Cork (city)
Cork is a city in south-west Ireland, in the province of Munster, which had a population of 125,657 in 2016. The city is on the River Lee which splits into two channels at the western end and divides the city centre into islands, they reconverge at the eastern end where the quays and docks along the river banks lead outwards towards Lough Mahon and Cork Harbour, one of the largest natural harbours in the world. A monastic settlement, Cork was expanded by Viking invaders around 915; the city's charter was granted by Prince John, as Lord of Ireland, in 1185. Cork city was once walled, the remnants of the old medieval town centre can be found around South and North Main streets; the third largest city by population on the island of Ireland, the city's cognomen of "the rebel city" originates in its support for the Yorkist cause in the Wars of the Roses. Corkonians refer to the city as "the real capital", a reference to its opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty in the Irish Civil War. Cork was a monastic settlement, reputedly founded by Saint Finbarr in the 6th century.
Cork achieved an urban character at some point between 915 and 922 when Norseman settlers founded a trading port. It has been proposed that, like Dublin, Cork was an important trading centre in the global Scandinavian trade network; the ecclesiastical settlement continued alongside the Viking longphort, with the two developing a type of symbiotic relationship. The city's charter was granted by Prince John, as Lord of Ireland, in 1185; the city was once walled, some wall sections and gates remain today. For much of the Middle Ages, Cork city was an outpost of Old English culture in the midst of a predominantly hostile Gaelic countryside and cut off from the English government in the Pale around Dublin. Neighbouring Gaelic and Hiberno-Norman lords extorted "Black Rent" from the citizens to keep them from attacking the city; the present extent of the city has exceeded the medieval boundaries of the Barony of Cork City. Together, these baronies are located between the Barony of Barrymore to the east, Muskerry East to the west and Kerrycurrihy to the south.
The city's municipal government was dominated by about 12–15 merchant families, whose wealth came from overseas trade with continental Europe – in particular the export of wool and hides and the import of salt and wine. The medieval population of Cork was about 2,100 people, it suffered a severe blow in 1349 when half the townspeople died of plague when the Black Death arrived in the town. In 1491, Cork played a part in the English Wars of the Roses when Perkin Warbeck a pretender to the English throne, landed in the city and tried to recruit support for a plot to overthrow Henry VII of England; the mayor of Cork and several important citizens went with Warbeck to England but when the rebellion collapsed they were all captured and executed. The title of Mayor of Cork was established by royal charter in 1318, the title was changed to Lord Mayor in 1900 following the knighthood of the incumbent Mayor by Queen Victoria on her Royal visit to the city. Since the nineteenth century, Cork had been a Irish nationalist city, with widespread support for Irish Home Rule and the Irish Parliamentary Party, but from 1910 stood behind William O'Brien's dissident All-for-Ireland Party.
O'Brien published the Cork Free Press. In the War of Independence, the centre of Cork was burnt down by the British Black and Tans, in an event known as the "Burning of Cork". and saw fierce fighting between Irish guerrillas and UK forces. During the Irish Civil War, Cork was for a time held by anti-Treaty forces, until it was retaken by the pro-Treaty National Army in an attack from the sea; the climate of Cork, like the rest of Ireland, is mild oceanic and changeable with abundant rainfall and a lack of temperature extremes. Cork lies in plant Hardiness zone 9b. Met Éireann maintains a climatological weather station at Cork Airport, a few kilometres south of the city; the airport is at an altitude of 151 metres and temperatures can differ by a few degrees between the airport and the city itself. There are smaller synoptic weather stations at UCC and Clover Hill. Due to its position along the west coast, Cork city is subject to occasional flooding. Temperatures below 0 °C or above 25 °C are rare.
Cork Airport records an average of 1,227.9 millimetres of precipitation annually, most of, rain. The airport records sleet a year; the low altitude of the city, moderating influences of the harbour, mean that lying snow rarely occurs in the city itself. There are on average 204 "rainy" days a year, of which there are 73 days with "heavy rain". Cork is a foggy city, with an average of 97 days of fog a year, most common during mornings and during winter. Despite this, Cork is one of Ireland's sunniest cities, with an average of 3.9 hours of sunshine every day and only having 67 days where there is no "recordable sunshine" during and around winter. The Cork School of Music and the Crawford College of Art and Design provide a throughput of new blood, as do the active theatre components of several courses at University College Cork. Important elements in the cultural life of the city are: Corcadorca Theatre Company, of which Cillian Murphy was a troupe member prior to Hollywood fame.
