Markets, Museums and Murals – Exploring Cork!

Situated more or less on the southern coast of Ireland, Cork is a walkable city with fantastic food, friendly people, and lots to see and do. It’s also a great place to stay if you want to visit Cobh and Blarney Castle, both of which are close by.

Cork is fairly easy to get to from the UK, with flights operating from most major cities, and once you’ve arrived, it’s a quick and inexpensive bus journey to the city centre with Bus Éireann. (Alternatively you can get a taxi which will cost around €20 EUR (£17, or $20 USD)).

Shop and dine in Cork city centre

Despite being the second-largest city in Ireland, Cork is quite possibly the most walkable city I’ve ever visited (apart from St Andrews in Scotland, which only has three main streets anyway). The city centre is incredibly compact, with great shopping and restaurants within a 15-20 minute walking radius.

And my goodness, the food! Even for a picky eater like me there are some fantastic places to eat, no matter what you fancy. Breakfast lovers will be absolutely spoiled for choice here – I had so many slices of French Toast!

I must admit I did find food quite pricey in Cork so it is worth budgeting a little bit extra. Of course, this could have been for a few reasons, for example the location I was staying in or just the rubbish GBP/ EUR exchange rate at the time.

 

Admire some street art!

One of the joys of walking around Cork is in discovering the huge murals that cover the sides of buildings. They’re dotted all over the city and feature a range of talented artists exploring different themes. You’ll also find mini-murals painted on the many electric boxes throughout Cork which are very cool indeed. If you’re wanting to find some of these, here’s a map which provides locations and accompanying notes. I found loads more though, featuring Irish proverbs, ‘Welcome to Cork’ in various languages, and uh, Karl Marx.

 

Treat yourself to some fine food at the English Market

Established in 1788, this covered food market offers visitors the chance to buy some of the freshest produce from local sellers. Here you can find food items including meat, fruits, cheese, chocolate and fresh fish (which you’ll smell before you see). You can also purchase gifts such as jams, lavender and pottery. There are places to treat yourself to some delicious food and drink, too.

It’s a great place to just have a wander around and see the beautifully arranged stalls, although it can get a little busy, especially on weekends. 

You can find out more about the history of the English Market, and how it got its name, here. 

Experience the Butter Museum

I absolutely LOVE a quirky museum, and the Butter Museum does not disappoint. It’s not huge or particularly modern but it has such a lovely charm about it and I actually learned quite a lot about how butter is made and the rise and fall of the butter industry in Ireland. There’s also a nice little section on the superstitions surrounding the butter-making process. Some traditions included putting iron under the butter churns to keep the fairies (‘piseogs’) away, with one particular custom involving the use of a dead man’s hand to stir the butter! Grim!

You can also use ink to stamp some old butter wrapper designs onto a piece of paper, which I obviously 100% did.

Find the semi-hidden Elizabeth Fort

If you weren’t looking for Elizabeth Fort you would have no idea of its existence. Not only is it a challenge to locate it on the skyline, but the entrance is also tucked down a side-street!

The walls themselves take around 10-15 minutes to walk around, and although there aren’t many stand-out buildings across the cityscape, it’s interesting to see the topography of Cork. There’s also a small but fascinating exhibit about the history of the fort, which eventually became a women’s prison before being used by the Garda (Irish police). You can read the stories of some of the women who were imprisoned here, and stories of some of those who were deported to Australia.

Travel west of the city centre to University College Cork

For part of my trip I stayed slightly out of the city near University College Cork, and although there isn’t a whole lot to do here you can still fill a couple of hours or so. (I should note that there aren’t too many restaurants nearby so you’ll probably have to walk the 15 minutes into the city centre).

On the UCC campus itself (which is very pretty) the Glucksman is a small art museum featuring temporary exhibits and a gift shop. It’s free to enter, but is closed on Mondays. Unfortunately I was there for an event so didn’t get a proper look around, but what I did see I enjoyed!

Stroll around Fitzgerald Park and try the Shakey Bridge

If it’s a nice day, Fitzgerald Park is pleasant to walk around and has a fountain and a playground if you’re with little ones. At the corner of the park there’s the Cork Public Museum, which is free to enter and has changing exhibits about the history of Cork. I must admit some of these do require a bit of local knowledge and the exhibits don’t necessarily relate to one another despite being in the same space, but it’s still worth a look round. (If you’re interested in learning more about Irish history in general, I’d recommend visiting the Cobh Heritage Centre. I’m sure it’ll come as no surprise to learn that this is in Cobh, a short train ride away from Cork). 

North of the park is the Shakey Bridge, Cork’s only suspension bridge. I first learned about the Shakey bridge from Tom Scott’s excellent video here and so when I found out I was going to Cork I had to check it out! Despite the name I couldn’t get it to shake but it did wobble a bit as I was walking over.

 

Experience a slice of history at Cork City Gaol

Once you’ve crossed the Shakey Bridge, if you walk north for ten minutes or so you’ll get to Cork City Gaol. It’s 12 Euros to enter (as of June 2022), and you can opt to pay an extra 2 Euros for an audioguide OR, if you’re there at 2pm, you can get a guided tour. I was fortunate enough to be there in time for a guided tour, which I really recommend!

Like many of the museums in and around Cork, the tour focused on some of the real-life stories of individuals who were interred here, many of whom only stayed for a few months for petty crimes or, later in the gaol’s history, for political dissidence. This focus on individual stories is something I noticed throughout the museums I visited in Cork and the local area, and really brought it to life. I also really appreciated the humanitarian approach taken when talking about some of the people interred here, in that they were probably only doing what they could to survive at a time when the country was reeling from the recent potato famine.

Of course, these are only things to do in Cork City Centre itself, and I would really recommend basing yourself in Cork to be able to visit Cobh and Blarney Castle, both of which are easily accessible.