Michael Moynihan: A city's culture isn't just about the arts — how does Cork fare?
Lani Gallenberger enjoying a tour of Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral for last year's Culture Night Cork City. A city’s culture isn’t just a matter of the arts high and low, but something far broader. File picture: Darragh Kane
Tomorrow night is Culture Night, one of the year's high holidays for everyone, not just the cultured. It means a stellar array of performances, displays, exhibitions, and more, erupting across the country from afternoon into early evening, though my focus here is on Cork.
The sheer number of events means there’s something for everyone, which is just as well.
Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language, after all, according to Raymond Williams, and he wasn’t wrong.
Williams’s analysis of culture leaned into the political, but I want to take a slightly different tack because of something I stumbled across online about the culture of a city.
In short, a city’s culture isn’t just a matter of the arts high and low, to quote Wes Anderson, but something far broader.
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In fact, a handy checklist was provided, showing the various ways in which a city can show its identity and character, and thus show the different aspects of the culture of the city.
I thought it would be interesting to run through that checklist and keep a running score, just to see how cultured Cork is all year round, and not just one night a year.
Does the city have its own means of expression?
This is interesting if you take the criteria here to include different, discreet languages as well as a particular indigenous dialect.
A stroll through town will bring home the diversity of languages spoken in Cork, while there is a never-ending supply of guides to Cork slang.
More importantly, people use that slang naturally rather than cosplaying Corkness. One point.
Does Cork have a name for good food?
The city scores on the double. Between Ballymaloe and the English Market, and all points in between, Leeside has a strong claim to be called Ireland’s culinary capital.
But if you include native dishes, the likes of tripe and drisheen, Chester cake, and connie dodgers, that claim is buttressed further.
Total: Two points.
Is the city identified with a dress style?
Anyone who has seen my office attire will instantly recognise someone to whom haute couture is an alien concept: A person in whom the fashion awareness is not so haute, ho ho.
The general flattening of individual tastes, however, means Cork is not the only place which lacks a distinctive style, though you make a case for the shawls worn by ladies long ago.
One point deducted, total: One point.
Are there traditions particular to the city?
I think so.
Whether it’s the Throwing of the Dart by the Lord Mayor, a mere half-millennium in existence, or the Eucharistic Procession, there are Cork-specific traditions which persist, and have persisted, for decades.
One point added, total: Two points.
Do we have something that stands for Cork?
No shortage, says you.
Between the coat of arms and Statio Bene Fide Carinis one one hand, and the little caricature of Shandon on the other, we have no lack of symbols for the city.
One point added: Three points.
Is there a myth or legend which resonates with the city’s population?
Cork can go one better — one legend that goes back hundreds of years remains a vivid part of modern life in the city and, in addition, draws thousands of visitors every year.
I give you the Blarney Stone, which is not just a part of the modern city but a part of modern English.
One point added: Three points.
Is the city’s past part of the city’s present?
Cork’s history? Where do you want to start?
From the burning of Cork to the moving statues, the history of Cork is a living, breathing part of the life of the place.
One point added: Four points.
Is there a style of architecture which is synonymous with the city?
Mmm... this is where things become a little sticky.
We have a couple of large-scale disappointments to enter into evidence, the kind that might drive a cynic to say that the signature Cork architectural style is Overblown Non-Existent, if nonsense like the events centre is anything to go by.
One point deducted: Three points.
Does the city show vibrant and imaginative design?
Well, see above.
Exhibit A - the Bishop Lucey Whatever That Is, a costly slab of stony bleakness right in the middle of the city.
One point deducted: Two points.
How about markets in the city which are lively expressions of the community and also working commercial enterprises?
There are three in Cork. The English Market, the Marina Market, and the Black Market.
Politeness stops me from making adverse comparisons with other jurisdictions which are not as blessed, such as the one 166 miles to the northeast.
One point added: Three points.
Does the city have enough of those green spaces which are badly needed in all urban areas?
A weak spot for Cork, given the only park in the city centre was pancaked for the Bishop Lucey symphony in concrete, while trees are gone or under threat in other parts.
One point deducted: Two points.
Are the city’s sports teams and individuals distinctive and unifying passions?
What would you think?
One point added: Three points.
Is the city associated with specific festivals and celebrations?
Cork comes back strong here with Jazz and Film in particular, which is not to forget Cork on a Fork, the Choral Festival, the Summer Show...
One point added: Four points.
What about the night scene?
Sadly, Cork is no different to many other urban spaces in Ireland.
The depressing litany of vanished clubs, late bars, discos, and other late-night venues and options is as strong in Cork as anywhere else.
One point deducted: Three points.
How significant is highbrow culture in the city?
There are choirs, ballet companies, and art galleries doing great work, but the Crawford is a significant loss here.
Granted, it is closed temporarily for necessary renovations, but it is missed.
One point deducted: Two points.
Mainstream culture?
The cinema scene has improved in recent years with the addition of the Arc, while the Everyman and the Opera House complement each other.
The comics scene is strong.
The local band scene is robust.
One point added: Three points.
Is there a thriving underground scene in the city?
Subcultures in the city are unknown to me, alas. The last time I encountered the underground in Cork, it was for a Leaving Certificate pint in the pub of the same name, which once lurked down the alley by the old Roches Stores car park.
No points awarded or deducted.
Are the old traditions maintained in the city?
I think so.
Not just the examples cited above, such as the Eucharistic Procession, but earthier pastimes also.
I’ll see you all for the drag hunting.
One point added: Four points.
A cultured city? Based on my criteria, I think so.
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