Tour of Ireland: Cork & Blarney

Traveling by train in Europe is awesome. It's a great way to see the country.

You would never see this if you were on a plane!

Or this for that matter. Look at those clouds. Our train ride to Cork from Dublin was so cool. We passed through several small towns that all had some kind of old castle or cathedral that you could see from the train. 

We stayed at the Moxy which was right on the River Lee. This was the smallest room we had on the trip. There was enough room for John to walk around the bed and that was it. But, it was cheap and right on the river. And, the location in terms of walking around the city was perfect.

On our first outing in Cork, we walked around the city. The River Lee runs through the city so there are tons of cool bridges throughout.

This is at the top of St. Patrick's Hill. It was very steep but well worth the climb. From the top of the hill you can see all the way out past the city and into the mountains. The photo doesn't do it justice!

We wanted to go to Blarney Castle but we weren't interested in a structured tour. So, we figured out how to take the city bus! And we did.

Blarney is a village that's about a 20 minute bus ride from Cork. It's very cool and very old. The entrance fee includes walking around the gardens and into the castle. If you want to climb up to kiss the stone, you can do that as well but it's recommended that you tip the guy who holds your feet while you do it. We skipped the stone.

The original stone castle was built in 1210 but was destroyed. This castle was rebuilt in 1446 by Cormac MacCarthy. The castle was under siege during the Cromwellian War and eventually confiscated. In the 18th century, it was purchased by Sir James Jeffreys who was governor of Cork.

This is Blarney House built in 1874 by the Jeffreys family. I guess living in that castle wasn't very comfortable. While the house is on the grounds and you can walk by, you can't go in as it is privately owned.

The grounds were pretty cool. As we meandered around the grounds, we came across this little house. It had just started to rain (again) so we ducked inside and waited it out. It was a neat little place to relax and soak up the ambiance.

Also in Cork is Nano Nagle Place. I learned some things here. I had no idea who she was or what this place was, I just saw that it was a museum and decided to check it out. In the 18th century, Catholics were not allowed an education (who knew?). Nano's family was wealthy and sent her to France. She came back when her father died and decided to help the poor children by secretly educating them. And that's what she did. She dedicated her life and her fortune to helping teach and take care of the poor.

She also started a religious order called the Presentation Sisters. Their mission is to educate and care for the poor. There are several orders around the world today. Nano is buried on the site. It was super interesting. I love learning new stuff. Education is something you take for granted. I had no idea that it was forbidden to Catholics back in the day. 

I think this was one of my favorite museums in Cork. It's the Cork City Gaol (pronounced Jail). It opened in 1824 and replace another 100 year old jail that was part of the north gate of the city. It originally housed both men and women but in 1878 became a women's only prison. This is the gate into the prison.

This is the prison itself. Apparently the governor of the prison lived in the center section and then the cells went along both side. The museum is through the center and then to the left. The cool thing about this place is that in various cells, it gives you a history of some of the people that were kept here. I googled those people to see if they were real and they were!

One of the cells is set up for you to get a feel of what it would be like to be there. I put John in jail and closed the door. He did not like it at all. It was kind of creepy. There were no cots. You slept on a straw mat on the floor. People were put in jail for a myriad of crimes like stealing food or cloth. Most sentences were a few months up to a few years. If your sentence was more than seven years, you were sentenced to "transportation" which meant you were put on a ship to Australia.

This wing of the jail had been renovated in 1870 before it went to all women. It's bright and airy but still jail. Most of the outbuildings are still in ruins, which is too bad. I'm just glad they were able to save the jail itself and make it a museum.

Our next destination was the Cork Public Museum. That took us across the River Lee on a cool bridge called the Shakey Bridge and into this park. It was gorgeous! Fitzgerald Park is right on the river and had lots of paths to walk but watch out for the poop!

The Cork Public Museum started out as an International Exhibit in 1902 & 1903. It opened as a museum in 1910. Then in 1916, there was the Easter Uprising. Ireland has been fighting for its independence from Britain for a long time. Unfortunately, this time wasn't the one. There was a treaty with Britain but it didn't satisfy everyone who was fighting. This caused a Civil War which lasted until 1923. Due to all the military and political turmoil, the museum closed in 1924. They officially reopened in 1945 and have been open ever since. It's free and it's cool. There's a whole section on Irish Independence.

The Church of St. Anne is in the Shandon section of Cork and you can see the tower from all over the city. It was built in 1726. It is the oldest church in Cork in continuous use.

We walked over to the University College of Cork to see a museum that ended up being closed. The College was established in 1845 by Queen Victoria and is on 42 acres of land.

The campus was beautiful, though. Shortly after this it started to rain...again.

We hiked up that hill to check out Elizabeth Fort. The staircase was hidden on the main street. It just looked like an alley. If you weren't looking for it, you'd have missed it.

The fort doesn't look like much from the outside. It was built in 1601 to guard the city and was named for Queen Elizabeth I. In 1603, after Queen Elizabeth died, the people rioted and destroyed the fort in protest of British rule. It was later rebuilt as a "star fort", which was stronger than the original.

When you've been bad, you are publicly humiliated in the Pillory. I put John in here and he couldn't even look up. His head was forced to look down. In the 18th century, the fort was used as a staging area for women convicted of crimes and sentenced to "transportation", which meant being shipped off to Australia.

From the ramparts you get a great view of Cork.

Right next to the Fort (or close enough) is St. Fin Barre's Church. It's beautiful! It was built in 1870. It's famous for it's three spires that you can see from almost anywhere in the city.

As you walk the path around to the left this statue is in a corner. It's Jesus as a beggar. On the palm of his hand where the yellow flower is, you can see the marks from the nails. It's really cool.

I liked Cork quite a bit. The food was interesting. I tried something called "Collar of Bacon", which was a bacon-y section of the pig that was quite tasty. We had fish and chips, of course, and some really good Italian food as well as Thai food. 

The weather was cooler and rainier than Dublin but our hotel was in a perfect location. We were able to walk to everything except Blarney village. We were only here for four nights and then we moved on. I think I could have stayed one more night. There were a few things in retrospect that we could have done that we didn't.

Next time. Bye Cork! We had a great time!