MICHAEL: Welcome to Ireland with Michael.

I'm Michael Londra and in this show I get to tell you everything I love about my home country the best way I know how, through music.

Today, we're in County Cork, Ireland's largest and southernmost county with its own distinct accent.

This rebel county, as King Henry the VII dubbed it, might be thought of as the Texas of Ireland, and like Texas, Cork can feel like a country unto itself.

There's so much here, Ireland's second largest city and culture destination of Cork.

The world-famous Blarney Castle and some of Ireland's most impressive and rugged coastline, along which have sailed more than one famous doomed vessel.

It seems everything really is bigger in Cork, including its influence on Irish music.

♪ ♪ ANNOUNCER: Ireland with Michael is made possible by... ♪ ANNOUNCER: Whether traveling to Ireland for the first time, or just longing to return, there's plenty more information available at Ireland.com.

♪ ANNOUNCER: CIE Tours, sharing the magic of Ireland for 90 years.

♪ ANNOUNCER: Aer Lingus has been bringing people home since 1936.

If you are thinking about Ireland, Aer Lingus is ready when you are to take you home.

♪ MICHAEL: Busy markets, (indistinct chatter) gregarious locals (birds chirping) ♪ and a history to rival Dublin, the city at the center of southwest Cork is emblematic in so many ways of the county which shares its name.

And its eclectic, at times even eccentric nature, is best represented, I think, by a landmark upon a hill from which the whole of the city can be seen.

Towering high above the city of Cork is a fish.

Yes, the weathervane atop the tower at St. Anne's Church, one of the oldest in the city, is cast in the shape of a golden salmon nodding to the city's maritime history.

But within that tower are the famous Shandon Bells.

(bells ringing) Eight massive bells, the heaviest weighing in at over one and a half tons, can be heard ringing out from the tower.

They and their ringing are forever ingrained in the identity of Cork as immortalized in the song "The Bells of Shandon" about a native Cork-ian thinking back fondly on his childhood and the bells which sung even 'round his cradle.

The very stones of the tower are deeply rooted in Cork as well.

The red sandstone comes from the original Shandon Castle which stood nearby, and the limestone came from the city's Franciscan Abbey.

As the 18th century priest Father Arthur O'Leary rhymed, "Party coloured like the people, red and white stands Shandon Steeple."

Not only can you climb to the top for one of the best views of party-colored Cork, but visitors even have the chance to ring the historic bells for themselves.

♪ So who are these party-colored people and how did this city come to be as it is today?

Cork City has always gone its own way.

They were a stronghold of Irish nationalism before our independence, and opposed the treaty which ended the war because it initially left us as a dominion of the British Empire.

For this, some still cheekily called Cork the real capital of Ireland.

Well, like Dublin it was an important part of Viking trade routes and it was made rich by merchants who built the first docks and keys along the River Lee whose channels flow out of Cork Harbor and into the wide world beyond.

This outside influence may be why the locals have such a distinct accent.

It lilts and sits a little higher in tone the most of Ireland, not to mention the Cork-specific slang.

Speaking of which, let's go get some scran like and if we're haunted we'll get a bit langers later on sure you know.

Or if you don't know what I'm saying, I could go for some food and drink, two things Cork excels at.

(indistinct chatter) And in Cork, everyone shops at this one-of-a- kind one-stop spot.

This is the English Market.

Here since 1788 and right at the heart of Cork, one of the very best covered markets anywhere.

The energy here is electric, (food sizzling) nearly buzzing with the activity of buying and selling incredible food, fresh produce, fish and meat and local delicacies.

This is where the city's top restaurants source from, and so can you.

While the food is the star attraction, the Victorian building which houses it is iconic and worth a visit on its own.

From the cast-iron fountain to the stained-glass lunette windows, it preserves the very best of city's history and carries it into the future.

The smells in here are unbelievable and so are the characters.

I've just got to go try something now.

There's one very special fishmonger who's like royalty around here, and not just because he's been visited by the neighboring monarch either, although, it sure doesn't hurt.

