Archive for 'Cork'
Annual Paddy’s Day Post
Posted on March 17, 2010, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Ireland.
The cold seemed to reduce the numbers quite a bit this year but still a great display by the locals. Fire engines and tractors still firm favourites in our house with the Steam Tractor being my own personal highlight·
Lots more photos over on Pix.ie.
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Rosmini Community Event Needs Your Help
Posted on March 14, 2010, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Entertainment, Family, Ireland.
I’ll keep it short and sweet. If you know of any family-friendly comedians or mind-trick guys who would be able to perform on March 26th in Bandon, can you get in touch with me and I’ll pass it on to the Rosmini Centre people? They do have some budget for it, so pro or semi-pro is fine.
Also the dog owned by one of the kids who was going to perform has gone missing. Please keep an eye out for a sheepdog in the Crossbarry area. If the same happens to you, I encourage you to post it on LostandFound.ie.
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Community Variety Show on March 26th in Bandon
Posted on March 6, 2010, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Entertainment, Ireland.
Every year the great people who run the Rosmini centre for adults with an intellectual disability organise a fun and interesting event to promote community integration and inclusion for everyone. This year they are organising a community variety show.
It’s on Friday the 26th of March in the GAA Hall in Bandon. Doors opening at 7.15, show starts at 8 sharp. It is not a fund raising event so tickets will be at the very affordable cost of €5 each.
The show will include:
- A DJ
- Singing & Music
- Magic and Tricks (both kids and adults)
- Bingo
- Dance & Comedy
- Raffle
- Street Dancers
There will be spot prizes between performances.
Sounds like a great fun night for all the family. You should start seeing signs for it around the town soon.
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Learn about Twitter whilst having a nice glass of vino
Posted on February 22, 2010, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Drink, Entertainment, Ireland.
I know the whole Twitter thing is still completely alien to a lot of people. How many wondered what the hell the papers were on about when discussing Dan Boyle’s “tweet“?
Here’s a suggestion for dipping your toe in and getting a handle on it all. Karwig Wines in Carrigaline is running the third “Twebt” which is a Twitter wine-tasting competition (Bubble Brothers and Curious Wines ran the first two).
The idea is very simple. You get a bottle of wine from Joe and his gang in Karwig’s and it is wrapped up so you can’t see the label. At an agreed time, 9pm Sunday March 7th, people open the wine and start tasting it and putting their tasting notes up on Twitter.Then they start guessing the country, grape etc and maybe even the exact wine.
It’s a bit of fun and those taking part range from gurus to tipplers and everyone in between.
Full details on taking part are on Brian Clayton’s Blog and on the Karwig’s Blog. If you just want to watch what happens then you can see all the tweets in the run-up and on the night over at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23twebt.
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Just in case you haven’t seen/heard it
Posted on February 3, 2010, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork.
Very very funny.
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As You Wish
Posted on December 15, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Entertainment.
Well Bandon Film Society has gone and done it again with this brilliant idea.
In association with Partnership for Change they are organising a Special Christmas Charity Screening for Bandon Flood Appeal on Wednesday 30th December 2009 in St Peters Church, Bandon at 8pm
The movie is one of my top 5 of all time, The Princess Bride, starring the angelic Robin Wright.
If you don’t live in Bandon, get into your car and drive here for this. If you don’t live in Ireland, fly here. The recent showing of the original Phantom of The Opera in St Peter’s was a tour-de-force.
Not only will you enjoy a genius movie but you’ll be helping by contributing to the Irish Red Cross and St Vincent De Paul.
Further Information Contact:
Declan Waugh Tel: 023-8841933 M: 086-3853363
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Flood Updates on Bandon.ie
Posted on November 22, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Ireland.
Trevor Collins is doing a phenomenal job over on the Bandon.ie blog with updates on the floods and plenty of guidance/links. If you live locally or travel through here, you need to be following it. If you are on Twitter, I auto-post links to all his posts over on twitter.com/bandon.
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The Floods
Posted on November 21, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork.
Our thoughts are with all those families and businesses damaged by the horrendous floods in West Cork this week.
