Tag: Urban Hiking

A Little Bit of Nature

Been a busy couple of days here. Yesterday we took a spontaneous bus trip up to Blarney. Lots of photos and impressions to come when we get caught up. Also went to see some live music last night at Coughlan’s; Lynda Cullen, whose most recent LP was produced by Durham’s Dave Tilley, put on a memorable show.

Today, though, we caught a break in the weather, and decided to spend most of the day strolling along the river. First, though, lunch at Goldberg’s. Been trying to find the opportunity to grab a meal there since we got here. The smoked salmon didn’t disappoint.

We walked a greenway east of the city that eventually gets you to Blackrock Pier, near the observatory we visited last week. Despite passing through some industrial zones, we saw a variety of wildlife. I am developing a healthy respect for people who take wildlife photos for a living – you have to carry some serious gear around with you to get decent shots, with lighting conditions that are constantly changing, and subjects that are extremely uncooperative. But here’s what we saw, anyway.

Tags Urban Hiking, Wildlife

Black Rock Castle Blackrock Cork City

Black Rock Castle

Claire’s post below covers the highlights of our trip to the Black Rock Castle observatory and science yesterday. We took advantage of some relative sunshine (only one hail storm!) and walked 4 miles up the Old Black Rock Road (formerly Black Road Road, now Black Rock Road; Irish street names being somewhat arbitrary) to the Castle.

It’s at least a two, possibly 3, convent walk.

And, as on our walk down to Douglas, once you get out of the city center and into the detached housing portion of the program, pretty much every house has its own name.

Some come with a sense of humor, and some should be invited to Durham for the Beaver Queen Pageant.

Also, monuments. This one from 150 years ago, to Alexander McCarthy.

The Black Rock Road also passes through the old village of Ballintemple, now a suburb of Cork, before ending at the pier of Black Rock. The Castle Road takes you the rest of the way there.

There’s a pretty good view of the port from the Castle Road.

*The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.*

And of course, a pretty good view of the castle.

*Yonder lies . . . oh, hell, never mind.*

Our tour guide gave us a pretty good sense of the history of the castle. It was never really intended to be a fortification for defense of the city. More built in the early 1600s to scare pirates away. The British turned it for a time into an actual battlement, but for most of its existence, it was a party room for Cork’s elite trading families. Accordingly, it was burned down a couple of times in drunken revelry, fell into disrepair, and ended up in the city’s hands around the beginning of the 21st century. The Cork Institute of Technology’s proposal to turn it into a science center was selected for implementation, and it opened a little over a decade ago.

The bottom portion is the oldest, and is maintained to show its original function.

Tags Beaver Queen Pageant, Black Rock, Science, Urban Hiking

Cork City Ireland

Cork City, West End

Being from the US, the cities that Cork most reminds me of geographically are New York and Pittsburgh. All have rivers running through their hearts, which bracket or surround a densely built island or peninsula. Pittsburgh and Cork’s rivers are eminently walkable, with footbridges that are at most a few hundred yards apart. Manhattan’s East River can be crossed on foot, but the bridges are higher, farther apart, and traverse a greater span.

Today, we walked over to Cork’s west end, where the River Lee splits into its north and south branches on its way around the island that is the city center.