Old Head - New Money

I visited the town of Kinsale on Sunday 27th September '09. It's 25km from Cork and always draws a lot of tourists because of its highly polished appearance. Admittedly it does have colourful houses, lots of nice picturesque little narrow streets and small alleyways but I don't really see the attraction myself. Maybe I just wasn't ready for the experience!

Anyway these photos make it look good. I think. Included is one of the French prison and also the church where some of the victims of the Lusitania are burried.


After leaving Kinsale I headed to a beautiful place not far from Kinsale called the Old Head of Kinsale. This is a short clip of the amazing scenery at the Old Head of Kinsale. Unfortunately you cant walk around the Old Head as since 1997 it's a golf course. It's a shame really because it is lovely and wild.

Cork Culture Night 2009

On Friday September 25th Cork city celebrated Culture Night. Lots of cultural venues (churches, libraries, galleries etc.) were open free to the public and events were arranged to show them off. I went to what used to be one of the tallest buildings in Ireland - Cork County Hall, where you could take the lift to the top and get an amazing view of the city. Have a look for yourself.

And here a few pictures so that you can see Cork from a different perspective.

Let's start with the building itself, County Hall, then Atkins Hall (the longest building in Ireland!) and then some other general shots of the Mardyke Arena, the Sunday's Well area and then the city in general.

New home

As I mentioned earlier I have moved to Cork to study at UCC (University College Cork). So take this as your warning - anything I write for the next while will be from a Cork perspective. I drove down and of course my car was packed full of lots of things that I will probably never use. This is a view of the road on the way down here. I don't know why but for some reason I love to see the mountains in the distance like that, like I'm going home!

I found a place to live pretty near to the university, which is also near the city. My place is up on a hill so I have this amazing view of the city and lots of greenery - I can see a park, a cricket pitch, a tennis club and lots of trees. Here are a few snaps to prove it.

Races at the Curragh

Off I goes to the races on the plains of the Curragh Racecourse in the County of Kildare. On a really beautiful sunny day - the 12th of September I went to the races - NO winners unfortunately. Here's a few snaps though and some video clips.

TITANIC

While I was up in Belfast for the Tall Ships event, I decided to have a look around to see if I could see anything else of interest.
And as you may (or may not) know the RMS Titanic, the ship known as unsinkable, the biggest and any other superlative you care to mention was designed and built at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1911.

Here is a photo of a 'drawing room' in the building in which plans for Titanic were drawn up. As you can see it's showing its age but it's also complete with people dressed in period costumes.

The next photo shows the rails of the slipway down which Titanic would have gone where she was launched.This is the Nomadic, a ship of the White Star Line, just like Titanic. She was used as a tender to bring people out to Titanic.

The Tall Ships - Belfast

On the 15th of August 2009 I went off up to Belfast city with my brother to see the Tall Ships. The ships which were taking place in the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge had just arrived in Belfast from Halifax in Canada. They stayed in Belfast for a few days well earned rest. You could go onboard and have a look around if you wanted, but the queues were massive - so I didn't bother.

Well the city was jam packed full of people and there was a real buzz about the place. I had been to Belfast a good few times in the past few years but never did I see the same amount of people or feel so much excitement in the city.

Lots of things were organised for visitors to the event. Amusements, foods stalls, beer tents etc, etc were set up around the docks and you could just wander around. This is a video clip of the slingshot that catapults you skywards. Somehow I don't think I would have the stomach for it!

Limerick - you're a Lady !

On the 14th of August 2009 I stopped off in Limerick city on my way back home and had a look around the place. Did you know - it's the third largest city in Ireland and the river Shannon runs through it.

I hadn't really seen much of it before I don't think. This time I didn't spend too much time there either - I was eager to get on the road back to Dublin and didn't want to get caught up in heavy traffic or anything like that. It seems like a nice place, lots of history there and it's small and compact to wander around in. So here are a few pics of what I saw.

Kilmalkedar

On my way back to Limerick I stopped off at the ruined church at Kilmalkedar or Cill Maoilchéadair if you prefer.

It's really ancient! Well the present building dates from the 13th cent but it was built on the ruins of the old one that was built around the year 600 AD.