We were lucky. Apart from the inconvenience of no phoneline and some bad leaks in a bay window, we managed to escape pretty unscathed.
If you have any detour tips for those trying to get in and out of West Cork, please leave them in the comments. This route was still working at 2pm yesterday so hopefully it’ll work for you. (Click on it for larger size):
Bandon had been doing a large marketing push for November. Now more than ever, we should shop locally and help those businesses get back on their feet.
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In a choir? Available to sing in Bandon on Jan 29th?
Posted on November 17, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Entertainment, Family, Ireland.
I’ve just been contacted by a someone organising a lovely local event. They are looking for a folk choir or an upbeat church choir to get involved.
It’s on 29th Jan 2010 in Bandon.
They also need an audio system if you know of anyone willing to loan for the night.
Mail me on conor@loudervoice.com if you want to help out and I’ll pass on your details.
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Time to build a Cork Computer History Museum
Posted on November 14, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Technology.
We have buildings all over Cork, empty. We have a recession. The hospitality industry is crippled. We need something that encourages tourism, makes use of some of that property and points the way to the future.
Can I suggest a Cork Computer History Museum?
What’s one of the biggest attractions in Silicon Valley? The Computer History Museum
What’s one of the biggest tourist draws in London? The Science Museum.
What’s one of Cork’s main tourist attractions now? The Butter Museum.
Where is the biggest cluster of successful tech companies outside of Dublin? Cork.
Randy Jordan has assembled one of the most incredible collections of classic computers anywhere. From IMSAI to Osborne to DEC PDP and Apple Lisa, he has it. Randy has offered the collection to be housed by those who should jump at the chance. They didn’t get it.
Those of us who do _get_ it have despaired when talking to Randy about his computers and the fact that they are almost never seen. The mini-collection he showed today at BarCamp Cork III blew our minds.
Watch this video:
Then think about the thousands of people who fly in and out of Cork every week and work for tech companies. Think about the brilliant but now sadly delayed idea of transforming the Cork docklands into a new tech hub. Think about all those tourists looking for something different. This could be the first step. A building full of technology that shows us the past so we can figure out the future.
Do you have a building lying idle and a vision for where you want Cork to be in 10 years time? Step up to the plate.
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Good Wine Show Day 1 Fantastic!
Posted on November 14, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Drink, Food, Ireland.
We spent this evening in the Clarion Hotel in Cork attending the fantastic inaugural Good Wine Show, held by Curious Wines, Bubble Brothers and Karwig Wines.
I’m not going to say much, I’ll let all the videos I took do the talking. Suffice to say that €15 to sample over 100 fantastic wines plus cheese from On The Pigs Back, bread from Arbutus and amazing smoked Duck, Salmon and Chicken from Ummera is an absolute steal. So get on over to the Clarion tomorrow from 11am and have an absolute blast. We did!
Mike Kane and Joyce on the Curious Wines Stand:
And 13 more videos here.
A few badly taken pics here:
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The Good Wine Show in Cork
Posted on November 7, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Drink, Entertainment, Food.
If you haven’t heard about it already, you’ll want to know about the Good Wine Show happening this Friday 13th and Saturday 14th of November. It’s a joint effort between the three best independent wine retailers in the country: Curious Wines, Bubble Brothers and Karwig Wines.
It’s on in the Clarion Hotel in Cork from 3pm – 8pm on Friday and 11am – 4pm on Saturday and only costs €15. For that you’ll have over 100 international wines to taste and buy, delicious foods and gourmet treats on offer and prize draws for wine cases and food hampers.
This isn’t a show for wine gurus at all. If you like a nice glass of NZ Sauvignon Blanc every once in a while, you’ll enjoy it just as much as those who know the difference between a 1947 and 1948 Margaux.
You can buy tickets online right now or in any of the aforementioned Wine Merchants. We’ll be there on Friday and possibly on Saturday too, soliciting your feedback on everything so have your SMS thumbs to the ready.
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Good Things Cafe should be called Awesome Things Cafe
Posted on October 31, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Cooking, Cork, Food.
