Sports
If there one thing that’s really important in Cork, it’s sport. And you haven’t experienced true excitement until you’ve seen a Cork team capture a major title – which they frequently do.
Hurling is a uniquely Irish game – although it’s now enjoyed in other countries too – played with a small leather ball and wooden “hurleys”. But that doesn’t even begin to describe it. It’s very fast and highly skilful, and Cork’s county team are the Irish record holders with 30 All Ireland titles under their belts.
Gaelic football is the second most popular game in Cork. Superficially, it looks similar to soccer, but the rules are quite different. And the Cork team are no slouches on the football field either – with six national titles to their credit.
There’s a long tradition of rugby playing in Cork city and county too, from schoolboy to international level. There are two first-division clubs in the city as well as the internationally renowned Munster rugby side, who play half their home matches at Musgrave Park in Ballyphehane.
Being a coastal county, all water sports are popular in Cork – particularly sailing and rowing. The most famous of its many sailing clubs is the venerable Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven, the oldest yacht club in the world. Cork Week is Ireland's largest international sailing regatta and is held every second year in July. The next Cork Week with be this year, 2008. Entrants are expected from all over the world, including Australia, Canada, The UK, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, and the US.
Cork has its share of national and international sports stars too. Footballer Roy Keane – now manager of UK Premier League club, Sunderland – was born in Mayfield, on the city’s northside. And he’s not the city’s only football hero. Denis Irwin had a long and successful career with Manchester United, where he earned himself a reputation as one of the game's greatest fullbacks.
Runner and Olympic medal winner, Sonia O’Sullivan, is a native of Cobh. Sonia is currently the team manager of the Australian team for the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh in 2008.
