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.