Two days of fantastic fish recipes by a wonderful teacher in a perfect setting. Not much more to say than that. But I will.
Three years ago I did a cookery course down in Good Things Cafe with Carmel Somers. It was honestly two of the best food days I’ve ever had. The relentless pressure of start-up business life meant I didn’t get to return until this month. Now I can’t wait to go again.
Durrus is a gorgeous little village just at the start of the Sheep’s Head Peninsula. Good Things is just out a bit on the Ahakista Road looking out over the bay and the mussel farms. It is a cafe during the summer and a cookery school for the rest of the year.
A collection of maybe 10 of us there on the first day. A mixture of individuals, friends and mother/daughter. Only two of us were blokes. What is it with men? It’s 2009, not 1959.
Click on the image for the full album of pictures that I took:
There is always a worry that demo-only courses can be tiring to concentrate on for two days. I have the attention span of a gnat and generally have to be doing things to stop my mind wandering. I needn’t have had any concern. Carmel kept us engaged and entertained for the entire thing. Each day was over in the blink of an eye and I wanted more each time!
The recipes are all simple, tasty and doable by anyone who can wield a knife. OK maybe not by those two nutters on the opening episode of The Restaurant this week who tried to open a coconut with a knife and rolling pin 
The recipes included:
- Alioli
- Brown Rice with garlic
- Fish Stock
- Omelette Arnold Bennett
- Fish Ceviche
- Kedgeree
- Fish Cakes with Salsa
- Chowder
- St Emilion au Chocolat
- Brown Soda Scones
- Crab Tart
- Short Crust Pastry
- Garlic Croutons
- Fish Soup
- Braised Fennel with Cumin and Ginger
As each thing was cooked, we all got to taste it and sip on a glass of wine. They were all winners. I only saw one person react negatively to one dish in two days and that was the squid which I know some people just have a problem with.
Carmel’s assistant Joy also deserves a special mention for all her hard work and friendly attentiveness on both days.
Those on the course were all lovely and extremely friendly. This wasn’t a bunch of foodies trying to out-do each other in their knowledge of single-estate extra-virgin olive oils. Just normal folks who like food and wanted an interesting weekend away. There was even someone living in Ratoath where my mother is from who knows my Aunt’s shop really well.
Carmel was a big meanie and wouldn’t let me record video like the last time. I had hoped to post a bunch of stuff to Qik and YouTube. Hopefully her daughter will get her doing video now that they are on Twitter too.
Just like the last time, all I can say is, just do it. They have a wide range of courses and it’s a wonderful part of the country. It’s not expensive and you’ll come away excited by food again. I described myself as a lapsed cook that weekend and it looks like Carmel has brought me back into the flock
She has also just launched her first cookbook called “Eat Good Things Every Day”. It looks brilliant and I’ll definitely be buying a copy.
Learn how to eat good things everyday. This book will get your kitchen sorted and to make the task of cooking less daunting and more enjoyable. From a ‘once a week’ shopping list there’s something to cook every night for eight weeks plus a list of what you need in your store-cupboard is provided and a surprisingly short list of kitchen utensils. By planning our meals in advance we can eat better, tastier food that will give us more enjoyment and doesn’t cost the earth!
You can buy it on the Cork University Press web-site.
Now which of her courses will I do next?
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Bandon Farmer’s Market now has a web-site
Posted on October 25, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, BandonFarmersMarket, Cork, Ireland.
I’m always happy to see local initiatives get an online presence to extend their reach. My attempt to create a blog for Bandon Farmer’s Market three years ago fell flat due to my lack of consultation with the standholders to ensure buy-in. So it is great to see the new site launch with all the details you need. Check it out here and don’t forget it is on every Saturday morning.
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Bandon.ie revamp
Posted on October 16, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Blogging, Cork, Ireland.
Trevor and crew have done a big revamp of the bandon.ie. Tons of useful information about the town and area and the beginnings of a local business directory. You should definitely be subscribed to the blog if you want the latest news. I push all their blog updates to Twitter here too.
The best way you can help the site is to make sure you let them know about everything that is happening in the town. It’s a resource by the community for the community.
