The name Cork comes from the Irish Corcach Mór Mumhan which means the great marsh of Munster and refers to the fact that the center of Cork City is built on islands, surrounded by the River Lee, which were marshy and subjected to instances of flooding. The waterways between the islands have been built over to form some of the main streets of present-day Cork. Traditionally, Saint Finbarre has been credited with the foundation of the monastery of Cork. The monastery of Cork, which was built on elevated ground on the south bank of the River Lee, is the earliest human settlement in Cork for which historians have incontrovertible evidence. The date of the foundation is unknown but it has been surmised that it was founded in either the sixth or seventh centuries. The earliest mention of the monastery in the annals is for 682 which record the death of Suibne, the abbot of the monastery. The location of the monastic settlement was on the area around the present-day site of Saint FinBarre’s Cathedral.

After several violent Viking raids, the Vikings and the monastic community eventually arrived at a form of peaceful coexistence. Indeed the seafaring and trading abilities of the Vikings proved to be an economic boon to the monastery, since they provided it with wine, salt and other commodities. By the 12th century the descendants of the original Norse settlers had intermarried with the native Irish and had become known as the Ostmen or Eastmen. They had established Cork as an important center of trade and its importance was enhanced with the coming to power in the 12th century of the MacCarthys of Desmond who established Cork as their capital.

In 1169, the Norman conquest of Ireland began. At the Council of Oxford in 1177, King Henry II of England granted the kingdom of Cork to Robert FitzStephen and Milo de Cogan, but he reserved the city of Cork for himself. An army led by FitzStephen and de Cogan arrived at Cork City in 1177 and took the city, thus beginning the Norman era of the history of Cork. Prince John in 1185 granted a charter to Cork City which made Cork a corporate town with powers of local government.

Cork continued to be an inportant center of commerce for the early part of the Middle Ages. However, in the middle of the 14th century Cork City, already in economic decline and harried by the rebellious Gaelic population outside the walls, was devastated by the Black Death. It is likely that between 25 and 35 percent of the population died.

Cork continued to suffer economic decline through the 15th to the 17th Centuries, as well as the rancor due to the reformation and the establishment of Protestantism in Great Britain. It survived the ravages of Oliver Cromwell, but was conquered some decades later by the forces of William of Orange. Thereafter, Cork enjoyed a renewal of economic prosperity that ended during the Great Famine of the 1840s.

Cork's deep-seated sense of Irish identity ensured that it would play a key role in Ireland's struggle for independence. A mayor of the city was killed by the Black and Tans (British police and soldiers) in 1920 and his successor died in a London prison after 75 days on a hunger strike. The English were at their most brutal in Cork, destroying much of the city center. Ever a prey to its own turbulent political factions, Cork was also a regional focus of the destructive civil war that followed independence in 1921.

Today, having survived the ravages of history, Cork a vibrant city. It is a center of culture, history, and industry.

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle, just five kilometers from Cork City, is the site of the famous Blarney Stone, the legend of which suggests that kissing it will grant one the gift of eloquence. The stone itself is set in the wall below the battlements and to kiss it, one has to lean backwards while holding on to an iron railing from the parapet walk. Be sure to get there early before the tour busses.

The current Blarney Castle is the third to have been erected on this site. The first, built in the tenth century, was a wooden fortress. Around 1210 A.D. this was replaced by a stone castle that had the entrance some twenty feet above the ground on the north face. This building was demolished for foundations. In 1446 the third castle was built by Dermot McCarthy, King of Munster of which the keep still remains standing. The lower walls are fifteen feet, built with an angle tower by the McCarthys of Muskerry. It was Cormac McCarthy who, as legend states, was rewarded part of Scotland’s Stone of Scone by King of Scots Robert the Bruce in gratitude for his help at the Battle of Bannockburn. This stone became the Blarney Stone, so says the story.

During Elizabeth I’s time, the Earl of Leicester was commanded to take possession of the castle. But the McCarthy who held Blarney at the time managed to delay the Earl long enough so that when he had to report to his Queen that the castle was yet untaken, Elizabeth referred to the report as ‘blarney.’ Thus the term means to deceive without offending.

The castle was taken by Cromwell’s men. Some decades later, it came into the possession of Sir James St. John Jefferyes, Governor of Cork. During the reign of Queen Anne, Sir James St. John Jefferyes built a Georgian gothic house up against the keep of the castle as was then the custom all over IrelanD. At the same time the Jefferyes family laid out a landscape garden known as the Rock Close with a remarkable collection of massive boulders and rocks arranged around what seemed to have been druid remains from pre-historic times. Certainly, many of the yew trees and evergreen oaks are extremely ancient. In 1820 the house was destroyed in a fire and the wings now form a picturesque adjunct to the keep, recently in the 1980s rearranged to give a better view of the keep. The Jefferyes intermarried in January 1846 with the Colthurst family. Lady Colthurst decided to build the new castle in Scottish baronial style south of the present keep, which was completed in 1874 and has been the family home ever since. There are conducted tours of the house during the summer season.

One of the interesting features of Rock Close is a rock that looks like the witch and her hat. There are also wishing steps which in order to obtain one's wish must be negotiated down and up backwards with one's eyes shut! They lead down to two dolmens, one of which used to rock if pushed in the present owner's father's lifetime. They are said to have druidic connotations. There is a sacrificial stone situated so when that the first rays of the sun shines through gaps in the surrounding rocks, it is the appointed time for the sacrifice.

St. Ann Shandon Church

Shandon and it's "goldie fish", a salmon weather-vane perched on top, is probably Cork's best known and loved landmark, perched as it is on a prominent site on a hill in the north side of the city. At the top of the belfry the view of the city is simply breathtaking. One can also ring the church bells once there, by yanking the ropes in sequence. Sheets of music are provided with some popular tunes. The church also has clocks on each of the four sides of the tower, each telling a different time.

St. Finbarr’s Cathedral

Cork's Church of Ireland cathedral is on the site of the original monastic settlement of St. Finbarre. It was built between 1867 and 1879 in the French gothic style.

On the outside of the cathedral, the West Rose Window is surrounded by the symbols of the authors of the four gospels, a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle, and is surmounted by an angel holding an open bible. The gargoyles above the west doors represent the conflict and triumph of virtue in the soul of the Christian. In the central portal stands Christ as the bridegroom with the five wise and the five foolish virgins. The north and south portals are lined with figures of saints and apostles, thrown in bold relief by a background of gold mosaic.

Inside, the columns of the Nave are built of Bath stone and the lower walls are lined with red and puce Cork marble. The font is also built of red Cork Marble, supported on a central column, surrounded by six others of green marble, resting on a white marble slab, which in turn rests on an octagonal base of stone. The font has the inscription inlaid with polished brass: "We are buried with him by baptism unto death." There are various stained glass windows depicting scenes from the Old Testament.

Visiting Cork

Other attractions include the Crawford Art Gallery, the Butter Museum, Firkin Crane Center, Triskel Arts Center, the Cork Public Museum, Cork City Gaol, the Cork Vision Centre, Blackrock Castle Heritage Park and the Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills.

Cork has an airport with flights from the rest of Ireland, as well as the UK and Europe. There are also ferries that link Cork with the UK and France. Train and bus service connects the city with the rest of Ireland, particularly Dublin. Cork’s city center is small and walkable. There are busses and tours that go regularly to Blarney Castle and other nearby attractions