Exhausted

Please, excuse the terrible pun. This building used to house an Exhaust & Windscreen repair shop -- but the shop has moved on to another part of town and no one has bought this building yet. One of the more modern "ruins" around town.

Also, I do apologise for my lack of posting. I've had some internet and computer problems lately, but it should be fixed now (well, the computer part I can promise; the internet, I can't). If you scroll down you can see some of my posts which I was able to recover and a few which I remembered to at least save the text and add the picture today.

President & Lord Mayors Pavilion

From when the the Cork International Exhibition was held in Fitzgerald Park in 1902 and 1903. Or, that's what I presume it was from...it makes the most sense, anyway.

Blue Door

That blue door of the Cork Public Museum, which I'm sure you're sick of hearing about, in all it's glory. You can check out close-ups of the door knob and letter slot.

Purple

Some purple pansys (is that the proper plural?) from Fitzgerald Park.

Elections!

It's election day today -- which means soon the posters which have overtaken all available lamp-posts will soon be gone!

I wish I could give you an insight into the Irish political parties or the election process, but I honestly haven't a clue -- all I can tell you is that it looks like a lot more work than I'm used to (electronic voting and all that, counting starting directly after the polls close...I'm such a spoiled American about the voting system, I suppose).

Peaceful Park

The fountain from Fitzgerald Park (last seen here). A lovely place to lounge and watch the day go by.

Imposing

Elizabeth Fort sits on a hill and overlooks the area near the Beamish brewery (see this post). It can be accessed from Barrack street (the road which goes up the hill) and is currently a Garda (police) station.

A Peek Through the Gate

The former almshouse associated with St. Anne's Church (& located just behind the church). Now apartments, I believe.

Climbing Tree?

Well, it looks like it might be. But mostly I just love how it's in the pavement. Taken at Fitzgerald Park, near the museum.

Butter!

An image from the archives this time around. The Cork Butter Museum gives an insight into both butter making and the history of butter making in the Cork area.

Inside Shandon

Taken inside St Anne's, Shandon. I went back some months later & it said "No Photography" -- but I don't remember it being there when I went. Nevertheless, no flash was used, so it isn't that bad.

"Main Drag"

Well...sort of. Patrick Street is the main street in Cork, though, since all the major shops are located on it. :)
This photo was taken at one of the several taxi stands along Patrick Street, facing two of the main department stores. On the right is the ever-so-posh Brown Thomas and to the left (the lovely domed, yellow building) is Roches Stores -- or, what was Roches before it was bought out and is now Debenhams.

One historical note: both buildings were rebuilt after the burning of Cork in 1920. If you want to know more about the history or architecture, there are plenty of resources on Patrick Street, the Brown Thomas building and the Roches building.

Unusual Cork Wildlife

Dug around the archives for today's post and found this from a trip out to Fota Wildlife Park (about half-way from Cork to Cobh by train) in March. It was a very rainy day then, but these giraffe's didn't seem to care at all and just kept munching away.
The history of the park is rather interesting.

An Post

The General Post Office, on Oliver Plunkett Street. Not as flashy as the one in Dublin, but it's nice enough, like. ;)

The Mill

The John Young & Sons Mill, Crosses Green -- which is now the Mill Business Centre. This building is right across the river from the Beamish brewery, so I'm sure the Youngs were in business with the Beamishes & Crawfords at some point....

Letters

Letter slot at the Cork Public Museum.

All the City Before You

This is what Cork looks like from the Port of Cork.
The white tent looking thing on the left is the bus station, by the way.

Gravely

One of the gravestones in St Fin Barre's churchyard. She died so young -- even for the early 1800s (which is when she lived, it's just not included in this shot). There was something about the early morning sun, filtered through the leaves that gave this shot a special quality. I'm pleased with how it turned out, anyhow. :)

Full text of the stone (for anyone who's curious), I happen to find it very lovely & bittersweet:

In Memory of
Mary Wife of Capt'n Tho. Davis
of Bristol
She died the 29th of April 1815
Aged 29 Years

Forgive blest Shade the tributary tear
That mourns thy exit from a world like this
Forgive the wish that would have kept thee here,
And stay’d thy progress to the realms of bliss.

Flower-fall

Flowers and trees leaning to reach the River Lee. Which, as in this photo, is a possibility at high tide.

Theme Day - City Exchange

Post a city other than your own. And so, after much searching through my photos, I choose this one. The Denton County Court House, on the Square in Denton, TX. It's north of Dallas (by an hour or so) -- & is the home of two universities (UNT & TWU). I took this photo when I was last there, in September.