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Chambers Organic Pork from West Cork
Posted on October 15, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Food, Ireland.
I haven’t tried their meat yet but the thought of locally-reared organic pork has me salivating. They sell directly to the consumer and are based in Teadies near Enniskean. The pigs are a mix of Old Spots Gloucester & Saddleback. Give Liam a call on 086 604 1208 if you want to order. More details on their web-site.
Rough location here:
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I’m in Far Eastern Foodie Heaven
Posted on September 26, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Food, Ireland, Reviews.
The recent review of CX Oriental by Messy Chef was the final push I needed to check this place out today after months of saying I must. It’s just fantastic. If you have ever raved about Asia Market in Dublin, this is 10x better.
If you have driven past Kinsale Road Roundabout in the past few months you can’t have missed the huge signs for CX Oriental Cash and Carry. Whilst Cork has had the brilliant Mr Bell’s in The English Market for years, it suffers from lack of space and the awkwardness of getting to it so this morning I finally made the trip to the Cash and Carry.
It’s pretty easy to find. Head past Harvey Normans off the Kinsale Road Roundabout, take the left at the lights onto Tramore Road and watch out for the many signs. My first surprise (and relief) was that they take credit cards. My second was that they have a noodle bar restaurant there open 7 days a week which was hopping.
The place is massive. It starts with a lot of huge freezers filled with all sorts of fish, meat and desserts. I got some tiger prawns and some spring roll sheets.
The fresh produce area and fridge is small but jammed full of stuff you just won’t get elsewhere including veg I’ve never seen before, multiple types of tofu, chillis, enoki mushrooms, mangoes and drinks. The fresh fish section looked awesome too but I didn’t get anything today.
I put together a list of ingredients from Rick Stein’s new Far Eastern book and found everything on it with no problems. They also obviously sell in bulk to restaurants and had lots of the Musgraves type things like foil containers and cups, in addition to woks, chopsticks, strainers, steamers etc.
Not much else to say except if you are doing any sort of Far Eastern cooking then it will be hard to keep you away from the place. The value is also stunningly good compared to supermarkets.
Here are some pictures I took whilst shopping:
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Engage Arts Festival this weekend
Posted on September 21, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Entertainment.
The second year of the Engage Arts festival is fast approaching and it looks fantastic. Something for everyone, no matter what their interests or age.
I’ve put together a simple mini-blog for the event over here on Posterous. The aim is that people can upload information, pictures, videos etc very easily over the weekend.It has the full line-up for the two days and contact details too.
It’d be fantastic if you’d take part in this exercise. It’s as simple as emailing me on cwjoneill AT gmail DOT com. I then add you as an author on the blog and all you have to do is email text, pictures, videos, links etc to post@posterous.com and they will automatically appear! Yup, that easy. You can even do it from many phones.
So c’mon, Engage is about engaging with the arts and what better way to do that than to submit your experiences of the weekend and all the events by sending a wee email. If even that freaks you out as a technophobe, then just send the stuff to me and I’ll upload it for you.
Any questions, just leave em in the comments.
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BEST….MOVIE….IDEA….EVER And in Bandon!
Posted on September 12, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Entertainment, Family, Ireland.
Catherine FitzMaurice from Kilbrogan House just contacted me about an awesome night that is happening as part of the Engage Arts festival over the weekend of Sep 25th.
They are showing the 1925 version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with, and this is the genius bit, live organ accompaniment by Dr Eric Sweeney who is head of Music at Waterford School of Technology. Not only that, but they are showing it in a church. The atmosphere should be amazing!
It’s on in St Peter’s Church, Bandon on Friday, 25th September at 9pm. The film runs for 90mins. Tickets are only €10 and I think they are going to sell out well before time. Call the office on 087-1205022 or Film Society on 086-3689939.
Check it:
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New Dianne Curtin Web-site
Posted on August 25, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Food, Ireland.
Delighted to see that food writer Dianne Curtin has launched a new web-site. If you are into food, you should check it out. She has news, tips, recipes and podcasts already. Since the site is built on Drupal, I think we can expect lots more features to appear over time.