So Pat, it's not everyone who gets to meet the Queen of England.

Can you tell me about the Royal visit?

PAT: Sure.

Look, it was an incredible day for the English Market, an incredible day for Cork, an incredible day for Ireland really and...

I suppose it could have been anyone of the 44 traders that kind of hit it off with the Queen, but I was supposed the lucky one or unlucky one, whichever way you want to look at it.

MICHAEL: Did you flirt with her or something to get her attention?

PAT: Of course I did.

(laughs) It's what we do in Cork.

MICHAEL: What questions did the Queen of England ask you?

PAT: She didn't get a chance.

I just kept talking.

(laughs) But it was a fabulous day, it really was.

I mean it gave- it gave the market a chance to showcase Irish food like, you know, at its best and a lovely woman, a really nice woman.

♪ MICHAEL: Well, now you've seen the food that Cork has to offer.

What about the drink?

You know, Ireland with Michael has been to a few distilleries over the past few seasons, but today we've come to the mother of them all, the Midleton Distillery just outside Cork City.

Let's have a look.

♪ [pouring] I always say that I love my job, but there's a fellow here by the name of Tommy Byrne and I think he has the best job ever.

Tommy, how are you?

Good to see you.

TOMMY: Hi Michael.

How are you?

That's a great introduction.

Thanks for that.

(laughs) MICHAEL: Tell everybody what your job is.

TOMMY: So I'm International Whiskey Ambassador for Irish Distillers, so I suppose we're makers of the- the biggest Irish whiskey brand in the world, Jameson, and then lots other right ones like Redbreast, Midleton Very Rare.

So we've a huge portfolio of great Irish Whiskey and it's my job to- to tell everyone about it as well.

MICHAEL: Well, that's what you're gonna do with me today.

TOMMY: Absolutely, yeah, and you're in the right place.

MICHAEL: Well, we'll have a look around.

TOMMY: Let's go.

MICHAEL: C'mon, let's go.

TOMMY: Yeah, let's go.

MICHAEL: I got the full tour of Midleton Distillery and I assure you, they had my full attention, especially coming into the great stone warehouses where they age the stuff and lots of it.

TOMMY: Hey Michael, breathe in deep.

MICHAEL: Oh, yeah.

TOMMY: Nice aroma, isn't it?

MICHAEL: It's gorgeous.

TOMMY: If we bottle that now, we'll be doing very well.

So that's what we call the angel's share.

So we're in a- a, you know, a real warehouse here.

Going right there back to 1825, this is how it would have looked, and if you do the tour, you get to come in here and experience this in the flesh.

MICHAEL: This really is what heaven smells like.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long and out came the good stuff, I mean really good.

They don't have me mixed up with someone else, do they?

So Tommy, this might be my favorite part of the- my day here with ye, purely because it's a scholastic session.

TOMMY: Of course, yeah, you've heard about how it's made, now it just ties everything together and see how it tastes.

MICHAEL: It's a learning experience.

Tell us what we have in front of us.

TOMMY: So look, we're at Midleton Distillery.

It's the home of a lot of the biggest Irish Whiskey brands.

So we're gonna taste the selection.

We're gonna try Jameson Black Barrel, Powers John's Lane Release, Redbreast 12-year-old and Midleton Very Rare Barry Crockett Legacy.

So all made here, but as you'll see, all very unique whiskeys.

So we'll start off with Jameson Black Barrel which is on the left.

MICHAEL: Sláinte.

♪ TOMMY: The next one then is Powers John's Lane Release.

So the next one is the Redbreast 12-year-old.

...fire sherry caste... ...give it a taste... ...town named after the distillery... ...gives it a reallly nice (indiscernible), you wanna feel it... ...the pinnacle of Irish Whiskey... MICHAEL: I know which one I'm bringing home.

TOMMY: Yeah.

(laughs) Well, sláinte to that.

MICHAEL: Sláinte to you, sir.

(glasses clink) In truth, things were a little hazy at this point, so I just bought them all.

♪ As much fun as there is to be had for an intrepid travel show host willing to sample any whiskey no matter how expensive, I'd like to take a more sobering moment if I may.