Launch (boat)
A launch is an open motorboat. The forward part of the launch may be covered. Prior to the era of engines on small craft, a launch was the largest boat carried on a sailing vessel, powered by sail or by oars. In competitive rowing, a launch is a motorized boat used by the coach during training. A launch was the largest boat carried by a warship in the age of sail; the word comes from lancar. In the Age of Sail, a ship carried a variety of ship's boats of different sizes and used for different purposes. In addition to the launch, examples include the jolly boat, captain's gig and cutter. Distinctions among the smaller vessels were clear, both in purpose. In the age of motorized ships, these distinctions of size and purpose have disappeared, but the terms continue in use. During the Demak Sultanate attack on Portuguese Malacca of 1513, lancaran were used as armed troop transports for landing alongside penjajap and kelulus, as the Javanese junks were too large to approach shore. In the 18th century, a launch was used to set the large anchors on a ship.
The launch of that era was about 24 feet long. In 1788 Captain Bligh was set adrift in Bounty’s launch. On the River Thames the term "launch" is used to mean any motorised pleasure boat; the usage arises from the legislation governing the management of the Thames and laying down the categories of boats and the tolls for which they were liable. Motor launch was the designation for large vessels used in the Second World War by the Royal Navy and some other navies, they were used for inshore work in defending the coast from submarines and carried light armament: a few depth charges, a gun and a few machine guns. In competitive rowing the term "launch" is used to refer to any motorized boat used by the coach to follow practicing boats during workouts. RAF rescue launch Cabin cruiser Slipper launch Naphtha launch Picket boat, a naval launch
Rosslare Europort
Rosslare Europort is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, near the southeastern-most point of Ireland, handling passenger and freight ferries to and from Wales and France. The port called Rosslare Harbour, is operated by Iarnród Éireann, Ireland's national railway operator, which provides trains between Dublin Connolly and Rosslare Europort railway station, in the port, some timed to connect to/from ferries to Wales and France; the Rosslare Harbour/Europort ferry connection using Stena Line to Fishguard Harbour and by train operated by Transport for Wales to Carmarthen and Cardiff links into Great Western Railway services to Bristol Parkway and London Paddington. This is popular with Rugby fans going to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff or Lansdowne Road in Dublin. Train and ferry connections across the Irish Sea are promoted as an alternative to air. Trains connect the port on the Rosslare Line via Wexford, Gorey, Wicklow, Bray to Dublin Connolly. Onward rail connecting trains from Dublin Connolly link with the Sligo Line with Mullingar and Sligo and the Belfast Line to Drogheda, Newry, Portadown and Belfast Central.
The harbour has four berths. Passenger ferries operate to and from Fishguard and Pembroke Dock in Wales, to Cherbourg and Roscoff in France. An all-weather RNLI lifeboat is on station, the Irish Coast Guard helicopter at Waterford Airport provides air-sea rescue cover. An automatic weather station is maintained adjacent to the port by Met Éireann; the port receives ships importing new cars into the country. The importer depot is in Rosslare Harbour Village; the port area is on reclaimed land. Reclamation work continued to the late 1990s, when the northwest part of the port was constructed using a dragline. Modernisation of facilities has continued to encourage the increase in cars carried on the ferries despite a drop in foot passengers. Facilities in the terminal building include a cafe with shop, ferry company desks, car rental and self-service left-luggage lockers. A viewing balcony and foot passenger lounge are to be found on the first floor. Railway services to Wexford and Dublin Connolly are located at the platform around a seven minute walk in the open air along a specially marked path.
Bus services to Wexford, Waterford leave from just outside. Bus and rail connections to Cork, County Kerry, Limerick, bus connections to County Clare and Galway are available from Waterford whereas connections to Dublin are available at Wexford; the bus service from the port to Dublin and Dublin Airport was discontinued in 2012. At Rosslare, Iarnród Éireann is an infrastructure provider and operator, providing port facilities and related services, including stevedoring, to shipping lines. Rosslare Europort is operated as a Common User Terminal, meaning that the port authority carries out all stevedoring activities on a common user basis for all shipping lines using the port. Rosslare has handled rolltrailer traffic in the recent past, when Cobelfret operated a service from Rosslare to Zeebrugge/Rotterdam. Rolltrailers enable the carriage of lift-on lift-off traffic on roll-on roll-off ships. Rosslare Europort is the second most strategically important seaport in the State after Dublin, it is the second-busiest port in terms of ship visits and gross tonnage, handles more unitised freight than any other Irish seaport except Dublin – in fact Rosslare handles more unitised freight than all other seaports in the State, excluding Dublin, put together.
