corcaighboy

In Seoul, the Korean destroyed almost all physical references to their Japanese colonial past, which was a shame in the sense that many buildings of architectural merit were destroyed and replaced by buildings which were relatively bland and austere are not very pleasing to the eye. As a result, there are veyr few ‘historic’ building in the city, which tends to extinguish whatever charm might exist. I find the city relatively boring in the sense that it is all glass and steel office blocks and concrete housing blocks and not much else besides.

Although I don’t know of any physical references to British rule, the name of the ‘Old English Market’ in Cork probably qualifies as a partial form of British symbolism. And of course Queen Vic was buried in UCC for many years and only recently excavated from her hidden ‘grave’ when the college marked it 150th anniversary. Not sure where she hangs out now though! In any case, she was never given pride of place. After all, this was a city which the crown forces burned to the ground.

Would not be surprised if a garrison town like Bandon had many references. The place seems more ‘English’ than any other town in Ireland. The Heritage center is located in what was Ireland’s first protestant church.

PowerPoint from the Dublin Airport Authority Site with visuals of terminal plans going forward.

http://www.dublinairportauthority.com/AR_Corporate/pdf/PressFinal.pdf

Looks a bit of a mess to me, with piers and aircraft all over the place.

In my UCC days back in the early 90’s, I used to cycle home from college, usually late — down Washington Street, Patricks Street, McCurtain Street, and then Lower Glanmire road onto the dual carraigway to Glanmire (footpath where possible!), negotiate the main roundabout (the scariest part by far), and then on through what must have been the blackest stretch of road to Glounthaune!
And I lived to tell the tale! Just proves that there is a God after all.
I plastered my bike with flouroscent adhesive tape so that the bloody cars could see me, as my flashing lights were obviously not making an impact. Once a Garda stopped to me to ask what I was doing — turns out he only wanted a chat!!!

Speaking of Turner’s Cross, the Munster FA just got funding for the re-development of the ground. This mainly involves rdemolotion of the exisiting structure and changing rooms at the Shed End and roofing the St. Anne’s end. The drawings are available for download/viewing from the Cork City FC site http://corkcityfc.ie/home.htm.
Not the most inspiring of designs, but I guess to someone who spent many a rain-sodden Sunday afternoon standing on a muddy grass bank at ‘the Box’ all those years ago, it is a mighty improvement!
Functional is proabbly the best way to desribe it. Will bring the ground up to 7,000 all seated capacity once complete. Presently the Shed End is a terrace and thus not open when City play European matches. I do hope, however, that the seats are laid out in such a way that there is some degree of leg-room. The seats at the St. Anne’s end are great if you are a mouse!

Also, you might want to check out the old American consular office in Cobh. Quite a striking location on the hill overlooking the train station and harbour. Would be a stunning location site. Dates from the time of the transatlantic liner trade in Cobh. Lex or someone else will have to fill you on the style as I have no idea.

Hey Phatman, thanks for posting the photos. But I thought the Nano Nagle Bridge was the pedestrian bridge over the South Link Road (as you approach the Eglinton Street). That bridge has a gas supply pipe from the gasworks as well I believe. Think it was built when they first opened the south link road back in ’84 or so. Always looked a bit out ill at ease in my opinion given the mish mash of developments underneath and the old railway yard wall support structures.
The one you refer to as Nano Nagle Bridge in the photo above…that is the one linking the south mall to Sullivan’s Quay, right?
Another bridge in Cork worth noting is the one linking the mainland to Mizen Head.

As one who lived near one of the stops of the Cork-Cobh rail commuter line, it always amazed how such a good asset was wasted due to the lack of a decent service. Thankfully, some new railcars were put in, the double track line was upgraded wtih concrete sleepers and new signalling, and a more rational timetable was put in place. No longer a creaking old train way past its sell by date (boiler carraige anyone!), but a sleek push pull railcar. Not surprisingly, traffic soared as people for once could rely on it and get there in comfort. As the line passed Tivoli and the and the tailbacks into Cork, one saw first hand the advantages of taking the train.
Ironically, Irish Rail did all they could to get rid of the service in the 80’s and the only thing that kept the line open was the NET plant and its related train cargo specials. Similar to Dublin, Cork had lines all over the city once, with over 5 stations in the city centre at one point. Obviously, many never made sense economically or otherwise, but parts of the lines out to Bishopstown, Kinsale, and Crosshaven would be damn useful today!

Thanks for the pics of the airport Jungle. The terminal looks pretty impressive…let’s just hope they keep the windows clean once it opens! I always get a kick out of the fishtanks near the luggage conveyor belts, with no fish in them! And the cobwebs on the signage above. Still, this new terminal looks mighty good.

What is the status of the Fitzgearld designed old terminal? Is it still being used as admin offices? And whatever about the architectural merits of the new terminal, absolutely anything would be an improvement on what passes for infrastructure there at the moment. The airport and the DAA who are supposed to be ‘managing’ it are a bad joke.

Yes, Cardiff is hard to beat and rightly it was pointed out as being probably the best stadium in Europe. Top drawer stuff for sure. As for Croker, I still like the terrace although I wish it were covered. Interestingly, there is increased talk in England about bringing back some form of terracing. The adoption of the Taylor Report in England saw terraces taken out and seats put in, but many fans now complain they pay more for a seat where the terraces once stood, and many would prefer to have the option of standing. Terracing simply became synomoyous with crowd violence and thus out it went without the slightest debate.
As for sports in Ireland, I like them all and down in Cork at least, we tend to support any sport regardless. Rugby, soccer, GAA…you name it, and we will go see it. And that is the way it should be. I do have an issue however with being expected to watch a game in the pissing rain on a mudbank, and quite frankly, less and less people bother going unless the facilities are somewhat up to par. While most of the GAA stadiums around the country might lack some finesse, they do the basics pretty well. Some of the football grounds have improved greatly too (Toka, Flancare, Turners X in particular), and rugby as well. I would love to see Thomond Park developed a bit more….the place is unique and given Munster’s following, should be developed accordingly.