That's because there's a very special sculpture located in Midleton that commemorates a connection between the Irish and Americans, the original Americans.

It's one that I'd not miss.

It was 10 years ago when I was performing in Oklahoma that I first heard about the Choctaw Nation and their connection to Ireland.

Back in 1847, when our country was on its knees in the depths of famine, the Choctaw, still reeling from the Trail of Tears, saw that Ireland was in need and donated what was a vast sum of money at the time, $170.

And you know, Ireland believes that one good turn deserves another, which is exactly what this sculpture, Kindred Spirits, represents.

That resilience, the will and spirit to keep going, is something for which I am so proud of my country, and a quality which permeates much of our music.

♪ It's something I'm reminded of when the next generation takes up an instrument and plays out.

♪ Especially when I know the next generation's dad so well.

♪ Declan Courell, I do not want to say how many years ago we went to college together.

DECLAN: Oh.

MICHAEL: No, I'm not even... DECLAN: Okay.

Great.

MICHAEL: Going to allow you to say it.

It was a long time ago, but I know that all through our college years we drank pints of Guinness... DECLAN: That's right.

MICHAEL: And there was a lot of singing and a lot of... DECLAN: Absolutely.

MICHAEL: Music sessions all over the West of Ireland.

DECLAN: Yeah.

That's right.

MICHAEL: I am so thrilled that you now have a son who just happens to be one of the most exciting flute players in Ireland, if not the most exciting.

DECLAN: Very proud of him, yeah.

MICHAEL: Tiernan, I am delighted to finally meet you.

What I'd love to know is where did you pick up the trad from?

TIERNAN: Well, I suppose it's the main influence is Dad obviously and then going to summer schools and like different things like that.

♪ ♪ MICHAEL: I know you've studied music in college, but what's unusual is where you're studying, where you studied and where you now live.

Tell us about it.

TIERNAN: Yeah, so I- I- moved, after I did my leaving cert, which is like the final exams in Ireland, I moved to Glasgow and I studied at the Royal Conservatoire.

There's a traditional music course in that university and I did that for four years.

I graduated in 2020 and I've just stayed in Glasgow since then.

MICHAEL: So why do you stay... You're an Irish player, so why do you stay in Glasgow?

Is there a scene there?

TIERNAN: Yeah, there's a massive scene in Glasgow.

It's- it's- it's amazing, both Scottish and Irish.

There's a big Irish connection in Glasgow.

MICHAEL: Of course.

TIERNAN: So yeah, there's just loads of music, loads of Irish bars, loads of sessions, everything.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ MICHAEL: I don't know about you, but the English Market is starting to feel like a distant memory.

And come to think of it, I didn't actually get to eat anything.

Luckily, I know a great chef or a few dozen who don't live too far away from here.

That being said, there happens to be one of the most picturesque and fascinating places in all of Ireland between here and lunch.

(dog barking) This, the lovely seaside town of Cobh, was the gateway for thousands of Irish emigrants to America as well as convicts to Australia.

It's also connected with perhaps the two most infamous maritime disasters in history.

Back when it was known as Queenstown, this was the very last stop of the RMS Titanic before she set off to cross the Atlantic.

That behind me is the ticket office where the ill-fated ship last sat in port.

Then, three years later, when war broke out in Europe, it was just a few miles offshore where a German U-boat torpedoed the RMS Lusitania, sinking her and killing over half her passengers.

The fishermen of Cobh rescued many of the survivors and the town buried the recovered dead.

The graveyard is just up the road, and this monument at the center of town honors both victims and rescuers.

♪ Okay, now me stomach's growling, really growling.

But where we're headed next is a kind of foodie's paradise.

It's not just farm to table, something more like dragging the table to the farm [cow mooing] so that what comes out of the ground is no sooner in a pot, and like magic, on your plate.

DARINA: Look at that.

MICHAEL: Having transformed into the kind of dish you find yourself dreaming about years later.

Oh, is it just me who does that?

DARINA: Rhubarb is just in season at the moment.

