It's been said that Cork City is the Irish version of Manhattan. It's also been said that the earth is flat. True, both cities are built on islands, but that's about where the similarity ends. That said, Cork is not exactly a backwater burg, either. Stuck in the middle, neither as cosmopolitan as Dublin nor as scenic and historic as West Cork, it's the sporting, brewing, and university center of the southwest, and definitely a spot to consider visiting.

St. Finbarr is credited with laying the foundation of the city by starting a church and school in the 6th century. The area was a wetland, and St. Finbarr, flush with imagination, identified it as Corcaigh, or "the marshy place." In time, the school flourished and a considerable town grew.

Because of its relatively remote location and its citizens' spunky attitude, Cork asserted remarkable independence from outside authority, gradually earning the title "Rebel Cork." The name carried through to the 1919-21 Irish War of Independence, in which Cork men figured prominently.

Today, as the Republic's second-largest city, Cork (pop. 136,000) is a busy commercial hub for the south of Ireland. Be warned that the traffic moves fast and the people talk faster, even with their almost sing-song accent. Be sure to taste the local brews, Beamish and Murphy's, and if you care for tea, ask for Barry's, blended in Cork since 1901.

And oh, yeah, this is where they keep the Blarney Stone, the rock that launched a thousand kisses (and a heck of a lot of tourist revenue). To kiss or not to kiss is a deeply personal decision that no guidebook could hope to help with.