Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [205]
An Cruiscín Lán ( 021-484 0941; www.cruiscin.com; Douglas St) Trad bands and world, blues and pop musicians all play at this acclaimed bar south of the river.
Crane Lane Theatre ( 021-427 8487; www.cranelanetheatre.com; Phoenix St) An excellent venue for live music, Crane Lane also has a great beer garden during the day. Acts include pianist/vocalist Max Greenwood, Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard and numerous top Cork bands.
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GAY & LESBIAN CORK
Cork Pride (www.corkpride.com) Week-long festival every May/June, with events throughout the city.
Emerson House Gay and lesbian B&B (Click here).
Flux! ( 021-455 7500; www.fluxcork.com; 56 MacCurtain St; from 2pm daily, to 2am Fri & Sat) Special events include ‘queenfests, for all forms of gender illusion’; DJs at the weekend.
Gay Cork (www.gaycork.com) What’s-on listings and directory.
L.inC ( 021-480 8600; www.linc.ie; 11A White St) Excellent resource centre for lesbians and bisexual women.
Other Place ( 021-427 8470; www.gayprojectcork.com; 8 South Main St) Affiliated with the Southern Gay Health Project (www.gayhealthproject.com); has a bookstore and a cafe-bar (noon to 8pm Tue-Sat).
Ruby’s (www.bebo.com/RubysN7; Hanover St) Big pulsing gay club on Cork’s main street of big pulsing clubs.
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Fred Zeppelins ( 021-427 3500; www.fredzeps.com; 8 Parliament St) There’s a hard edge to this dark den of a bar, popular with goths, rockers and anyone who feels uncomfortable leaving the house without a packet of Rizlas.
Liquid Lounge (Clancy’s; 021-427 6097; www.liquidlounge.ie; 29 Marlborough St; Wed-Sat) Dialled down several notches from the megaclubs, regular gigs here feature bands signed to Irish labels, and DJ sets covering music from Celtic rock to everything current. Mondays see folk dancing, including free lessons. There’s a rooftop terrace and a popular restaurant to boot.
Pavilion ( 021-427 6230; www.pavilioncork.com; 13 Carey’s Lane; noon-late) This modern-day coffee house has java by day, which you can enjoy at long tables; by night, it has one of Cork’s best mixes of bands, musicians and vocalists. Jazz, blues, rock, alternative and more are on the line-up.
Nightclubs
Cork’s club life really does rival Dublin’s, in quantity if not in quality. Most clubs go all guns blazing for pissed students and 20-somethings on the pull. If this is your scene, several clubs of the moment (they change constantly) will keep you happy; try G2 (74 Oliver Plunkett St).
Entry ranges from free to €15 and most of these places are open until 2am on Friday and Saturday.
Scotts ( 021-422 2779; www.scotts.ie; Caroline St; Fri & Sat) This scenester venue, all dark wood and moody lighting, has a fine restaurant downstairs and an upstairs club featuring mainstream floor fillers for well-groomed over-20s.
Havana Browns ( 021-427 1969; www.havana-browns.com; Hanover St; nightly) Long-running Havana Browns has three bars, a VIP room, an outdoor terrace and a fine line in neon and amber backlighting. The music doesn’t stray far from MTV’s current playlist.
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SHOPPING
St Patrick’s St is the retail heart of Cork, housing all the major department stores and malls. But pedestrianised Oliver Plunkett St is the retail spine; it and nearby narrow lanes are lined with interesting small shops.
O’Connaill ( 021-437 3407; 16B French Church St) Don’t leave Cork without sampling the Chocolatier’s Hot Chocolate (€4) at O’Connaill confectioners’ tiny counter. The foolhardy can stagger away with 2.5kg slabs of chocolate, but there are subtler concoctions on offer.
P Cashell ( 021-427 5824; 13 Winthrop St) A timeless and jammed antique and curio shop that seems entirely out of place amid the glitz of central Cork. It’s like a treasure hunt.
Plugd Records ( 021-427 6300; 4 Washington St) A terrific music shop that stocks everything from techno to