Things to Do in Cork
Cork city's main sights in one guide — the English Market, St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Shandon's Bells and Cork City Gaol — and how they fit into a compact, walkable centre.
Food & Drink in Cork
Spiced beef at the English Market, drisheen and tripe at the Farmgate Café, and a brewery built on the site of a 13th-century monastery — Cork's food and drink culture, beyond just walking through the market.
By Ireland Spots Team
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Cork has a genuine food and drink identity of its own, distinct from the rest of Ireland — the English Market is the obvious starting point, but it's worth going back a second time specifically to eat, not just to walk through.
Spiced beef at the English Market
A cured, heavily spiced joint of beef that's become Cork's signature Christmas food, with roots in the city's history as a port for salted and barrelled beef bound for long Atlantic voyages — the spices used in the cure arrived through the same maritime trade routes. Tom Durcan's stall inside the English Market is the best-known spiced beef maker in the city today; during the Christmas run-up, orders go out to every county in Ireland. It's sold year-round in smaller quantities, but Christmas is when it genuinely matters here.
Drisheen and tripe at the Farmgate Café
The Farmgate Café, a balcony restaurant overlooking the English Market's main hall, serves some of Cork's most traditional dishes, including tripe and onions with drisheen — a type of blood sausage served alongside tripe (stomach lining) in a milk-based onion sauce. It's not an easy sell to most visitors on description alone, but it's genuinely local rather than a dish revived purely for tourists, and the café itself, looking down over the market floor, is worth the visit even if you order something else.
Franciscan Well Brewery
A brewpub on North Mall, brewing on site since 1998, built on the site of a Franciscan monastery and well dating back to 1219 — the name is literal, not a marketing flourish. It's known locally as much for its large beer garden as for the beer itself, and it's one of the more established stops on Cork's small but real craft beer scene.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Cork spiced beef?
A cured, spiced joint of beef strongly associated with Cork at Christmas, with roots in the city's history as a port for salted and barrelled beef — the spices used in the cure arrived through the same maritime trade. Tom Durcan's stall at the English Market is the best-known maker today, with orders going out to every county in Ireland over the Christmas run-up.
What are drisheen and tripe?
Two traditional Cork dishes, both served together at the Farmgate Café inside the English Market: drisheen is a type of blood sausage, and tripe is a dish made from stomach lining, typically served in a milk-based sauce with onions. Both are genuinely local specialities rather than things invented for visitors.
Is the Franciscan Well brewery actually on a monastery site?
Yes — the brewpub on North Mall takes its name from a well connected to a Franciscan monastery and well dating back to 1219, and it's built on that same site. It's been brewing there since 1998.
Practical details last verified 5 November 2026. Source: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20436432.html
More in Cork
Free Things to Do in Cork
From browsing the English Market to walking Elizabeth Fort's walls and Fitzgerald Park, here's what you can see and do in Cork without paying admission.
Cork in One Day
A practical one-day itinerary for Cork city, from the English Market in the morning to Shandon's bell tower in the afternoon, all within walking distance.