MICHAEL: Well, there's only one person who could be behind such gastronomical alchemy.

DARINA: Are these my garlics scones?

MICHAEL: And hundreds make the pilgrimage every year to cook with her right here.

DARINA: And so wild garlic again is just in season at the moment.

Look, smell that.

MICHAEL: Chances are, if you came to Ireland about 30 years ago, you would have been disappointed with the food.

But now, all of that's changed, and Ireland is one of the leading culinary destinations in the world, and it's thanks to one woman, the Julia Child of Ireland, Darina Allen.

DARINA: Panna cotta!

(people chattering) MICHAEL: We've come to the Ballymaloe Cookery School and Organic Farm to meet the legend herself.

Ms. Darina Allen, in all my touring around North America, in every concert hall that I played, afterwards, somebody says to me, "Your concert was great.

Do you know Darina Allen?"

(hands clap) DARINA: (laughs) I don't believe it.

You are making it up.

(laughs) MICHAEL: No, I really do.

I- I really do.

I'm such a- a fan as a- as a fan of- of cooking from afar with no skills whatsoever.

(Darina laughs) DARINA: (laughs) Come here for a half a day and I'll sort you out.

MICHAEL: You know, I'm quite tempted.

DARINA: Promise.

MICHAEL: I'm quite tempted.

DARINA: Good.

MICHAEL: It's lovely.

I feel like I'm in the heart of Cork here.

DARINA: Good.

MICHAEL: We're close to the water but we're on this beautiful farm and cookery school.

Tell me the essence of this place.

DARINA: Well, we're so fortunate in many ways to have our cooking school in the middle of a farm.

It's a hundred-acre organic farm and gardens with an acre of greenhouses 'cause we are also doing horticulture.

So we can grow so much of the produce that the students cook with and we eat, and, you know, this is the reason why I think students come from all over the world now to a little farm in- in- on this east coast- the south coast of Ireland to learn how to cook because they can see how food is produced from, the now very hackneyed phrase, the farm to the fork.

And so- and do you know, in the summer, we often sit down to a place of food for where virtually everything on the plate came from the farm and gardens, even the milk and the butter and the cheese and so on.

So we're really fortunate that we're able to have the school in the middle of where we produce the food.

Well, you're using up the last little bit of your lovely- lovely croissant dough.

Good.

MICHAEL: It seemed that around every corner we turned, there was another kitchen.

DARINA: It's a monkfish... MICHAEL: Where great food and even better smells were being cooked up by the aspirants in chef's whites.

DARINA: This is the demonstration area.

So every afternoon, the students come in here and they can sit... We have a cooking class and you can see right in the mirror overhead and so on, and we have monitors.

And then at the end of the demonstration, they taste what's being cooked and the following morning they cook that and then sit down and have it for lunch.

MICHAEL: And Darina herself treated me by taking us back to the basics.

DARINA: This is bread which is made from our own flour that we grew the wheat here.

This is butter made from the cream of our Jersey cows.

MICHAEL: A better bread and butter, there has never been.

DARINA: So this is a fruit garden but it's under planted with spring bulbs.

MICHAEL: Oh.

DARINA: So everything is just bursting into life at the moment.

MICHAEL: The school's ground seem to go on forever with gardens, fields and greenhouses keeping cutting boards full of freshness.

(bee buzzing) And there's sights of unexpected beauty hidden among the utility of tilled soil too.

DARINA: You smell garlic, don't you?

Yeah.

MICHAEL: I do.

It was with a heavy heart and stomach that I departed Ballymaloe Cookery School, a place which upholds the Irish ideal of hospitality through a full plate.

DARINA: Cut a slice of bread?

MICHAEL: Yes, please.

Inviting someone to the table is one of the best ways we have to make you feel welcome.

A good meal is, in that way, like a good song.

(rooster crowing) Offering sustenance which goes beyond the raw ingredients or the notes on a page.

(birds chirping) ♪ ♪ The bounty of the land isn't to forget that Cork is a coastal county too, sharing in the maritime history of our Green Island.