Slea Head and the Blaskets

After leaving Dingle I headed out along the coast road past Ventry to Dunquin and Ballyferriter - where you have an amazing view of the coast and all the islands offshore.

Here are some of the views along the road including the Great Blasket Island.

Dingle - La Solitaire du Figaro

I read about 'La Solitaire du Figaro' on the internet and was immediately interested by it. It's a single handed yacht race that's been running for 40 years and this year it was stopping off at Dingle in Co. Kerry.

The 53 boats were due to arrive in Dingle on Thursday the 13th of August 2009. Dingle is a very long way from Dublin (345 km) and so to drive it in one day would be tough. I decided to stop over at my brother's place in Limerick for the night and to go on to Dingle the following day.

I stopped off at Inch Strand in Kerry on the way to Dingle. What a really nice place, the weather wasn't great that day but it still looks brilliant what with the mountains and all.
This view overlooking the strand is from the road to Dingle.
Seems to be big with the surfers too.
I got to Dingle at about noon after 2 and a half hours driving only to find out that the boats wouldn't be in until midnight. WIND - they didn't have enough of it apparently. So I stayed around Dingle, had some lunch and then went on to Ballyferriter and Dunquin later in the day to see the sights. This is a shot at the harbour in Dingle from where you can see the mountains and the town.

Dingle which is normally pretty popular with visitors to the country anyhow was full of tourists for the boat race and there was a real buzz about the place, a real sense of anticipation and excitement.

A day in the People's Republic of C _ _ _

Another incredibly cheap flight and this time it's to Cork, second city of the Republic of Ireland. Although some people would say it's the first - but that's another story... On the 6th of August 2009 I decided to go to Cork to have a look around as I'll be living down there when I start my Masters in UCC.

It was an early morning flight but not as early as the one to Bristol. I took a bus from the airport to the city and got off at Grand Parade. I walked around all day and had a look at the city that will be my home from the middle of September 2009 for a year or so. I also walked out to UCC, which isn't really that far from the city centre and had a coffee in the cafe to get a feel for the place. My first impressions of both Cork and UCC are good. I'm looking forward to it!

This is the tallest building in Ireland - the Elysian.

This is the famous English Market - where you can get all kinds of weird and wonderful foods from smoked haddock pie to tripe and drisheen.

This is the Beamish & Crawford Brewery - home of the other brand of black stuff.

This short clip shows some of the bus journey through Cork city back to the airport.

Early morning flight to Bristol

Up at the crack of dawn and off to Bristol, well why not?

I found a really cheap flight on the internet from Dublin to Bristol and decided to go just for the day. I had never been there before and was curious - where did the phrase "Ship shape and Bristol fashion" come from?

Anyhow, the flight left Dublin on the 4th of August 2009 at a ridiculously early 06.35 and arrived in Bristol at 07.35.

My brother Brian came along on the trip. We took a bus from the airport to the city and started to explore. We quickly realised that the place wasn't all that massive and that we could comfortably look around it in the day. Then suddenly, out of nowhere - RAIN, and it rained pretty much all day long. Not so comfortable walking around in that. I took this short video of the plane in the clouds. I always find it amazing to get above the clouds and see the clear blue sky up there and to think it could be lashing rain underneath.


Some photos of Bristol.
We left Bristol at 22.10 and touched down in Dublin at 23.05

Opening of Ikea in Ballymun

I'm sure you've heard the name Ikea somewhere on your travels, who hasn't? Well they opened a big store in Ballymun on the northside of Dublin on the 27th of July 2009. Having a bit of time on my hands I went along to see what it was like. I cycled to the store to avoid all the traffic tailbacks and got there at about 08.30. At that stage there were about 500 people there already. It was well organised because they had staff giving out water, biscuits and sweets. I think they were doing face painting for the kids too??

Anyway they also had some local bands and dancers to entertain the waiting crowd. To officially open the place they cut a log of wood and that marked the opening at 11.00. I got this clip of a local samba band.


Ikea is known for selling cheap goods that look stylish / designery (I think) and as it's the first Ikea store in the Republic of Ireland, the place was mobbed after it opened. I didn't hang around very long after the opening but I got this photo which was taken from the restaurant and it shows the queue of cars waiting to get into the carpark.