The elegantly furnished
family rooms in the
upper floors and the spartan servants
quarters in the
basement, clearly depict
the 'upstairs -
downstairs' divide of
that era. Today the
principal rooms are
furnished in period
style and portray the
elegant lifestyle of the
19th century landowning
class. While in the
basement, one can
imagine the busy bustle
of the servants as they
went about their daily
chores.
Together with the Craft
Workshops in Muckross
House, the superb
extensive Gardens and,
the surrounding National
Park, this is a location
of immense beauty and
historical interest. An
experience not to be
missed and never to be
forgotten. Muckross
House & Gardens are open
all year (excl.
Christmas) and the
Traditional Farms are
fully open May -
September inclusive,
with limited opening
during March, April and
October. Entrance to the
National Park and
Muckross Gardens is
free. Special Group
Rates apply to the House
and Farms and
substantial savings can
be made by buying a
'joint ticket' for both
attractions.
Website:
Blarney Woolen Mills
There’s a great shopping opportunity in the town of Blarney at Blarney Woolen Mills for all things Irish, particularly knitwear. They have 3 floors of merchandise to find your treasures to bring back home! You'll find sweaters made in Ireland, artwork of Blarney, pottery, candies, linens and teas in this 30,000 square foot retail store which is housed in one of Ireland's oldest and most authentic Irish woolen mills. There is also a café there, and Christys hotel next door. Open: 7 days per week 9:30 a.m. to 6pm (10 a.m. on Sunday) Website: HERE
English Market
In business since 1788, the Market is open from 9:30 a.m. till 5.30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
One of the must-see features in Cork city is the English Market in the center of the city. It’s a enchanting little piece of old world shopping with stalls crammed next to each other in a quaint building. It has three entrances: off Grand Parade, Princes Street, and Oliver Plunkett Street. If you are looking for fresh local products or just an bustling experience to see, hear, smell and taste - stroll among the stalls to discover butchers, fish merchants, fruit, vegetables, cheese, pasta, poultry, eggs, pork, bacon, pastries, cakes, coffee, wine. Take a break at the upstairs Farmgate restaurant and enjoy the market activity and central fountain on the Princess street side. Website: HERE
Beamish and Crawford Brewery
Stop and admire the beautiful Beamish and Crawford Building, where beer has been brewed in Cork for centuries. The current building is a detached seven-bay three-story Tudor brewery counting house, built circa 1895. Interesting architectural features include an imperial style stone stairs entrance, decorative timber paneling on the central block and a gabled center bay with clock. It is believed that a stone from the old city gaol (jail) now stands outside the counting house door and the huge lock on the door also came from the gaol.
Since then the brewery has
changed hands a number of times.
Heineken Ireland, current owner
said: “The high costs of
operating two breweries in the
city, difficulties associated
with expansion at the Beamish &
Crawford facility and excess
brewing capacity at Heineken
Ireland, makes the future of the
Beamish & Crawford plant
unsustainable.”
In December 2008, it was announced that the Beamish &
Crawford brewery was to close
with the loss of 120 jobs. Let's
hope someone will come forward
to preserve this beautiful
building and make it into
another Heritage site.
Cork City Gaol
The old Cork City Gaol nestles in the terraced wooded hills of the city between Sunday's Well (named for an ancient healing spring) and Farranree. The enormous H-shaped stone building with its high walls and massive arched entrance give a clue to its original identity. It last held prisoners in 1923. This once was a wonderful piece of Georgian/Gothic architecture that slowly crumbled into disrepair, forgotten and overgrown.
In the late 1980s, a Cork business couple, embarked on a courageous project - to bring the old City Gaol back of life as a Heritage Centre that would not only tells its own story but that of the city it served.
Living
history is evident as soon as you step
through the imposing entrance archway with
its
life-like wax figures,
furnished
cells, sound effects and fascinating
exhibitions. Both the exhibition and
multimedia display, trace the lives of
individual inmates imprisoned here during the
19th and 20th centuries.
Conditions were miserable:
as one punishment, for example, prisoners were
made to run on a human treadmill that was used
to grind grain.
In a doorway you see a shrinking woman in
shabby clothes, grasped firmly by a tough
female wardress; a kind and worried doctor
hurrying to the cell of a sick inmate; the
prison chaplain hearing the confessions.
In 1927 Radio Eireann, the Irish national radio broadcaster, took over the top floor of the Governor's house, its lofty location making it ideal as a broadcasting station, and programs continued to go out from the Cork station until the 1950s when a more modern studio was built in the heart of the city . Website: HERE
St Anne's Church
St. Anne's Church is one of Cork's true landmarks. Half way up Shandon
Street on the North Side of the river is the
Church of St. Anne Shandon. Built in 1722 on a
hill above the city, it offers visitors the
chance to scale the stairs inside the steeple
walls to a parapet that has 360-degree views of
the city. Moreover, it is possible to play the
church's eight bells with the assistance of
sheet tune cards. The cards mark out tunes on
numbered bell ropes. Try your hand at "Waltzing
Matilda and Three Blind Mice." Great fun
for kids. Just beside the church stands Firkin
Crane, Cork's 18th-century butter market, and the Cork Butter Museum, one of
many interesting historical museums in Cork, can be found on O'Connell
Square.
St. Anne's Church, Shandon, with its splendid views of the whole of the city and its famous bells.
The four faces of the clock all show slightly different times and as a result Shandon tower is known locally as the four-faced liar. Open for services only on Sunday 9am and 10.00am. Opening times for tourists are erratic. Check their website: HERE
The Cork Butter Museum
This museum on O'Connell Square celebrates one of the great Irish success
stories, the butter trade, which was central to Cork's prosperity from the
late 18th century onwards. While not super interesting to most of us
Americans, butter was and is a large part of the
Irish economy and history. Cork was at one point the largest butter market
in the world.
This
building forms part of an interesting group of
related structures with the former butter market
buildings in the Shandon area. Indeed the
building's name derives from Danish words
pertaining to measures of butter. Firkin is a
Danish word meaning quarter barrel and in former
times these firkins or casks were tarred and
weighed on a balance known as a crane.
The building is also of archaeological
significance as it was constructed on the site
of medieval Shandon Castle. This site was
occupied by the Dominicans who had a chapel and
convent here from 1784 until 1840.
Website:
HERE
The Firkin Crane (Dance
Center)
The Firkin Crane has gone
through many guises since it was erected as part
of the Butter Market in the
19th century:
the current rotunda building has been a
dedicated cultural center since the 1980’s.The
Firkin Crane building was designed by Sir John
Benson and opened in 1855. The building is a
unique rotunda which formed part of Cork's
original Butter Exchange.
The Firkin Crane continues to be a focal point
for dance in Ireland.