Cork, Republic of Ireland


Cork Republic of Ireland
Cork, Republic of Ireland
Cork, Republic of Ireland (6/23-24/2016)

Cork is Ireland’s second largest city and considered to be the best foodie city in Ireland.

Wayne Dunlap Kissing the Blarney Stone Castle Ireland
Wayne Kissing the Blarney Stone
Cork is a fine stop if you are visiting Blarney Castle (click here for more about Blarney Castle). You can visit Blarney Castle on a day trip from Cork’s bus station in 30 minutes.

River Lee St Finbarre's Church Cork Republic of Ireland
River Lee and St Finbarre's Church 
- Cork, Ireland
Cork has a wonderfully helpful Information Center (Discover Ireland Centre) located near the English Market towards the River Lee (see photo). It should be your first stop in Cork for information on Cork and suggested sites to visit based on your interests.

Because our next stop on our driving trip was to the Ring of Kerry (click here to see more about the Ring of Kerry) and Dingle Peninsula to the north, they were even helpful on that with detailed maps and advice.

Pat Dunlap Fun Medieval Alleyways Cork Republic of Ireland
Pat Having Fun in 
Medieval Alleyways - Cork Ireland
We like the area around Cork's Oliver Plunkett Street and the interesting pedestrian-only streets and alleyways that radiate off it in both ways (see photo). This area loaded with cute storefronts and has many shops, pubs, and restaurants to suit all budgets and tastes.

English Market Farmgate Cafe Cork Republic of Ireland
English Market and Farmgate Cafe  
- Cork, Ireland







Cork deserves it's reputation for its food scene. Some of the restaurants we enjoyed are Market Lane on Oliver Plunkett Street and Quintan’s Seafood Bar on Princess Street. Café Paradiso on Washington Street is a highly rated vegetarian restaurant. The English Market is fun to visit to see how the Irish shop for food (see photo).

St Finbarre's Church Cork Republic of Ireland
Saint Fin Barre's Church 
- Cork, Ireland
Cork doesn’t have a large number of tourist attractions but there are some of interest. We liked the Saint Fin Barre’s Church (see photo) and the Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral for their spiky spires and attention-grabbing architecture. 

The dated but interesting Cork Butter Museum in Shandon explains Ireland’s lead in the world’s butter industry... and why we saw mostly cows when we drove into Cork. The University College Cork is a pretty college to walk around.

Map of Cork Ireland
Map of Cork Ireland
Being a larger city, Cork has some entertainment venues of interest. Movie lovers will like the Gate Multiplex. And there are a number of live entertainment theaters, including an Opera House, that attracts top plays and performers.

Beer drinkers: It is not a myth that Guinness beer tastes better in Ireland. It most certainly does! Although a wonderful beer anywhere in the world, a slightly different process is done for the beer made for export. So, drink up and enjoy.

Beautiful Irish Countryside Ireland
Beautiful Irish Countryside
Travel advise about visiting Ireland: While visiting Ireland, we learned a few important lessons. The beauty of our Ireland experience was more about the genuine Irish people and beauty of the countryside and less so about how many important sites and buildings there are to visit. We found the best pub experience in the world in Ireland. So, slow down, enjoy the vibrantly green countryside, the Irish people, and visit a pub or two when you ‘fancy a pint’.


 
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