Unitised freight is important because all of the high added-value exports on which Ireland's economic recovery depends are exported as unitised freight. West Wales Lines Official site
France
France the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean, it is bordered by Belgium and Germany to the northeast and Italy to the east, Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic and Indian oceans; the country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nice. During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of Francia.
The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into Middle Francia and West Francia. West Francia which became the Kingdom of France in 987 emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages following its victory in the Hundred Years' War. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20th century would become the second largest in the world; the 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Protestants. France became Europe's dominant cultural and military power in the 17th century under Louis XIV. In the late 18th century, the French Revolution overthrew the absolute monarchy, established one of modern history's earliest republics, saw the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. In the 19th century, Napoleon established the First French Empire, his subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870.
France was a major participant in World War I, from which it emerged victorious, was one of the Allies in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis powers in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and dissolved in the course of the Algerian War; the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, remains today. Algeria and nearly all the other colonies became independent in the 1960s and retained close economic and military connections with France. France has long been a global centre of art and philosophy, it hosts the world's fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the leading tourist destination, receiving around 83 million foreign visitors annually. France is a developed country with the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP, tenth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of aggregate household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, human development.
France is considered a great power in global affairs, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a leading member state of the European Union and the Eurozone, a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, La Francophonie. Applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name "France" comes from the Latin "Francia", or "country of the Franks". Modern France is still named today "Francia" in Italian and Spanish, "Frankreich" in German and "Frankrijk" in Dutch, all of which have more or less the same historical meaning. There are various theories as to the origin of the name Frank. Following the precedents of Edward Gibbon and Jacob Grimm, the name of the Franks has been linked with the word frank in English, it has been suggested that the meaning of "free" was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation.
Another theory is that it is derived from the Proto-Germanic word frankon, which translates as javelin or lance as the throwing axe of the Franks was known as a francisca. However, it has been determined that these weapons were named because of their use by the Franks, not the other way around; the oldest traces of human life in what is now France date from 1.8 million years ago. Over the ensuing millennia, Humans were confronted by a harsh and variable climate, marked by several glacial eras. Early hominids led a nomadic hunter-gatherer life. France has a large number of decorated caves from the upper Palaeolithic era, including one of the most famous and best preserved, Lascaux. At the end of the last glacial period, the climate became milder. After strong demographic and agricultural development between the 4th and 3rd millennia, metallurgy appeared at the end of the 3rd millennium working gold and bronze, iron. France has numerous megalithic sites from the Neolithic period, including the exceptiona
Brittany (administrative region)
Brittany is one of the 18 regions of France. It is named after the historic and geographic region of Brittany, of which it constitutes 80%; the capital is Rennes. Bathed by the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south, it is located in the West of France, bordering the Normandy and Pays de la Loire regions. Bro Gozh ma Zadoù is the anthem of Brittany, it is sung to the same tune as that of the national anthem of Wales, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, has similar words. As a region of France, Brittany has a Regional Council, most elected in 2015; the region of Brittany was created in 1941 on 80% of the territory of traditional Brittany. The remaining 20% is now called the department of Loire-Atlantique, included in the region of Pays de la Loire, whose capital, was the historical capital of the Duchy of Brittany. Part of the reason Brittany was split between two present-day regions was to avoid the rivalry between Rennes and Nantes. Although Nantes was the principal capital of the Duchy of Brittany until the sixteenth century, Rennes had been the seat of the Duchy's supreme court of justice between 1560 and 1789.
Rennes had been the administrative capital of the Intendant of Brittany between 1689 and 1789, Intendances were the most important administrative units of the kingdom of France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As for the provincial States of Brittany, a legislative body which had met every two years in a different city of Brittany, that had met in Rennes only between 1728 and 1789, although not in the years 1730, 1758, 1760. Despite that, the Chambre des comptes had remained in Nantes until 1789. However, from 1381 until the end of the fifteenth century Vannes had served as the administrative capital of the Duchy, remaining the seat of its Chambre des comptes until the 1490s, the seat of the its Parlement until 1553 and again between 1675 and 1689. Although there were previous plans to create regions out of the departments, like the Clémentel plan or the Vichy regionalisation programme, these plans had no effect or else were abolished in 1945; the current French regions were created by gathering departments together.
