From Killarney to Cork is less than 100 kilometres, but that takes you across the island from the west coast to the east. So, after jumping on a bus in the morning, less than two hours later we were in Cork, with an entire afternoon to explore the city after dropping our bags at the hotel.
Since we were already north of the River Lee in the Shandon district, we made our first stop at the quirky (but interesting) Butter Museum, documenting Cork’s 19th century domination of the world’s butter trade (or at least the British Empire’s). And just a block or so away was the Church of St. Anne that must surely be the only Christian church in the world topped by a gold plated salmon rather than a cross! Other stops south of the river, and then south of the river’s southern channel, included a war memorial, Elizabeth Fort, and St. Finbarre Cathedral. We returned though the pedestrian areas of Cork for dinner at a pub where we enjoyed a pint of Beamish, the local answer to Guinness stout.
We’ll cheerfully admit that one of our main reasons for visiting Cork for a couple of days was to see Blarney Castle, just 8 km outside of Cork. This castle was stop #1 on the next day’s tour, and we got there early enough to climb to the top of the walls before any major line-ups. Check the pictures; one of us did kiss the Blarney Stone! Other stops at the castle included their “Poison Garden”, the Badger Cave, and Witch’s Rock. Our day on the Paddywagon also included stops at Charles Fort, Kinsale, and the port of Cobh. While Cobh is supposed to have many interesting sights, we spent our whole time at “Titanic Experience Cobh“. This immersive experience is housed in the historic White Star Line Building, where the last 123 passengers boarded the Titanic at what turned out to be her final port of call. The recreated cabins and facsimile tickets were great, but perhaps most poignant was seeing “Heartbreak Pier”, from which not only the 123 unlucky Titanic passengers but also generations of other emigrants departed Ireland forever.
All in all, a very satisfactory (if short) visit to Cork and County Cork. Up next: Galway.
Images of County Cork on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/100countries/albums/72177720316986539/