Now, go enjoy the other photoblogs that are participating in the theme today. And remember, some of them may not be displayed due to time zone differences. :)

Monte Carlo, Monaco - Rome, Italy - Singapore, Singapore - Tenerife, Spain - Rotterdam, Netherlands - London, UK - Montréal (QC), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Naples (FL), USA - Bastia, France - Hong Kong, China - Mazatlan, Mexico - Buenos Aeres, Argentina - Manila, Philippines - Arradon, France - Madison (WI), USA - Evry, France - Seoul, Korea - Shanghai, China - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Sequim (WA), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Budapest, Hungary - Baziège, France - Hamburg, Germany - Toruń, Poland - Nelson, New Zealand - Madison (WI), USA - Vantaa, Finland - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Mainz, Germany - Dubai, UAE - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Cork, Ireland - Stockholm, Sweden - Menton, France - Tel Aviv, Israel - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Kitakami, Japan - Stayton (OR), USA - Szentes, Hungary - Stavanger, Norway - Grenoble, France - Villigen, Switzerland - Paris, France - Hyde, UK - Moscow, Russia - Joplin (MO), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Greenville (SC), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Asheville (NC), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Madrid, Spain - Auckland, New Zealand - Oulu, Finland - Lubbock (TX), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Sydney, Australia - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Vancouver, Canada - Seattle (WA), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Manila, Philippines - Lyon, France - New York City (NY), USA - Los Angeles (CA), USA - Brookville (OH), USA - Hayle, UK - Wailea (HI), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - San Diego (CA), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Torino, Italy

Rugby

Took this at the Munster Rugby match this past Saturday at Musgrave Park. Munster played the Newport Gwent Dragons; Munster won (15-7). :)

On the River Wall

Flowers like these have cropped up all along the walls separating the footpaths from the river. I haven't a clue what they're called, but they seem so delicate compared to the big stones used for the walls.

City Hall

View of City Hall from Lapp's Quay.

You can see my previous post of this building, or check out the history, or even see two historical photos.

Customs & Commissioners

Cork Harbour Commissioners building. My map labels it as "Custom House" (and the websites agree) -- tricky thing, when the map and the building front seem to disagree.
History of the building can be found here, and an extra bit of info on the Cork Coat of Arms up in the pediment here -- if you want info on the coat of arms, check here.
Just full of links today, aren't I?

Adventure?

Today I took a walk out to the Port of Cork. It sounds very official, and very far away, but it's about a five minute walk from the bus station (and just slightly out of the way from there to the train station). I'll be posting more from my walking adventure later in the week. :)

Also, yesterday's post showed up this morning, thanks to the internet in the apt. deciding to disappear just before midnight last night. So, do scroll down (if you haven't already) & take a little historical visit northward.

A Detour -- & a Rising

Today, we take a bit of a trip away from Cork and find ourselves in Dublin, in front of the General Post Office. Why? Well, today was the official start of the Easter Rising...Easter Monday, 91 years ago, anyway. Of course, all the celebrations regarding the Rising took place over Easter weekend -- it's easier & keeps it in the spirit of things. :)

I had to dig this photo out of the archives (hence the bad quality & all...that & it's at least 2 years old now). If you want a better (and newer!) photo, hop over to Belfast Daily Photo.

Loads of other links for ye today all on the Rising (because there's no possible way for me to sum it up in a short space here): Wikipedia, BBC, National Library of Ireland, Politics Wiki (has excellent picture of the GPO after the Rising) & a random history site (for good measure).

Anchor Away!

Taken in the middle of Kinsale...I'm not sure how they managed to drag such big and heavy things through the narrow streets, but it did make for a nice photo!

Tip-toe Through the Tulips

A lovely Irish tulip that's been in the kitchen lately. Nothing quite like flowers to make the room brighter.

VT

It's Orange & Maroon day today in the States to honour those killed at Virginia Tech -- and this is my tribute rather small tribute in that spirit. "Forget any and all college affiliations today. For today we are all Hokies."

http://www.remembervt.com/

Nearly Perfect

This lovely flower is nearly perfect - but does have a few blemishes. It's like most things in this world, if you want to get philosophical.

Lazy Lee

Nope not an insult; just a lazy River Lee running alongside Fitzgerald Park -- on a sunny and lazy spring day. :)
This photo was taken looking towards town, and if you look closely, you can see the bell tower of Shandon church in between the tree branches; go on, have a look.

The Number 50

Taken on South Mall.

