Such Blarney!

Blarney Castle is located in the town of Blarney, but it's very close to Cork city (8 km is ridiculously close), so I figure it counts to be put up here. :)
This photo is back from Christmas time, but I'm sure there are some lovely flowers blooming on the grounds right now; that and there are more blue skies these days.

Want to know more about Blarney & it's famous stone? Check out the website -- where you can see all the flowers in the garden as well.

Daffodil Day

The Irish Cancer Society had their Daffodil Day today. Which meant that collectors were all over town, asking for donations and giving out little daffodil pins for donors -- the photo is of mine on my bright blue coat. They also had fresh daffodils -- in fact, I wish I had taken my camera with me when I went past the Cancer Society's charity shop because there were these two ladies out there with boxes of pins and flowers -- a nice burst of colour on such a grey day.

From the Website:
The 20th anniversary of Daffodil Day is on Friday 23rd March 2007. With your support we aim to get everyone in Ireland wearing a daffodil - the international symbol of hope - and have the country ablaze with vibrant yellow blooms and other Daffodil Day merchandise. Every daffodil helps the Irish Cancer Society provide quality care and emotional support to cancer patients and their families through our free, nationwide nursing services.

It's Been Awhile...

But now that the internet is working again, and I'm back from my holiday, I figured it was time to post again. And, of course, it's been awhile since St Finbarre's has appeared here, so it's a nice way to start up again.

As a bonus, I took this whilst in York visiting a friend. Since there have been flower photos springing up all over the place, I figured I'd post one of my own. (And yes, I am aware of the very bad pun included in the previous sentence.) Once the clouds stop looking so threatening, I'll be off to find flowers around Cork...unfortunately, that may take awhile.

"Where Finbarr Taught Let Munster Learn"

As promised yesterday, the Quad. :) Taken in the fall...and on a much sunnier day than we had today.

For some history regarding the university, check out the official university site...or wikipedia, which is actually just as good (probably 'cause they used the university's site for most of their info.).

Modern UCC

An eerily quiet day on campus. This is one of the more modern buildings, the O'Rahilly Building. It houses the English dept., modern languages, Classical Studies and some others that I haven't run across yet. It was built to mimic the Quad (which is one of the original buildings on campus and I'll show it very soon), but with a modern twist.

This photo was taken about two years ago, and today there's a lovely wooden construction wall near the right-hand side of this photo, as they are adding an extension to the library, which happens to be right by the O'Rahilly.

A Bit of Wilderness in the City

A lovely shot of the River Lee as it winds through the campus of UCC (University College Cork).

And UCC is to blame for my lack of posting, or at least one member of staff is anyway -- the majority of the work I have to do this term has been rolled into a few weeks this month...

Old Sign

An old street marker on Tuckey Street. This particular marker can be found in the middle of the street, next door to my favourite place to get tea/hot chocolate, Tribes.

I think it's fairly amazing that the name really hasn't changed since at least 1761...just an "s" was dropped....

The Hill Across the River

A view of the Shandon Church (last seen in this post) from across the River Lee. I think the other tower in this photo belongs to a friary, but I'm not entirely sure; it's also a lovely building, though.

Where Do You Want To Go Today?

The Bus Éireann Parnell Place Station here in Cork. It's fabulous to just walk in look at the board of destinations, hop on a bus and go. It's so much more laid-back than I usually think of travel -- and generally very cheap (esp. for a student like me!).

Finbarre in the Sun

A front view of St Finbarre's Cathedral on a lovely sunny day.

Blue Sunday

A shot of the southern arm of the River Lee, from Wandesford Quay (I had to look up this street name). The brightly coloured buildings in the distance are along Washington Street/Western Road -- it changes name somewhere along this area.

Lack of posting due to too much school work and not enough time to take more photos -- as the weather is gorgeous today, I hope to get some more shots and get back to posting regularly.

Lazy River

A shot of the River Lee in the city centre, near the bus station, on a calm day and at high tide.

Something Fishy

A really fun lamp post near Parnell Bridge. I'm rather fond of the expressions given to the fish.

Sráid na Croise

I really find the street signs here interesting. They're a good way to get a crash course in Irish Gaelic -- well, spelling, anyway...it really does nothing for the pronunciation. :)

A Friary on the Lee

Holy Trinity Church and Friary (the building next to the church).

The site was selected by Father Theobald Mathew and the foundation stone of the church was laid in October 1832. The church opened in 1850 and the steeple was added in 1891.
The current friary was first occupied by the Capuchins in 1884.

For more information on the church see this site -- or for a briefer history and a beautiful historical photo, go here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a little purple flower from Fitzgerald Park to celebrate the day.

Rainy Day in Shandon

This building used to be the Cork Butter Exchange (or Butter Market, as I think of it) but now holds the Shandon Craft Centre. When its open, you can watch artist and crafters ply their trade -- and buy some of their wares. When I ventured in, since the doors were actually open, there wasn't much going on...but, then, most activity here seems to take place over the summer months.

St Anne's Church is very close by...practically across the street. In fact, this past photo was taken from the steps of the craft centre, with the columns framing the church's tower.

Fancy a Brewery?

The Beamish & Crawford Brewery is located on South Main Street. They used to be located in the heart of medieval Cork, right by the Cork jail -- although that was moved long ago -- and near an old city gate (which is also gone). Beamish & Crawford has been here since 1792; although brewing has been taking place on this site from at least 1650, maybe as far back as 1500. The brewery makes many of the beers associated with its parent company (such as Fosters and Miller), but Beamish Stout is brewed here exclusively. For more information, check out the Beamish & Crawford company history and this site, which features how to pull a pint of stout and a virtual tour of how it's brewed.

Also, sorry for the lack of updates recently. My internet was down for the better part of the weekend & then when it would work, it wouldn't show and blogger sites....

Another Winding Way

One of many little streets on the north side of the river, near St Anne's Church/Shandon Church. The streets here are really quiet and you rarely see anyone but residents going down them -- or, maybe I felt like I was the only "tourist" there.

A Pint at Journey's End

An advert today. This one can be found across the road from Kent Railway Station. In fact, the northern-bound trains (mostly the Dublin train) go through the tunnel just below the sign. Thus, "the light at the end of the tunnel" is especially apt. Murphy's stout, which is the Cork equivalent to Guinness -- and, according to Corkonians at least, is better than the Dublin-based brew, has had this advertising space for a while...I have a picture of a Murphy's advert from this same spot from the autumn of '04.