( Overview
/ Two Bullocks on a Boat in Eire
1
A morning to write our blog and do a few jobs without venturing out.
We knew the dry weather couldn’t last on the Emerald Isle, and today was the the day the heavens opened. Fortunately our spot in the marina means we’re bow to wind, and blowing off the pontoon, but the rain lashed against our front windows.
For a boat her age Avalon is quite watertight. Kevin monitors and manages possible areas that might leak, and there’s a flurry of activity, even during the night, to close all hatches when it rains. He hasn’t been able to master the front windows, though, so cloths are placed to absorb the drips.
By midday, the weather was brightening, so we caught the bus into Cork. Only €1.55 with a very friendly and helpful bus driver who even stopped to show us a local boatyard for parts.
A wander through English Market, and lunch in the Farmgate Cafe. An ideal spot for people watching as well as delicious food.
Serving the City for 230 years!
On Regina’s recommendation we strolled over the River Lee to the Shandon District.
It’s much quieter than Cork itself, and has an European feel, with steep, cobbled streets and steps.
St Anne’s Church, built in 1772, is famous for the Shandon bells housed in its 120ft tower. The bells also inspired a 19th folk song, ‘The Bells of Shandon’, a nostalgic ditty about missing their sound when travelling afar.
Not sure local residents would miss the sound of the bells now. Visitors are able to play tunes on them, following numbered instructions,
We had great fun playing ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Kumbaya’.
The clock is known locally as The Four Faced Liar, as each clock face, measuring over 15 feet in diameter, shows a slightly different time, probably due to the differing weather they experience. Although there are four faces there is only one clock, provided by James Mangan of Cork in 1847.
The guidebooks mention the 132 steps, but not the clambering between levels with limited space…
…or how the steps narrow quite considerably near the top.
Ear mufflers were provided, however, just in case the bells rang as you were passing, which of course they did, right on cue.
Each bell has it’s own inscription, and on the clock’s mechanism is inscribed, “Passenger measure your Time, for Time is the Measure of your Being”.
Typically, as we reached the top, it started to rain again.
However, there were still good views over Cork.
Finished in 1719, Skiddy’s Almshouse is the oldest inhabited building in the city of Cork.
The pew chairs reflect the weather vane on top of the tower. Known as ‘de goldie fish’, it is an ancient Christian symbol and salmon are fished in the Lee. When the vane was maintained in 2002, bullet holes were found in it, probably from target practice in the 1920s by soldiers in Collins Barracks.
When the Green Coat School was opened in 1716, statues of a school boy and girl adorned the gate. They were immediately given names, Bob and Joan, and these are recorded in book written about the school in 1721.
The City Pontoon. We had decided not to motor up river because we thought it might be industrial and busy, with the possibility of rafting. In fact, it looks a quiet spot, and today, at least, they was room to berth alongside.
Some more recommendations from Regina; firstly The Long Valley on Winthrop Street, and then the Mutton Lane Inn, which we walked past twice before we noticed people sitting at barrels down a narrow alley. An oasis on a dark and rainy evening.
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