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Published: October 2nd 2008
Cork City
Old part of the city on the north side, Shandon bells on the left, North Cathedral on the right and the Heineken Brewery in the middle. Life can sometimes be difficult for a traveller, im not talking about going on holidays or taking a year off from college to get trashed in as many bars as possible. Im talking about people who sell everything, leave home and embark on a life journey with just the solely the possesions on your back to see and experience the beauty of the world to the point that it can ultimately change the person deep down at the very core of ones being.
Its hard to believe I arrived in Ireland just over a year ago, a country I have always wanted to visit yet what brought me here was more for reasons of finding some stability and security from a wandering life that dissipated my energy in so many directions that I didnt even know who I was anymore. Sometimes our possesions, surroundings and familiar faces are what define us and without them we can feel lost and lose our sense of identity. Five years since I first left everything in Australia to seek for something greater and look for greener pastures so its no wonder I found myself in the land of the Irish, an enigmatic
yet endearing and optimistic bunch of people who always seem to know where the craic is and that it is always good.
Cork or Corcaigh in Irish has a literal meaning 'Marshy place' ( sounds beautiful doesnt it ) is around 250km south of Dublin. It lies on the southern coast of Ireland. This city itself technically is not on the coast however and the city centre is pratically an island surrounded by the gorgeous river Lee. The Lee flows further into Lough Mahon before heading towards Cork Harbour which is the second largest natural harbour in the world behind Sydney Harbour in Australia.
Of course, like almost every town in Ireland, there is at least one pub on every street corner so you dont have to crawl far to get a pint of smooth, creamy guiness or in Cork it is hard to pass up a pint of locally brewed Murphys. Most of the pubs have a great atmosphere just like you would expect from an Irish pub. Dark, dimly lit with a musty dull air throughout, the bartops are made of fine wood and you can easily nestle into the red leather cushioned booths
that surround the little niches of The Oval pub. Perfect for those countless number of occasions to get mad ouva it waiting for the sky to clear up and gives you time to ponder what came first, the rain in Ireland or the homely, quaint little pubs with so much attraction it can turn any devout non drinker into a complete alcoholic.
Other great pubs include the Mutton Lane ( the oldest in cork was probably made before any other part of the town existed ) In the sin-e and An Spailpin Fanac ( wandering traveling worker ) is plentiful for some authentic traditional Irish music that include instruments such as the bodhrum ( Irish drum) and Irish bagpipes.
Cork is reknown for being the 'rebel county' and many vouch that is the real capital of Ireland. This patriotism is evident in the creation of its own breweries particulary Beamish and Murphys. These beers are considered a part of stable diet for most Irish living here and for many its probably the only part of their diet! The thick creaminess of these beers leaves little room or want for anything else!
On a typical
Waterfall
carrauntoohil day in Cork, the mornings are chilly with a fine mist of rain tapping down on the windows that accompanies the darkness makes getting out of bed so much more difficult. In the middle of summer, things are much the same. The glowing bright orb somewhere beyond the thick layers of fog and cloud rises at 4:30 in the morning and sets around 11pm! Many spend hours waiting in the local pub sipping on a pint of freshly poured Murphys, waiting for the rain to stop to catch a quick glimpse of a rare occasion when the sun might make an appearance. After realising that summertime mainly consisted of this continuing cycle of greyness and rain, someone mentioned to me that Ireland and especially the south is a sub-tropical climate so I took it upon myself to dub this part of the year as the wet season and that the main part of winter, even though cold is much more sunnier and pleasant than the so cold summer.
Having arrived quite skint, the first priority was to find some form of income. I tried my hand as a waiter but subsequently got fired after a few weeks because
I could not clean forks quick enough. Oh how my university education has failed me so! Afterwards, I got a job painting a factory floor which was immensely stimulating however was only for a few days. Finally, I succumbed to work in a Amazon call centre ( not a call centre in the Amazon by the way!) luckily, I was saved from becoming a Amazonian zombie slave by a short term web design project. Not much of a step up yet it was better than work as an operative for a multinational company.
