Shandon tower above a row of painted houses and columns of the butter museum.

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Cork City

Ireland's second city is first in every important respect – at least according to the locals, who cheerfully refer to it as the 'real capital of Ireland'. It's a liberal, youthful and cosmopolitan place that was badly hit by economic recession but is now busily reinventing itself with spruced-up streets, revitalised stretches of waterfront, and – seemingly – an artisan coffee bar on every corner. There's a bit of a hipster scene, but the best of the city is still happily traditional – snug pubs with live-music sessions, restaurants dishing up top-quality local produce, and a genuinely proud welcome from the locals.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Cork City Gaol

Cork City

This imposing former prison is well worth a visit, if only to get a sense of how awful life was for prisoners a century ago. An audio tour (€2 extra)…
English Market

Cork City

The English Market – so called because it was set up in 1788 by the Protestant or ‘English’ corporation that then controlled the city (there was once an…
St Fin Barre's Cathedral

Cork City

Spiky spires, gurning gargoyles and elaborate sculpture adorn the exterior of Cork's Protestant cathedral, an attention-grabbing mixture of French Gothic…
Crawford Art Gallery

Cork City

Cork's public gallery houses a small but excellent permanent collection covering the 17th century through to the modern day, though the works on display…
Cork Butter Museum

Cork City

Cork has a long tradition of butter manufacturing – in the 1860s it was the world's largest butter market, exporting butter throughout the British Empire …
Holy Trinity Church

Cork City

The Holy Trinity Church was designed by the Pain brothers in 1834 in the honour of Father Theobald Mathew, whose statue sits just south of the River Lee…
University College Cork

Cork City

Established in 1845 as one of three 'queen's colleges' (the others are in Galway and Belfast) set up to provide nondenominational alternatives to the…
Old Butter Market

Cork City

Cork had the largest butter market in the world during the 1860s, exporting butter as far as India, South America and Australia. The Butter Exchange was…