Off the coast of Eastern Cork is the island of Ballycotton, famous for its greenery, its goats and its majestic lighthouse.

(birds calling) ♪ It's all black, one of only two in Ireland and still in operation, still serving its vital function of warning maritime vessels from the perilous rocky coast.

(waves crashing) After the paddle ship Sirius, the first ship to cross the Atlantic entirely under steam, shipwrecked here under dense fog, it was decided it needed to be built.

It was lit in 1851 and minded by light-keepers who lived on the island with their families.

The kids had to row across the channel for school.

It was fully automated in 1992 and the wildlife have completely taken over.

(water splashing) (bird calling) Seabirds, seals, dolphins and yes, resident goats are all living their best lives around the historic tower, which is just a short ferry ride away.

(motor rumbles) ♪ ♪ We're headed to one of the most popular tourist attractions in Ireland, although I won't be kissing any Blarney Stone for the gift of the gab.

I don't really need to.

Adam, I've been coming here for years because I love this place.

Tell me about your job here.

ADAM: It's- it's a very varied role, would be the way I'd put it.

(both laugh) I wear many hats depending on the day that's in it, but essentially I manage the gardens and grounds.

MICHAEL: It's not just about, you know, a garden.

It really is about a legacy.

How do you- how do you plan for that?

You know, it- this- it's not about just these daffodils blooming today.

It's about what's going to happen in 10 or 20 years.

ADAM: Absolutely, and one of the great things about working on an historic estate is when I plant a tree I know that the likelihood is it will get the chance to reach maturity.

MICHAEL: I bring countless amounts of people from North America to this place.

What do you want them to get from- from Blarney when they come here?

ADAM: One of the ideas that gives me pleasure, if you like, is that all of these thousands of tourists that travel all over the world, all over Europe, they're bussed around, they're in and out of places, off buses, on buses, queuing up for things.

MICHAEL: Yes.

ADAM: If I can get them lost in the woods for five minutes and just taking stock, I think that's a great thing, but just to present nature to them really and its beauty.

(birds chirping) ♪ (waves crashing) MICHAEL: The contrast of the land and the sea, so well represented by County Cork, is also represented by these two young musicians.

♪ Playing the concertina, a traditional maritime instrument, is Cormac O'Hanlon.

And on the harp, the national instrument of the land of Ireland is Shelly O'Grady.

♪ ♪ (waves crashing) ♪ ♪ ♪ (birds calling) ♪ (birds calling) ♪ ♪ (birds chirping) ♪ (motor rumbles) ♪ (duck calling) ♪ ♪ Thanks for joining me on my travels around County Cork.

I'm Michael Londra and I hope to see you next time on Ireland with Michael.

But for now, cheers.

Sláinte.

ANNOUNCER: Want to continue your travels to Ireland?

A deluxe Ireland with Michael DVD featuring all episodes of Season One plus bonus concert footage is available for $30.

Season Two plus bonus concert footage is available for $30.

A copy of the Ireland with Michael Companion Travel Guide featuring places to visit, as seen in Seasons One and Two, is also available for $30.

ANNOUNCER: This offer is made by Wexford House.

Shipping and handling is not included.

MICHAEL: To learn more about everything you've seen in this episode, go to IrelandWithMichael.com.

ANNOUNCER: Ireland with Michael was made possible by... ♪ ANNOUNCER: Whether traveling to Ireland for the first time, or just longing to return, there's plenty more information available at Ireland.com.

♪ ANNOUNCER: CIE Tours, sharing the magic of Ireland for 90 years.

♪ ANNOUNCER: Aer Lingus has been bringing people home since 1936.

If you are thinking about Ireland, Aer Lingus is ready when you are to take you home.

MICHAEL: OK, put your hands up in the air!

Come on, let's get a-waving.

♪ In my heart its rightful queen ♪ ♪ Ever loving, ever tender ♪ MICHAEL: That's it.

♪ Ever true ♪ Like the Sun your smile has shone ♪ MICHAEL: Go on, Wexford.

♪ Gladdening all it glowed upon ♪ ♪