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We’re starting out little night walk through Cork on Washington Street and the Courthouse, which dates originally from 1836. It was destroyed by fire in 1891 and rebuilt in 1895, retaining this beautiful classical portico and façade, which was all that remained of the original building. Just a little further down the street we encounter this unusual building, which houses the St Augustine’s Priory. It was built around 1940 with its west bay principal façade to the street added around 1975. It’s really unusual with its 5 tall windows set in this limestone façade.
A lot of work goes into these videos. You can now buy me a pint as a means of appreciation for my work on Naked Ireland, no obligation, obviously - only if you can afford it... I appreciate it. Cheers.
www.buymeacoffee.com/NakedIreland
Now I’m jumping over to one of my favourite parts of Cork City, MacCurtain Street. The Metropole Hotel, is a key venue in the Guinness Cork Jazz festival, which happens each Oct and just down the street is the Everyman Theatre, which again is an important stage for the artists in the festival. I like this part of town for it’s ornate buildings. But, it’s also one of the most vibrant parts of the city.
If you’re just after a pint, needless to say there’s plenty of places to choose from. You can see Dan Lowery’s for example across the street here. And the building with the triangular shaped thingamagig over the pavement just down from it belongs the Everyman theatre that I mentioned earlier.
There’s the Shelbourn bar for when you get fed up with Lowery’s.
Now we passed tourists looking at a plaque on the wall commemorating the great blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, who lived here. Check him out if you’ve never heard of him. He had great band in the 70s called 'Taste' and there’s a tremendous album called 'On the Boards', that I remember we had on an old 8 track cardridge in the car when I was young.
We also pass Gallagher's restaurant. Again it celebrates the guitarist, not just in the restaurant’s name, but there are photos or Rory adorning the walls inside. So Rory Gallagher is important in MacCurtain Street. And there’s a mural there of Tomas MacCurtain himself, who this street is named after. He was a previous Mayor, a Commandor in the Irish Republical Army and a passionate admirer of Irish Culture.
As we turn to head down towards St Patrick’s quay we see more quint shops cafes and eaterys. And we head towards the river Lee, where the road widens into a Boulevard and where we will encounter one of the city’s major retail areas.
Now some of you might recognise the face painted on the utility box as we approach the river? It is of course the outspoken Irish footballer turned pundit Roy Keane. Keane was born in Cork, and did his early footballing in Cork, before captaining Manchester United and Rep of Ireland, amongst many other achievements.
We arrive at the River Lee. A confusing river I find as it splits into two and then reunites forming an island in the centre of the city. I think it can make navigating around the city difficult as you get confused about which part of the river you’re looking at. I’m speaking of course as a visitor to Cork.
The statue on the plinth in St Patrick's Street is Father Mathew. It’s amazing how many statues there are and Roads named after catholic clergy in cities like Cork and Galway. It’s a testament to the power of the Catholic Church in Ireland in the last century. As it happens Father Matthew was a staunch tee-totler. He founded the Catholic Total Abstinance Society, formerly known as the ‘Knights of Father Matthew’ so I wonder what he’d make of the many nightime revelers that staggar past this monument at the weekends.
St Patrick’s Street is a wide shopping precinct that forms a crescent shape in the city centre.
So Cork is the third largest city in Ireland after Dublin and Belfast. It’s the largest city in County Cork, funnily enough and in fact the largest in the province of Munster to which belongs. It has a population of almost a quarter of a million. It’s sometimes referred to still by its residents as “the real capital” a reference that dates back to the Irish civil war, when cork stood in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which became the basis for the Irish Free State. It's therefore a city with a history of conflict from its founding as a monastic settlement in the 6th Century and it’s subsequent encounters with the Vikings, Normans, English and the part it played in the Irish Civil War.
As we take a sharp bend at the top of St Patrick’s Street which leads us on to Grand Parade, just on the right we can see the entrance to Bishop Lucey Park.
We turn into Oliver Plunkett St, a vibrant area, again full of pubs and restaurants and well worth a visit. Plenty of fast food here as well, so if you want to dine casually, this might be the part of town to come to.