The idea of working in an office again made my skin crawl yet I was assurred it should only last a couple of weeks. Little did I know that this meant almost a year in Irish, it is about as specific as they like to get. It was an interesting experience however and I got to be my own boss for a change and decide when I want to come to work or not! A privilege that was very difficult to give up when it came time to leave.
Of course there is much more to Ireland than just Cork City. I did
have a great chance to go for a road trip in early March so luckily it was the dry season. There is the obvious place in the north called Dublin. It is a great city with lots of good music and places to go out and now one of the most expensive cities to live in Europe, to me it was just another city without anything very special to keep me there. The west of Ireland is much more of the real Ireland you would come to expect. Many signs are written only in Gaelic just to make life difficult, most maps are in English so most of the time you have no feckin idea where you are. Typical Irish sense of humour I take it.
Killarney is a great place to visit, the national park at its doorstep, this charming little town has alot to offer. The Loch Leaneis the largest lake in the area and is surrounded by old growth forest. Nearby is the landscaped grounds of Muckross House, which distingrated into the relatively natural landscape of lush Killarney National Park, the first 10,000 acres of which were donated by the family of Henry Arthur Herbert,
Pub
Dingle who built the estate. Unfortunately, due to extensive logging, it is one of the only areas in Ireland that remains in a natural state. From Killarney, head west around the Ring of Kerry on one of the western most penisulas of the Isle, the mountains of Kerry sit amongst the lustre of the brillant blue ocean waters that surround them. For those who like to get their feet wet ( literally ), the mountain of Carountoohil is the highest at 1039 metres. Its mostly a very slippery and wet affair the majority of the year and scrambling up to the mountain top you get to see a glorious view of thick white fog if you are lucky! Heading north of Kerry, you can end up finding yourself in Clare County. It is semi-isolated from the rest of the country by the river Shannon. Towards the coast lies the Burren ( pronounced more like "burn" ) It is a limestone plateau that covers about 100 square miles of land and makes the landscape appear rocky and as the light reflects of the limestone it creates a sense of timelessness only broken by a distant moo of a resident cow, this is
Church
Turners Cross, Cork real Ireland!
A trip to Ireland is not complete without a visit to Galway County. The city itself is small, yet has lots of attractions including pubs, pubs and more pubs to last you a good few days. There is also a beach nearby but the weather is normally to unsavioury to visit so you are better off staying in the pub. Some pubs like The Quays, resembles more of an vintage ship that makes you feel like you are sailing the atlantic after just a couple of pints.
So the question now is, why leave at all? Why give up comfort and security, good friends and nice places to drink for the big wide world? For many it is a crazy idea to just pack up your things and leave everything behind. But I wonder just how long I can stand sitting around here just waiting for something to happen when nothing really does, besides comfort and security is just too boring for me. I sit and wonder what is happening in other parts of the world and its probably very similar yet at least the weather is better!
After all this time
Pub
Galway in Ireland, I ask myself why I can only write something as im sitting here in the Kerry Airport about to leave the country. A tiny, old ramshackle shed-like building with 70s style cafeteria, tacky leather seats and cheap instant coffee on tap, surrounded by the gorgeous Kerry mountains. The Ryanair plane that awaits seems to engluf the entire scene and I hope and pray that the runway is big enough to get it off the ground. The smell of fresh cow manure that wafts through the cool morning air becomes engrained deeply in my mind. I guess the reason is it was time for me to introspect and screw in a few loose bolts so to speak, but im not sure that Ireland was such a good place to do it as alot of the people here have a few loose screws themselves!
Anyhow, whats done is done, im finished and have a nice little nest egg to blow on exploring the great blue yonder. Sure I could be sensible and invest on property or what not, but in this modern world of market crashes, oil price uncertainity and so many countries wanting to destroy the others
for such and such reason, I would be an eejit to sit on the jacks so I decided get out the feck outta this gaff!
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