Coventry has had a close association with Ireland over many years and many Irish people have come to work here and have been active in all aspects of Coventry life – business, local politics, clubs, theatre, dancing schools, and, of course, the musical life of the city.Our partner city of Cork is the capital of County Cork in south east of Ireland and here Nikolai and Monika describe a four day trip they made 11-15 August 2024.
The reason for our trip was to accompany Coventry poets Ann Atkins and Amy Rugg who had been invited to perform as part of the Cork Coventry Poetry Exchange at the O’Bheal Poetry event in Cork on 12 August and the DeBarra poetry event in Clonakilty on 13 August. The Cork Coventry Poetry Exchange is in its 17th year now, it is being managed by founder Paul Casey in Cork, while CAIF member Raef Boylan is responsible for it in Coventry. We also wanted on this trip to explore further options for twinning exchanges, in addition to the very successful Cork Coventry Poetry Exchange, and of course get to know and explore Cork and the beautiful County Cork, specifically Kinsale, Cobh and Clonakilty.
Sunday 11 August
Ryanair flight from Birmingham to Cork. We stayed at a student dorm (Yugo Amnis) near University College Cork on Western Road. Nice and clean accommodation, with access to a large and nice kitchen/common room and great views of the city and River Lee. Our room / bathroom was laid outfor people with disabilities.
Evening meal at Dwyers on Washington Street, some great food, beer and live music!
Monday 12 August
We spent the day in Kinsale, a beautiful seaside town south of Cork and just about an hour by bus. In the evening we attended the O’Bheal poetry event at The Long Valley Pub and heard open mic poetry and then of course Ann Atkins and Amy Rugg who were very well received. Cork’s Lord Mayor, Dan Boyle attended the event. We briefly spoke to him and gave him a copy of Cathy Renken’s Coventry Book (go to https://www.cathyrenkenartist.com/coventrysstory ) as well as copies of the latest CAIF annual report and CAIF booklet. We presented the same to Paul Casey of O’Bheal, Cork poet Cathal Holden as well as Emma Foran and Ciaran Kelleher Byrne, International Relations Department at Cork City Hall.
Tuesday 13 August
After breakfast in Cork’s famous English Market we went over to Cork City Hall where we joined Paul Casey, Cathal, Ann, her partner Tracy, Amy as well as Cork poets Catherine Ronan and Rosalin Blue (who grew up in Muenster, Germany) and travelled by car to a beautiful beach south of Clonakilty where we spent a few lovely hours. We were extremely lucky as the weather played its part and was absolutely magnificent. There was even an opportunity to try our hands at hurling, one of Ireland’s national sports (GAA). It takes a lot of practice!
After that we drove to the nearby Drombeg Stone circle which dates back to the early bronze age.
Moni and I did not attend the DeBarra poetry event in Clonakilty as we would have returned quite late to Cork and I am still a bit in recovery mode following my recent surgery. Paul dropped us off at a bus stop in Clonakilty and we took a bus back to Cork. We spent a great day at the coast, enjoyed some wonderful hospitality and met some very lovely people!
Wednesday 14 August
At 12:00 we had an appointment with Emma Foran and Ciaran Kelleher Byrne at Cork City Hall. We wanted to get in touch with them to discuss potential twinning projects in addition to the poetry event, raise awareness of CAIF and inform them of an interest among CAIF members in further exchanges – ideally people to people.
After our meeting with Emma and Ciaran we took the train to nearby Cobh – Cork’s port. Cobh has an impressive Cathedral and is historically very important as one of the major emigration/deportation ports. It was also the last stop of the Titanic before she began her fateful journey. The old White Star ticket office is still there and can be visited. We noticed that possibly the majority of visitors / tourists in Cobh were from the US, some clearly researching their own family history. The excellent heritage museum provides online access to historic ship manifests.
After our return to Cork we watched the wonderful Cork on a Fork event from the sidelines, enjoyed great live jazz/skiffle music and local beer, and quickly waved at the Lord Mayor who was also there and recognised us.
Thursday 15 August
At 10 am we were at the Public Museum Cork. Emma and Ciaran had recommended we speak to the director regarding future exchange. Unfortunately the director was on annual leave but the museum is well worth a visit.
We then took a taxi to Cork airport and – after a 1 hour delay – said a fond farewell to Ireland!
Nikolai Press
Coventry Association for International Friendship 