CorkThe Gathering

Overview of Cork

• County Cork is Ireland’s second largest city, located on the river Lee on the southern Irish coast.

• Its name is derived from the Irish word Corcagh meaning “marshy place”.

• It’s population is over 500,000 (519,032, Cork County Council 2011).

• Cork rarely experiences any extremes of temperature, it seldom falls below freezing or rises above the low 20’s.

• The most pleasant time to visit is from June to September. Rainfall is at its lowest and temperatures at their highest as the sun shines.

Places of Interest and Beauty

• Blarney castle and Blarney stone are one of the things that attracts tourists to come to Cork to kiss the Blarney Stone.

• Bantry house can also attract tourists to go because it provides Bed and Breakfasts

• Inchydoney island, a few kilometres away from Clonakilty, is a family friendly and a beautiful beach in West Cork.

Inchydoney Island

Food

• The English Market is a wonderful food market with an emphasis on local produce.

• The Desmond Castle International Museum of Wine is an exhibition of the Irish links to the wine trade.

• Beverly has the oldest natural smoke house in Ireland, it is also a great place to sample smoked fish and cheese.

Art

• Crawford Art Gallery houses a small but excellent and permanent collection. Highlights include the works of Jack B. Yeats, Harry Clarke, Sir John Lavery and an entire room dedicated to the Irish Women artists.

Natural Beauty

• Glengarriff Nature Reserve is an example of natural beauty because of its old oak and young woodlands which regenerates itself which were cleared of its non-native coniferous trees over the last couple of years.

Jazz Festival

• This takes place in late- October in Cork City.

• This festival attracts many tourists around the world, it’s one of Ireland’s art and cultural events.

• It’s one of the best Jazz festivals in Europe, it has featured many top jazz names like Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzie Gillespie, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock.

• There’s a great music trail offering free gigs and a buzzing festival club

• There are street entertainers, workshops, lectures, a choir, jazz camp for students , and lots of other events