Everyone loves Cork, like ...
Tiernan recounts astronaut, Neil Armstrong, crouching low and descending a rickety stairway to the lunar surface.
The world remembers Armstrong’s famous words: ‘a small step for (a) man.... a giant leap for all mankind.’ In Tiernan’s imaginary version, Armstrong said: “It’s great, like, but it’s not Cork.”
That mickey-taking will resonate with anyone, from Donegal to Dingle, who loves to remind Leesiders that they are no better than the rest of the country.
But to Corkonians, Tiernan’s joke is an affirmation that they are special, a chosen people destined for greatness. Armstrong’s triumph was notable, but no greater an achievement than, say, Christy Ring’s 33 goals and 208 points — a Corkman knows these things — or the achievements of the greatest Taoiseach (Jack Lynch), the world’s greatest guitarist (Rory Gallagher), the greatest soccer player (Roy Keane), the greatest runner (Sonia O’Sullivan), or the greatest flyhalf/outhalf (Ronan O’Gara)... the list goes on.
That Gallagher was born in Donegal, and O’Gara in the US, are minor accidents of geography.
RTÉ’s John Creedon loves his native city, but says Corkonians can be over-the-top.
“I love Cork hugely. I love every blade of grass in the county and every cobblestone in the city, and it is true that people from other parts of the country love coming here, admire our hurling and football, but...” — there was bound to be a ‘but’ — “but there is no question that we don’t do ourselves any favours by overdoing Cork chauvinism. We should stop crowing about how wonderful we are, and boasting about all the great Corkonians, past and present. We make too much noise like that, sometimes, and rub people up the wrong way.”
Creedon’s late father didn’t see it that way. “My dad used to say that the day he was born, in 1918, he skidded to a halt on the lino, gathered his senses, had one good look around him and said: ‘Cork. Thank you, God, thank you’.”
As a northsider, Creedon has a special affinity with that part of the city, but also for Turner’s Cross, where he watches his beloved Cork City play.
“If you take a triangle, from the Mardyke to the North Cathedral to the train station and from St Luke’s up to the North Mon and around Shandon Street, that is where we sported and played as youngsters.
“If I go for a walk, I remember the kids who lived down the lane in Dominic Street. That whole area is still the most colourful part of the city. It is where the theatres are and it has always been a hive of activity. It was a neighbourhood for talkers. If you grew up in the inner city, you learned to talk.”
He has hardly stopped talking. He talks every evening from 8pm on RTÉ radio, broadcasting, naturally, from the Cork studios.
Jazz singer Karen Underwood was born in Chicago, but Cork is her home. Karen and her family moved to Ireland in 1997. “The first thing I used to go to, in the city, was the Savoy. I was amazed at how good the coffee was. I didn’t expect that. I loved Cork from day one.”
Karen did a hDip in psychotherapy at UCC and began working with autistic children, while singing part-time. She worked with the children for years, but last year lost her job to Department of Education cutbacks. “I do not feel resentful about that,” she says. “In any case, I didn’t come here for the Celtic Tiger. I am here for the Celtic kitten, too.”
When she and her husband separated, he returned to Chicago, in 2002, but Karen and her children, daughter, Christiana and son, Erbie, remained in Cork. Karen also began singing and has toured Ireland with her tribute to Nina Simone.
“Ireland is my home,” says Karen. “We live in Douglas and I love the friendship you find here and the sense of community. Christiana will always say she is Irish. She has a mixed Cork and Chicago accent, so she speaks with a bit of an American twang. She went away to work for the summer, but when she came back she said that Cork was definitely home.”
Karen’s life was touched with tragedy last year, when 18-year-old Erbie took his own life. “Erbie was as Irish as any Irish lad,” says Karen, “with his black face and Irish accent. He played hurling with Blackrock, and soccer and basketball, which he adored.
“When his uncles came to visit, or we’d go to Chicago, they would fall around the place at his Irish brogue and think it was the coolest thing ever.”
