Living in Cork, Ireland
 

My husband and I have never been to Ireland, but love to travel abroad. There is an opportunity to move there... anyone have any experience living in Cork? Just curious what other Cork travelers think of the city.

I live in Ireland, but a good distance away from Cork. I have been there many times, but do not feel qualified to advise you on what it is like to live there.

I suggest that the experiences of people who have holidayed there are of little help in judging what it might be like to live there long-term.

It's like a marriage, anyway. What Cork is like is only half the story; what you are like is the other half.

Good luck with your decision-making.

"It's like a marriage, anyway. What Cork is like is only half the story; what you are like is the other half."

I love that! I'm immediately applying it to many things other than living in Cork. Of course it applies to travel anywhere and it's a good thought to keep in mind when you hear reports from other travlers.

Thanks Padraig.

Padraig I just love that "It's like a marriage, anyway. What Cork is like is only half the story; what you are like is the other half.
" If you don't mind me saying such a irish saying. I love Cork city to visit I prefer it to Dublin. The Cork people are also very nice and i just love the accents. As said before thou I am looking at it from a visitor point of view and not to live.

I, too, only visited for a few days, but fell in love with it. In fact, we didn't do any of our planned day trips or out of town activities because we were too enamored with exploring the city itself.

Padraig is right, of course.

As an American expat wife in London I cannot respond to specifics of Cork, but I will respond to generalities of being an expat and you can think about how that may fit with who YOU are.

I think the first thing to consider is the pay and benefit package you are being offered and how that will allow you to live compared to where you currently live. I don't know about the cost of living in Cork but you can probably do some research and find out. My husband makes in pounds what he used to make in dollars (so about double) and still our standard of living is much less than what it used to be in the USA. What is the tax rate and will they be tax-equalizing you? Are you getting a housing allowance? The tax rate in the UK is much steeper than the US, and allows no deductions. I don't know about Ireland.

After you sort out your pay and housing, will you still have money to travel - travel home and travel throughout Europe? Flights from London to the USA are sometimes 50% more expensive than flights from the USA to London (on Delta - the airline I tend to fly). Plus when I go home I stock up on stuff that is so expensive here and things I can't get here - so trips home can be very pricey.

Are you okay with not having food you are used to, say ranch salad dressing, A-1, barbeque sauce, american sausage, bacon, the list goes on and on. You will have to find new brands for food, toiletries, perhaps cosmetics, and lots of other things.

Will you both have a job? Will you have some way of making connections there? I am involved in the American Women's Club in London and I have met people that way - there is probably an AWC for FAWCO group in Cork. Maybe you need that, maybe you don't.

You can look up the size of Cork as a city and compare it to where you currently live - and determine if that is okay with you. If you live in Manhatten, it may feel like the sticks.

Is this a short term or unlimited assignment?

All that being said, I heartily recommend the experience of living in another country (at least for a while). We spend most weekends going into the central city or driving around the English countryside. We would never be able to see or do as much living in our hometown. Just think about how much more interesting you will be when/if you return.

Are we talking city or county?

Cork City is a pretty average medium-size British town: not desperately pretty - downright scruffy in many parts, though Cobh's nice - but a centre that more or less works, while public transport in the area is mediocre and the roads really need upgrading. Think Bristol, without a decent train system or motorways. Don't think Siena or Avignon: this is mostly a British "shop in the middle and live round the sides" kind of town.

County Cork, east of the city is soft, relatively dry and rather English-looking, West of the city it gets wild, often startlingly beautiful and astonishingly wet. Really west, it gets wetter still and feels like the end of the world.

I sometimes borrow my cousin's house to the West. His neighbours sold up and moved there from continental Europe. On a day when the rain's horizontal, their misery is almost tangible. If I could afford it, I'd make him an offer tomorrow: for me, it'd be one of the best places imaginable to weekend (but no more) in. But distances in Co Cork take an AWFULLY long time to travel

If this is a decision you have real input into, you need to look very hard at the area. None of my ancestors ever contemplated returning to SE Ireland for a nanosecond: Mrs F, OTOH, has never forgiven herself for not buying in the area when property was affordable, and still slightly hankers after moving there.

I spent a year in college in Cork in my youth and was very happy there. A visit a few years ago showed a great change from an industrial city with companies like Ford to computers like Apple and also a lot of modern pharmaceutical companies-they make Viagra and Lipitor there for example. West Cork is more attractive for me now and I have enjoyed visiting it several times over the years.I notice that Roy Disney,nephew of Walt Disney and a major player in the American film world, spends 3 or 4 months per year in his house in Co. Cork and sailing along its coast.I met an American chief executive a few years ago who told me that the chief executive of his Irish operations did not want to return to Boston because his children were attending high quality free schools in Cork and would get free college education as well.There are further details on life in Cork at www.cork.ie

flanneruk if you've been to Cork as often as you said you have then you would know that it certainly is not British.

I like Cork city a lot - this is coming from a Dubliner - it's a lot easier to live in than Dublin. There are no major sights but it has nice shops, bars and restaurants and art galleries. Public transport is poor but if you live in the city everywhere is within walking distance. Living in the suburbs would be a different story.

Cork people have a (some would say deserved) reputation for being insular and snobbish - very welcoming to tourists but not so much so to "incomers". But it is also a great centre for sports, the arts and culture with terrific annual jazz and movie festivals.

The climate is a lot wetter than the east coast, but as flanneruk pointed out the countryside is beautiful - especially out west towards Bearna, Skibbereen and Baltimore.

Good luck with your decision.

Cork is a love;y city and smaller than Duvblin. You have the countryside at your doorstep with a small manageable city with good food, nightlife and arts. Some days i think about leaving Dublin for cork :-). I did not find it seedy and found Cobh seedier looking in my opinion.