Catching up with Kimye in East Cork proves a tough task
Since Kim Kardashian and her new husband, rapper Kanye West, flew into the city on Sunday for their Irish honeymoon a frenzy of fans have been keeping vigil at the five-star Castlemartyr Resort where they were rumoured to be staying.
Hotel management and staff were staying schtum about suggestions the couple had booked in to the presidential suite of the 17th-century country manor.
That did not dampen the enthusiasm of hardline Kardashian watchers.
Katherine Barry, 21, from Ballyvolane in Cork — her name usually spelt with a C but she’s adopting a K for the day — had a brilliant plan. “Let’s kidnap one of the waiters here, hold him to ransom until we get to meet Kim and Kanye,” she said. “I can just picture Kanye wearing one of those baggy pants.”
It was as good an idea as any. Most of the hangers-on in the grounds of Castlemartyr Resort hotel had all but given up on seeing their idols.
“Not the waiter,” suggested her pal, Fiona Buckley, 20, from Tivoli. “Get the concierge. He always knows what’s going on. Maybe they have gone to the merries in Youghal.”
Fiona could hardly wait to see the whole thing on TV. “She had three dresses for her second wedding.” she said. “She probably had more for this one.”
Another rumour was that the stars were going for lunch at the Rising Tide seafood restaurant, a delightful perch on the estuary of the River Lee in Glounthaune.
No such luck, said Phil, mother of owner Sandra Murphy. “We had Lady Gaga here a couple of years ago. At the time, I didn’t even know who she was, but she was lovely. It was magic. She spent ages chatting with all the old guys in the bar.”
There was no sign of the famous pair — collectively known as Kimye — though. “Of course, we would love to welcome them here. Perhaps they are on the Blackwater.”
By that she meant the Castlehyde mansion belonging to Michael Flatley. It seemed a bit of a stretch to picture the rapper with the toe tapper, but perhaps not. After all, classical crooner Andrea Bocelli sang at the wedding in Florence, so Kimye clearly enjoy varied musical tastes.
There were other possibilities nearby, such as the distillery at Midleton. “No sign of them, yet,” said Bernadette at the Jameson Experience. “There are no mad crowds here, either, although there are all sorts of rumours. We would, of course, give them a drink if they came.”
Perhaps a little animal magic might have attracted them but, according to Siobhan at Fota Wildlife Park, it was a definite “no”. “It’s a bit busy, anyway,” she said. “It’s our AGM today, although we are moving animals so it might be a good day to come in.”
The woman outside Fitzpatrick’s shop in Glounthaune was not too impressed that the TV star and her 36-year-old rapper husband are planning to enjoy five days at a “luxury private estate” in the county.
“I hear they’re as tight as tuppence,” she said, wielding her heavy weekly shopping bags. “They don’t pay for a thing.”
She had a point. Weddings are a good source of income for the Kardashians and these nuptials will net them a cool $21m (€15.4m).
Kim’s parents Bruce and Kris Jenner also spent their honeymoon in Ireland following their own wedding in 1991.
The locals in comedian Pat Shortt’s bar in Castlemartyr were more interested in the local and European elections than celeb-spotting, lamenting the demise of the Labour Party.
Pat is not the only comedian there. “Maybe Eamon Gilmore should have put Kim on the party ticket,” said one. “I’ll tell you one thing: I’d give her my Number 1, any day.”
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