In Brittany, this led to the creation of the new region of Brittany, which included only four out of the five historical Breton departments. The term région was created by the Law of Decentralisation, which gave regions their legal status; the first direct elections for regional representatives took place on 16 March 1986. A majority of the population in administrative Brittany and in Nantes continue to protest against the division of the traditional territory of Brittany, hoping to see the department of Loire-Atlantique reunited with the administrative region of Brittany. However, such a reunification raises other questions: first, what to do with the remainder of the present region of Pays de la Loire, second, which city should be chosen as the capital of such a reunified Brittany. See History of BrittanyBrittany, lying in the northwest corner of France, is one of the great historic provinces of France; the most Atlantic of France's regions, Brittany is proud of its Celtic heritage, that sets it apart from the rest of France.
It enjoys a mild climate somewhat warmer though not drier than the climate of the southwest of England. The name "Brittany" derives from the Britons who, back in the Dark Ages, came south across the English Channel to seek refuge from the Anglo Saxon invaders who were pushing them out of a large part of the island of Great Britain. In this historic past, other Britons fled to the west and south west of their own island, to Wales and Cornwall. Today, the French administrative region of Brittany covers four "departments", the Côtes d'Armor in the north, Finistère in the far west, Morbihan in the south, Ille et Vilaine in the east, bordering on Normandy and the Loire valley area. Another department used to belong to the historic province of Brittany, this was the Loire Atlantique, the area round the city of Nantes which used once to be the Breton capital, but is today no longer in the region; the capital city of the modern Brittany region is Rennes, located in the central eastern part of the region.
Other important cities in the region are Brest, one of the two most important French naval ports, St Malo, an imposing walled city on the north coast, Vannes, the capital of the Morbihan, with an attractive old town centre. Quimper, the capital of the Finistère, St. Brieuc, the capital of the Côtes d'Armor, are less important. Lorient, in the Morbihan, was once a major shipping port trading with – as its name suggests – the Orient, it is the venue for Brittany's annual Interceltiques music and culture festival. Despite its limited size, Brittany is quite a diverse region; the south coast, facing onto the Bay of Biscay, is flatter, much milder, has a number of large sandy beaches. There are a lot of inlets on the south coast, such as La Trinité sur Mer, which in the past have been ports and commercial harbours, but today are more popular with yachtsmen and a dwindling fishing industry; the sea here
Auxerre
Auxerre is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 39,000. Residents of Auxerre are referred to as Auxerrois. Auxerre is a commercial and industrial centre, with industries including food production and batteries, it is noted for its production of Burgundy wine, including world-famous Chablis. In 1995 Auxerre was named "Town of Art and History". Auxerre was a flourishing Gallo-Roman centre called Autissiodorum, through which passed one of the main roads of the area, the Via Agrippa which crossed the Yonne here. In the third century it became a provincial capital of the Roman Empire. In the 5th century it received a Cathedral. In the late 11th-early 12th century the existing communities were included inside a new line of walls built by the feudal counts of Auxerre. Bourgeois activities accompanied the traditional land and wine cultivations starting from the twelfth century, Auxerre developed into a commune with a Town Hall of its own.
The Burgundian city, which became part of France under King Louis XI, suffered during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. In 1567 it was captured by the Huguenots, many of the Catholic edifices were damaged; the medieval ramparts were demolished in the 18th century. In the 19th century numerous heavy infrastructures were built, including a railway station, a psychiatric hospital and the courts, new quarters were developed on the right bank of the Yonne. Up until the early 20th century, Auxerre was one of the most prosperous cities in the departement, but the local authorities of that period refused the railway, subsequently set in the village of Migennes, signed the economic decline of the town. Cathedral of St. Étienne. In Gothic style, it is renowned for its three doorways with remarkable bas-reliefs; the stained glass windows in the choir and the apsidal chapel are among the finest in France. The 11th century crypt houses the remains of the former Romanesque cathedral. Abbey of Saint-Germain, existing from the ninth century.
The crypt has some of the most ancient mural paintings in France, houses the tomb of the bishops of Auxerre. Interesting are the chapter room, the cellar and the cloister; the Clock tower, located in the Old Town The church of St. Pierre en Vallée, established over a 6th-century abbey. In the style of late Gothic architecture, it has a tower similar to that of the cathedral. Portions of the decorations and inner chapels were financed by local winegrowers. Church of St. Eusèbe, founded in the 7th century; the nave was rebuilt in the 13th century. William of Auxerre, early High Scholastic theologian from Auxerre Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier, born in Auxerre, experimental physicist, politician Paul Bert, born in Auxerre and politician Théodore Frédéric Gaillardet, born in Auxerre, publisher of French-language newspaper Courrier des Etats-Unis in New York City, mayor of Plessis-Bouchard, France Eugène Hatin and bibliographer Saint Helladius, bishop of Auxerre Paul Monceaux, born in Auxerre, historian Benoît Mourlon, footballer Jean Paul Rappeneau, born in Auxerre, film director.
