Cork: Comfort zone

Blairs Inn, Cloghroe, Blarney, Co Cork 021-4381470 blairsinn.ie

THERE are several kinds of conservatism, each with a flavour of its own. Maybe the one most Irish people of a certain age are most familiar with is the faux, flexible conservatism of great institutions that stood inviable until evolving mores made it no longer sustainable.

Purgatory, closing cinemas and dance halls during Lent, the holy hour, Articles 2 and 3 or making women give up careers once they had a husband to love and obey are relatively recent examples of fairly adaptable principles.