Cork gay scene
Gay Cork
Cork (Corcaigh) is the Republic of Ireland's second largest metropolis, situated on the banks of the River Lee in the south of County Cork. This was originally a port town built on canals and river channels, but those have long since been filled in. The metropolis is more laid-back than Dublin, and has a large artistic community, with music, dance, theater, and visual arts in abundance.
The small gay scene has contracted even more in the past not many years, with the closing of both gay saunas and a fire at The Other Place society resources center and relaxed cafe, closing them down. Only one specifically gay/lesbian bar/club remains. But the divisions and cliques of larger cities are absent here, and ages and genders mix more freely in this more old-fashioned, less "out" community with its underground, tucked-out-of-sight feel.
Cork Gay Pride still thrives, spanning a week as July slides into August each year. The Cork Film Festival is an annual showcase of planet cinema as well as Irish films, for ten days in November.
Getting here
Cathal Kerrigan: Activism, Gay Scene, Quay Co-op,
SD Can I ask you, you mentioned earlier on, a gentleman who was beaten to death was it John Roche?
CK John Roche, now I am not sure, how you know the usual thing but he is dead, I am not sure about his family they, the issue when people die, fancy the same with Flynn, Foley, Flynn and can’t remember his first call, Flynn in Fairview Park, when he was thrashed to death his family objected to us, saying that he was cruising that he was male lover, in fact, what we did is said, good look even if he is not gay, that is exactly the aim , that in fact even straight people are risked by homophobia and battering.
SD Yeah.
CK But John Roche was a, you, you know he was a lovely guy he lived in Cork --
SD I was just going to ask did his death help influence you in marching when the Fairview murder.
CK Oh absolutely you know because I represent, the other one, is that before the Fairview murder as well there was the Charles Self. And the Charles Self was a designer at RTE, this was in , he was murdered. was the protest around it, a
By Richard Ammon
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We arrived in Queer Ireland via Cork on a slow afternoon entering the city along the Lee River lined with warehouses, dockyards, and a might plant that present way to an older city downtown with its latest opera house, Victorian office buildings and countless cozy pubs.
Arriving at Roman Dwelling B&B there was little question that we were in a gay B&B; with red plaid carpeting and a hall poster of Joan Crawford, Roman House B&B is a playful mix of kitsch and comfort. Owned by Richard and Kevin for six years the place danced with lighthearted colors on the walls, in the bed sheets and bedspreads. The furniture was casual and a de rigeur relief of a Romanesque male nude hung on the wall of our room. Located just a block from the river our rainbow room was also furnished with that universal ‘instrumentali sexualis’—a condom with lubricant and a brochure about safe sex.
After a chat with Richard about places to eat we strolled along trendy Paul Street with its hearty restau
Loafers Bar Cork
Loafers Bar on Douglas Street was opened in by Derrick Gerety and operated until , making it one of the longest running gay bars in Ireland. Loafers became an important social meeting space for the LGBT community as successfully as for people involved in ‘alternative’ groups and lifestyles in the city and for those involved in the Quay Co-op.
Derrick continued to run Loafers for 16 years years and saw it develop into a primarily gay bar that provided an important public venue for the Cork LGBT community. It was subsequently managed by Rena Blake, and then by Ted O'Connell.
Having a public social venue was very important for the growth of the Cork LGBT society. This public space, and the contact and social interaction it facilitated, was an important element in the building of contacts, connections and elements of people. In Munster GCN described Loafers as “an institution on the Irish lesbian and gay scene which has provided an invaluable, safe and welcoming meeting-place for the community down through the years.”
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