Guy Roux, coach of AJ Auxerre for more than 40 years, holding the French record of 894 games in Ligue 1 Gougère: Baked choux pastry made of dough mixed with cheese. Kir: A traditional aperitive mixed drink from Burgundy – Bourgogne Aligoté and blackcurrant liquor. Boeuf bourguignon: a typical main dish made of beef and vegetables. Truffe bourguignonne: Truffles from Burgundy. Chablis wine: One of the best white wines in the country, made of Chardonnay in the Chablis AOC Saint-Bris AOC: The one and only white wine in Burgundy made of Sauvignon grapes Sauvignon blanc and Sauvignon gris Irancy: Perhaps the best red wine from the surrounding area - light and flavourful, made of Pinot noir Bourgogne côte d'Auxerre: Belongs to the Burgundy AOC, it is a light and fruity wine made of Chardonnay for the white wine and Pinot noir for the red. Crémant de Bourgogne: Sparkling wine following the tradition of Champagne, Crémant de Bourgogne has a strong production in and around Auxerre. Bourgogne Aligoté: Dry wine.
Aligoté is the second most popular grape variety grown in Burgundy after Chardonnay. The whole region of Burgundy produces over 200 million bottles per year. Auxerre is twinned with: County of Auxerre Bishopric of Auxerre Cathédrale Saint-Étienne d'Auxerre Lady of Auxerre Saint Germanus of Auxerre Remigius of Auxerre William of Auxerre Communes of the Yonne department AJ Auxerre, the local football club INSEE Goyau, Georges. "Sens". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Auxerre Town Hall Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. "Auxerre". Encyclopædia Britannica. Cambridge University Press
Onion Johnny
Onion Johnnies are Breton farmers and agricultural labourers who travel on bicycles selling distinctive pink onions door to door in Great Britain, in Wales. They have adapted this nickname for themselves in Breton as ar Johnniged. Declining since the 1950s to only a few, the Onion Johnny was once common. With renewed interest since the late 1990s by farmers and the public in small-scale agriculture, their numbers have made a small recovery. Dressed in striped shirt and beret, riding a bicycle hung with onions, the Onion Johnny became the stereotypical image of the Frenchman and was in many cases the only contact that ordinary British people had with France and French people; the trade may have begun in 1828 when the first successful trip is said to have been made by Henri Ollivier. From the area around Roscoff in Brittany known as Bro Rosko, Johnnies found a more profitable market in Britain than in France, brought their harvest across the English Channel in July to store in rented barns, returning home in December or January.
They could have sold their produce in Paris, but the roads and the railways were bad in the 19th century and going there was a long and difficult trip. As the early Johnnies were all Breton-speakers, Wales was a favoured destination. Breton is a Brythonic language related to Welsh and Cornish, the Johnnies would have found Welsh a far easier language to learn than English; the Johnnies who visited Wales in the nineteenth century became known as Sioni Winwns and subsequently as Onion Johnnies in English. The golden age for Johnnies across the UK was during the 1920s; the Great Depression, followed by the devaluation of the Pound in the early 1930s, ended the era as trade fell, reaching a low in 1934, when fewer than 400 people imported under 3,000 tonnes. In the aftermath of World War II, onions in common with other goods were subject to import restrictions, were obliged to be traded through a single company. By 1973 the number of Johnnies had dropped to 160, trading 1,100 tonnes, had fallen again to around 20 by the end of the 20th century.
The legend of their transporting their produce to Britain inspired farmers in Brittany to set up Brittany Ferries in the 1970s. Journeys are now made by ferry but small sailing ships and steamers were used and the crossing could be hazardous. Seventy Johnnies died when the steamer SS Hilda sank at Saint-Malo in 1905; the Onion Johnny museum opened in Roscoff in 2004, with a two-day Fête de l'Oignon held every summer. Since 2009 the Oignon de Roscoff has been protected under the French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée designation. Herrick Corre, Trubuillou eur Johnny war e vloavez kenta in le Courrier du Finistère 1929. Blume, Maryn. "Don't Cry for Me, Onion Johnnie". New York Times. BBC short film The Johnnies of Roscoff and its region in French and English "La Maison des Johnnies et de l'Oignon de Roscoff". Onion Johnnie museum in Roscoff
Great Torrington, United Kingdom[4]
Auxerre, France