Window Art

Artwork from the Crawford Art Gallery. I don't remember what it's called anymore, but it's very lovely. I also like that this very modern work is flanked by two old-fashioned, I'm almost certain 17th century, portraits.

Titanic Link

While the Titanic was built in the shipyards of Belfast, it's last port of call before going out into the Atlantic was Queenstown (now known as Cobh), in Cork Harbour. The last 123 passengers left to board the ship near this quay.

Check out the Cobh Heritage Centre & the Titanic Trail sites for more information.

Also...sorry for yesterday's post showing up late...I really need to watch that I hit the "publish" button and not the "save" button.

Cork City F.C.

The Rebel Army was out in full force tonight at the match against the Shamrock Rovers (who are from the Dublin area). It was my first soccer/football (in Ireland these terms are interchangeable since we've got Gaelic football as well) match here and it was very good -- even though it was a draw. Although, City came soooo close...they were robbed of a goal or two, really.

Cork Public Museum

I promised (long ago) to show the Cork Public Museum. And I figured, since I've been posting bits of it, I may as well show you the whole building (if you go along the right side of the building you can find the sign and door I showed you earlier).

The museum has been here since 1910, but shut down for a while and was reopened in 1945. The buildings, however are a different story -- the white part was built in 1845 as the Beamish family home; the red is much more modern and opened in 2005 (if memory serves me properly).
They have a really good collection -- of both archaeological artefacts and historical -- so multiple visits are always interesting as there's something new that catches your eye.

Want more info? Here's a site or two that can provide it better than I can. :)

Brass and Blue

This lovely and ornate door knob can be found on one of the doors that make up the old entrance to the Cork Public Museum. That door is right next to this sign that I posted earlier. I'm also a huge fan of the bright blue door. :)

Fortifying Side Trip

Bad pun, I know, I know...but I couldn't help it!

Took this at Charles Fort in Kinsale (Co. Cork) and looking out to sea. It takes under an hour to get from Cork to Kinsale by bus, and it's one of the more touristy seaside towns -- but it's still quite worth visiting. Especially on a warm September day when most of the tourists are gone, but nothing is closed for the winter...which is when this photo was taken.

Check out these articles for some more info.

Easter

The golden angel on St Fin Barre's to end a week of posts on the cathedral. I took this picture this morning whilst walking past -- hence why the black fence is creeping into the bottom of the photo (it was too tall & I too short to get it out of the frame).

A very Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it. :)

Gargoyle

One of the Victorian gargoyles on St Fin Barre's.

Peace

A close-up of the statue between the main doors of the cathedral.

Statues

Figures outside the main doors of St Finbarre's. I'm on a bit of a St Finbarre's kick at the moment. :)

Vines

Vines climbing up an old cemetery monument at St Fin Barre's.

Splashes of Colour

Back to the flowers again. :) I found these outside St. Finbarre's Cathedral.

A Mailbox Theme Day

Here's a lovely example of a mailbox in a wall -- and yes, it is an old British mailbox put up during the reign of Edward VII, but painted green instead of red. Most of the old public mailboxes in the Republic are like that -- occasionally you can even see the red underneath the chipping green paint. :)

Loads of others are participating in the 1 April theme "A Public Mailbox." Check 'em out and remember that due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day:
1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 -14 -15 -16 -17 -18 -19 -20 -21 -22 -23 -24 -25 -26 -27 -28 -29 -30 -31 -32 -33 -34 -35 -36 -37 -38 -39 -40 -41 -42 -43 -44 -45 -46 -47 -48 -49 -50 -51 -52 -53 -54 -55 -56 -57 -58 -59 -60 -61 -62 -63 -64 -65 -66 -

Musaem Poibli Chorcai

A close-up of the old and weathered sign outside the Cork Public Museum. That's Irish taking up most of the photo, with English below it.

Green Oasis

There's a fountain in Fitzgerald Park that I knew absolutely nothing about until last week. It wasn't actually flowing, but it was still lovely. From this angle it looks very secluded, but it's actually quite central.

Storm!

There was a crazy hail storm today -- and this is how the car park looked in the midst of it. Thirty minutes later, however, all the hail had melted away, the sun was out and the sky was cloudless and blue.

Pink Death

With life comes death. These flowers have beauty even in their last hours. Or, at least I thought it was interesting enough to take a picture of, anyway.

Blooming

Took a walk out to Fitzgerald Park again today for a nice walk yesterday & the flowers were absolutely amazing. I'm sure I'll be posting more photos from the park later in the week.

I'm also unsure what the flowers in this photo are, does anyone out there know?