork over Dublin? That’s what the locals cheerfully believe and what many travellers think as well. The city has much to recommend: great restaurants fed by a solid foodie scene, a walkable centre surrounded by interesting waterways, and a location that is close to the tourist mecca of the Irish west coast. If it’s a tad weak in the ‘atmospheric old boozer’ department, it makes up for it with appealing modern cafes and bars.
The River Lee flows around the centre, an island packed with grand Georgian parades, cramped 17th-century alleys and modern masterpieces, such as the opera house. The flurry of urban renewal that began with the city’s stint in 2005 as European Capital of Culture continues apace, with new buildings, bars and arts centres springing up all over town. The best of the city is still happily traditional, though – snug pubs with live music sessions most of the week, excellent local produce in an ever-expanding list of restaurants and a genuinely proud welcome from the locals.
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HISTORY
Cork has a long and bruising history, inextricably linked with Ireland’s struggle for nationhood.
The story begins in the 7th century, when St Finbarre founded a monastery on a corcach (marshy place). By the 12th century the settlement had become the chief city of the Kingdom of South Munster, having survived raids and sporadic settlement by Norsemen. Irish rule was short-lived and by 1185 Cork was under English rule. Thereafter it changed hands regularly during the relentless struggle between Irish and Crown forces. It survived Cromwellian assault only to fall to that merciless champion of Protestantism, William of Orange.
During the 18th century Cork prospered, with butter, beef, beer and whiskey exported round the world from its port. A mere century later famine devastated both county and city, and robbed Cork of millions of its inhabitants by death or emigration.
The ‘Rebel City’s’ deep-seated Irishness ensured that it played a key role in Ireland’s struggle for independence. Mayor Thomas MacCurtain was killed by the Black and Tans in 1920. His successor, Terence MacSwiney, died in London’s Brixton prison after a hunger strike. The British were at their most brutally repressive in Cork – much of the centre, including St Patrick’s St, the City Hall and the Public Library, was burned down. Cork was also a regional focus of Ireland’s self-destructive Civil War in 1922–23.
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ORIENTATION
The city centre lies on an island in the River Lee, which is crisscrossed by bridges. St Patrick’s St runs from St Patrick’s Bridge on the North Channel of the Lee, through the city’s main shopping and commercial area, to the Georgian Grand Pde, which leads to the river’s South Channel. North and south of St Patrick’s St lie the city’s most entertaining