Cork 2005: The presence of the Theatre Forum in Cork last week brought an unexpected glamour to the city.
Faces familiar from television and the very occasional stage play were to be seen in the English Market, and it was a surprise, when following Shylock and Antonio through the city streets to The Merchant of Venice trial in the Courthouse, to see Alan Stanford mingling with the mob.
Presences such as these revitalise the sense of difference that flavours this year of culture. Perhaps unfairly, they are more recognisable than the visits of artists such as, for example, the painter Ray Henshaw, whose residency with the Cork Printmakers' Studio from June is based on an exploration of maritime travel and migration in collaboration with local poet Gerry Murphy. Details: 021-4322422 or 087-2271837; e-mail: 2005@corkprintmakers.ie.
As it happens, another aspect of the city's maritime and migration history is revealed at The Winegeese exhibition mounted by the Cork Public Museum in association with wine connoisseur Ted Murphy.
From 1436 to 1644 all but two mayors of Cork were engaged in the wine trade; for most of the 18th century Ireland was the biggest shipper of Bordeaux wines in the world; Richard Hennessy of Cognac came from Kilavullen; Samuel Brannan of Co Waterford settled in California's Napa Valley; the Irish in France bought or built chateaux amid their vineyards; and for those who like a long aftertaste from their vintage, a bottle dated 1670 excavated from Christ Church in Cork still contains half its wine. Displaying corkscrews, glasses, vessels (one of which is early Bronze Age from Cyprus - circa 2000 BC), nutcrackers and decanters, this is a charming exhibition, not least because it includes the wine-lovers' classic Stay Me with Flagons by the Cork-born barrister Maurice Healy, who was also the author of The Old Munster Circuit.
It's not all history: something Cork 2005 has brought back to public attention in recent weeks is the vitality of the city's river and harbour life. The Ocean to City race last month was an immense popular success, even if in terms of spectacle it was out-shone by the earlier Parade of Sail, which signalled the Royal Cork Yacht Club's salute to the year of culture and which filled river and estuary with all the colours, shapes and sizes of the craft usually leaning seawards from Crosshaven.
For the past two weeks, the city docks, which can still accommodate even liners of moderate size, have been hosting naval vessels from the UK, Australia, Germany, Pakistan, the US and Portugal. Their grey steeples tower over the quays and offer a reminder of a time when Cork and its harbour held - and fed - the navies of the known world.