Despite losing Erbie, Karen could not imagine living anywhere else. “My son is laid to rest in Cork, not in Chicago. That was a source of conflict, initially, with my former husband, but I felt that he had spent most of his life here. He came to Cork at the age of four and lived here until his death, at 18.”
Writer and historian, Michael Lenihan, scoffs at being regarded as a Cork celebrity. “Am I up there with Andy Gaw or Holy Joe or Bernie Murphy? They were among the great characters of Cork. There aren’t too many left, except, perhaps, Brian O’Donnell, of the Hi-B bar in Oliver Plunkett Street. He is certainly a great character and I’m not in that league, yet.”
Though knowledgeable about history, Lenihan is not obsessed with the past and advocates the benefits of change. “When they built Opera Lane, they gave a new vibrancy to that part of town and that is a good thing. If you look at older buildings in the city, it is great to see that they are still being used. Penneys was the former Munster Arcade, the Roches Stores building is now Debenhams, and BT used to be Cashs.”
He says Corkonians’ obsession with their native city can be laughable. “We can even be homesick at home, boy,” he says.
Though now living on the southside, Lenihan wanders north of the River Lee. “I prefer the northside. I prefer the atmosphere and I think the people are friendlier. If you walk up Blarney Street, which is the longest street in Cork, people will stop and chat to you. People are earthier there than on the southside, and there is still great community spirit.”
As an historian and collector of Cork memorabilia, Lenihan takes a greater interest than most in his surroundings and how they tell the tale of the city. “Pourhaddy harbour is a very interesting little place, down by the Fever Hospital steps, off Leitrim Street. There is an inlet there and I think that’s what gives Murphy’s stout its special flavour.”
One of Lenihan’s favourite southside spots is in Donnybrook, Douglas, near where he lives. “It is called the Mangela. It is a field where they used to feed horses. They used to give them mangles, which is a type of turnip. That’s how it got its name. The Mangela is a great spot.”
Opera singer
Cara O’Sullivan has a different perspective on all things Cork. “I’m a Sorrie, not a Norrie,” she says. “I grew up on the southside, around The Lough, so that area has a lot of fond memories for me. It is a lovely place and I am one of the few that never fell in. When I go to town for the messages (note to non-Corkonians: ‘messages’ means groceries), I love going down all the old streets. I love the Coal Quay and the area around the Opera House, the artisan shops that you find, particularly off Paul Street, but I also like the new shops on Opera Lane.”
She is also a coffee head. “Give me the smell of a good coffee and I am like a dog following a sausage. I can’t resist.”
Outside the city centre, she enjoys a stroll in Fitzgerald’s Park, or on the pedestrian walk from Blackrock Castle to Rochestown. “I have two dogs and we meet lots of other doggie addicts. The Harty’s Quay walk is a fantastic amenity. I love walking there, except for the cyclists — they’d kill you.” As a professional singer, she spends much time abroad, touring with opera companies, but always looks forward to returning to Cork.
“What I notice, the moment I come home, is the sense of humour. I could be away for months and, when I come home, I can’t stop laughing at the things that pop out of people’s mouths here. That is one of the most endearing aspects of Cork. I have travelled a lot, but never settled anywhere else. I never had the urge to.”
Singer Linda Kenny loves the small town atmosphere of her native place. “What I love about Cork is that, although it is a city, there is an intimacy and comfort and a real sense of place here that is more akin to living in a small town. People, on the whole, are open and familiar here and they don’t stand on ceremony. I love that. There is a sort of innate acceptance that we are all equal.”
A born chatterbox, she also enjoys chats on the street. “I also really appreciate the fact that it is possible to strike up a friendly conversation with a stranger and it isn’t treated with suspicion.”
* Karen Underwood’s show, The Ladies Lost and Found, a tribute to divas, is at the Everyman Palace on Saturday, Nov 30. All profits go to Bounce Back, a charity that supports Cork’s Youth, which Karen founded in her son’s memory.
* Michael Lenihan’s book, Timeless Cork, is released in November by Mercier.
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