Cork Ireland

Jameson Whiskey, Midleton (near Cork)

May 26-27, 2020
See also a photo album of our adventures in Ireland.

Cork is another port city on the Irish Sea south of Dublin (I was going to say "a little way south" but distances are deceiving). We were there for a couple of nights and although we didn't see much we did enjoy our time there and found a great live music pub!

We caught a train in the morning at Hueston Station, Dublin and arrived in Cork by the early afternoon (it's three hours by train, bus or car -- that gives a sense of the distance). Not wanting to hump our luggage ever again we caught a cab for the short ride to the Metropole Hotel which backs on the River Lee north shore and fronts on MacCurtain Street. It's a lovely Victorian era red brick hotel freshly done up. Quite nice with conference rooms named after famous writers Shaw, Joyce, Swift, Wilde, Yeats, etc. Included was a large English style breakfast in their dining hall overlooking the river.

We were quite comfortable in the Metropole and had booked it, in part, because it included a Jameson Whiskey tasting tour. We discover that the distillery is in Midleton (one 'd' in the middle) not Cork and that's a short commuter train ride away. We were just getting settled into our room and headed off back to the train station where we caught a  train out to Midleton (all Jameson Whiskey is made at this single location). It's not too far out, perhaps a half hour or so, and trains are fairly frequent.

We arrived on a lovely sunny day and wandered into Midleton looking for the distillery. There were no obvious signs other than a large factory type building in the distance. The distillery happens to be a fairly long walk on the other side of this small town. There we caught up with a tour which had already started. A young Colleen took us around through the old distillery showing us the malting house (they malt over coal fires), mash tuns, copper stills, barrel house, etc. There's a modern new distillery on the same site (the factory we could see in the distance), but we didn't wander there.

After the tour you got a drink of your choosing in the bar but before that we did a comparative tasting of Jameson/Irish (which is triple distilled), John Walker Black/Scotch (double distilled) and Jack Daniels/Bourbon (single but continuous distilled). I'm not sure if any of these are actually done in copper pot stills anymore -- certainly they don't do that with Bourbons. We had toured Jack Daniels several years ago on a trip to Florida. Anways, I was suprised by a couple of things: firstly I had always thought of Irish whiskey as being rougher/more bourbon like than Scotch and secondly I was surprised that one would drink and enjoy whiskey neat (actually they had cut them all with a bit of water). We've become fans of the Irish Whiskey, Jameson's is available locally. But, cad that I am, I take it with ice to dilute the strength. Connoisseurs dilute precisely with water.

Back in Cork we took a cab and had dinner at the Oliver Plunkett as recommended by our first taxi driver. Downstairs, where we entered, there was a lively crowd of 20-somethings and some contemporary pop music playing. Not what we were after. Upstairs there was dinner and a show of traditional Irish music and some dance. It was a show that catered to the bus loads of tourists -- fine enough but not that exciting. I'd not recommend the place for the food or music.

On our way walking back to the hotel we crossed over the river and stopped into a pub called "Sin e" near our hotel. Kate had researched live music and the original cabbie recommended it. The music there was much more to our liking. There were several musicians, an evolving cast, playing Irish tunes (jigs and reels) -- very few songs. The pub stands next door to a funeral parlor on one side (hence it's name "Sin e" which means "That's it") and there's another live music pub on the other side. We enjoyed ourselves so much we came back the next night.

There were some funny guys at this pub. One fellow asks me, "Where youse from?". And I replied "Canada" to which he comments, "I likes Canadians .... but I don't think I could eat a whole one". Some regulars seemed to be quite pissed and talking blather but I later learned it's the Irish language which only sounds like blather to fools like us. There were lots of friendly folk who engaged us -- you don't need to seek them out, they find you! And they ask you to come back tomorrow, which we obliged.

Cork May 27:
The next day our plan was to take a driving trip to explore the South West corner of the country. We rented a car from a Hertz rental walking distance between our hotel and the train station. I've driven lots of times on the left side (Australia, New Zealand and the UK). We also had Google maps on our cell phone which made navigating much easier.

We made it as far as Mizen Head which is a light house point on the very south west corner. It's not very far from Cork but it's far enough, on narrow winding roads, to occupy a goodly portion of our day. We didn't get as many stops along the way as I might have liked but we did get to see some very pretty towns. And an old Friary too -- with graves scattered around through the ruins.

I recall driving through one village with a narrow two lane road that had been reduced to only one lane with people partking on the side walk. Coming my way was a big truck. I don't know how they manage. And one of the short cuts we took ended up being a single lane road way. A Mini-Cooper coming the other way barreled right on by orcing us into the verge. He should have waited at a nearby lane way for us to pass. That's what we were doing. How crazy to just barrel on through?

Mizen Head has some lovely views (albeit quite windy) and you have to do a bit of walking up and down stairs. Kate's fitbit watch recorded her as having done 60 stairs in one day. Most of those we chalked up to bumpy car ride up and down the narrow roads.

Back in Cork we had dinner reservation at the Paradiso, a vegetarian restaurant recommended by Kath and Scotia. But we were running late (driving anywhere takes longer than expected). We phoned ahead to let them know and to see if they'd hold our reservation. But still got in later than we promised. In any case it wasn't that busy.

When we got to the Paradiso, it's on another (south) branch of the Lee River, we were driving around trying to find a parking place. We stopped at the restaurant for some guideance which was fortunate. The maitre de told Kate that you could park on any of the streets in the neighborhood but .... you're not from around here are you? There are no parking meters, you're supposed to have a parking pass. And how do you get a pass? Well, you have to find a convenience store and then .... Fortunately he then remembered that there was a parking garage across the river and we parked there. I guess street parking just isn't something tourists are supposed to have.

We had a nice dinner. I recall some pasta made with nettles and some grilled tofu. It's vegetarian. But one of the better to be found.

Our last night in Cork found us back at Sin e for more music.

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As it turns out we really didn't get to see much of Cork. But we did find a great pub!