The Friday View 3/12
Tripe + Drisheen is in city libraries; Santas will be taking to bikes in the city this weekend and the famous Dursey Island cable car is set to be replaced. It's our Friday View round-up
And it’s December. And a lot hasn’t changed, but a great deal has too. Only a fool would try and predict what will unfold over the next few weeks as the world grapples with a new coronavirus variant, so we won’t, as foolish as we are.
In a bit of good news for Tripe + Drisheen (and the people of Cork!), we were delighted to see copies of our first print edition in all of Cork city’s libraries. One of the primary reasons for starting our new journalism publication was to reach a wide audience, and there’s no better way of doing that than through our libraries. If you have the chance to visit, they are undoubtedly one of our most invaluable resources. Thank you to all the staff at our libraries and thanks for your support of Tripe + Drisheen.
Image of the week 1
This is one of the images of Cork from the anthology A Journey Called Home; Poems and stories of the new Corkonians. A selection of the photographs by Azem Kolecki, Jed Niezgoda and Silvio Severino are on display at the entrance to Douglas Library.
Below is an extract from the anthology -
Pana by Serge Vanden Berghe:
Doing Pana on a gentle, sunny Saturday in May… Sometimes, you could think you are walking the seaside boulevard of a Mediterranean city, on a Ramadan evening: the whole town is there: couples, families, teenagers, tribes. And you never fail to acknowledge the presence of the other. Pana is Cork’s seaside, so to speak. An ancient water story, of a river channel where the boats have given way to double-decker buses.
You can read the entire anthology by the new Corkonians here.
Tweet of the week
Last week, as you might recall, Tripe + Drisheen went and spent some time at a pumping station on the Coal Quay in the company of two Cork City Council engineers. There was a great reaction to that piece from readers hungry and eager to know more about how our city works, and it’s equally great when council workers accommodate journalists. More of it please. Simon Lyons, who took us inside Cork city’s sewers, is getting the message across at home also:
Likewise, there was a great reaction to our most recent Arts + Culture newsletter, an interview and podcast with Fred Callow of Cool Mountain, outside Dunmanway, on the occasion of publishing his memoir Blow-In. We’ll be hoping to bring you plenty more podcasts come the New Year. Unfortunately, Fred’s book launch, meant to take place this weekend in Connolly's of Leap, has been cancelled. Copies of Blow-In are available in all good booksellers in Cork city and county or online at Sweeney & Donovan.
Out and about
🎬 Watch: A cafe in a movement
The Quay Co-op, a lovely documentary about the institution on Sullivan’s Quay, had its (world) premier this past autumn at the Cork Indie Film Festival. Made by Emma Bowell and Eddie Noonan of Framework Films it charts the history of the cafe from whence it opened nearly 40 years ago (2022 is the big 40 birthday bash). In our print edition of Tripe + Drisheen, the cafe features in one of our conributor’’s Christmas letters. The documentary is currently available for viewing on YouTube here.
🎧 Listen: Album launches still happen
Over on Cornmarket Street at Plugd Record’s new home, there are two album launches this weekend. Today, Friday will see Annie & Mo launch their album When You Get Here, with support from Makavard.
And on Sunday, December 5, The Quiet Club will launch their album The Telelapthic Lockdown Tapes, a concept album that took was made by taking U-turn from virtual recording sessions. Instead nine tapes were recorded by the duo in separate studios at appointed days for 20 minutes each. Contact Plugd here for tickets for both as they are presale only. (No tickets at door).
🚲 Cycle: Like Santa
It’s the season of Santas, and the annual Santa cos play on a bicycle ride takes place in the city on Sunday evening, December 5. The meeting spot is Goldberg’s down by Kennedy Quay. If you’re joining the festive parade, registration is at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. and don’t forget to deck the bike with lights and holly. The cycle gets underway at 6:30 p.m. More information here.
🖼 Exhibitions: Upstairs at the Quay Co-op
An exhibition by artist and musician Eileen Healy launches this weekend upstairs at the Quay Co-op on Sullivan’s Quay. Eileen wrote about the struggles to keep a roof over her head for Tripe + Drisheen in July, when she launched her Lay a Brick sale, selling off the sketches, paintings and life drawings she has accumulated over ten years to try to save enough money to buy her own home.
Eileen spoke to RTÉ Cork in October about the anxiety of growing older as an artist and not having been able to buy her own home. You can read Eileen’s own words from her piece as part of the Our Cork 2040 series:
Eileen Healy’s exhibition launch takes place on Sunday, December 5 at 5.30 p.m. at the Quay Co-op’s new restaurant. Exhibition continues throughout December.
🌲Help out: Many hands make
Green Spaces for Health Cork will be meeting this Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. on December 4 at Clashduv Park in Togher where they’ll be hoping to get across the finishing line with the poly tunnel they’re erecting. They’re looking for volunteers, and you don’t need to be a green fingers to pitch in. Also, if you have a wheel barrow and can bring it, they’ll be extra happier with you. More information about Green Spaces for Cork here.
Image of the week 2
The image of the retro-looking Dursey Island cable car is also the feature of this week’s long read by Noel Sweeney. Noel, a regular Tripe + Drisheen contributor, visited Dursey, Allihees, Eyeries and Casteltownbere to talk with islanders and locals about the significant announcement made last month that the island is to get two new cable cars and a visitor centre. The cable cars will bring more people to the island; not everyone thinks that’s good for the island. Read on here:
And at the risk of wearing you down, but if you’re looking for a Tripe + Drsiheen-themed Christmas gift and you want to support local journalism, then we have some mugs, T-Shirts and tote bags over at our online shop. All the proceeds will go back into commissioning more journalism about and from Cork. You can also give a gift subscription of Tripe + Drisheen to anyone around the world. All you need is their email address to sign them up and keep them informed about Cork all year round.
We’ll be back tomorrow with our Arts + Culture newsletter. You can always contact us with news, tips or information at jj.odonoghue@gmail.com or emailellieobyrne@gmail.com.