Day Twenty-Two - 2/10/2012 - Cork

     Today was a rainy day in Cork city.  Had more potato farls for lunch.  Headed to campus to visit the Bank of Ireland Branch to get a statement proving my financial stability in order to register with Garda. I will have to wait another 5 to 7 days.  The never-ending battle of banking continues.
     I spent the remainder of the afternoon in the library, reading The Star of the Sea, a novel about emigrants from the Great Famine of 1846.  A semi-historical account that links together the observations of an American reporter about an Irish-born landlord and his tenants, and the hellish conditions the Irish were subjected to not only in Ireland but on the voyage to America, the book is a rather disheartening read.  The Famine and events surrounding that time still shape, for many, anti-British sentiment in Ireland.
     The Boole Library opened in the primary years of the College, in 1849.  The library is named for George Boole, who was first Professor of Maths at UCC.  His house, just north of the Lord Mayor's Manor-turned Mercy Hospital, has fallen into disrepair and graffiti.  Boole is notable for having developed Boolean geometry, a system of logic involving 0 and 1 using truth statements from which binary code was developed, and arguably much of the modern field of computer science.  The library, quite unlike the man who rests in Blackpool, ten minutes out of Cork city, received renovations in 2008, adding a modern, floor-to-ceiling glass front overlooking the Main Quad and trees.  Today, it is similar to many buildings in Cork, a clash between historical and modern.  Sometimes cacophonous but oftentimes harmonious, UCC is a microcosm of the city centre, with Honan chapel and the Aula Maxima deposited amongst glass-laden lecture halls and multi-storey laboratories.  The O'Rahilly building is literally a juxtaposition of stone faces with sheer, twenty metre glass faces, alternating whimsically.
     Had my History of Ireland class tonight, which focused on the politics of the Great Famine.  While British influence and role as landowners in Ireland had always been resented, the Famine was a catalyst to accelerate the attitudes and nationalism that resulted in the Rebellion.  There is even some reason to suggest that the psychological impact of the Famine has contributed to the modern desire to buy locally grown produce over imported foods.  Interestingly, Ireland is one of the most prominent contributors of food relief and charity to third world countries experiencing food shortages and famine.  A new famine museum opened recently at a Connecticut university, in the United States, showcasing artwork from the time.  It took some inspiration from the much larger famine museum in Strokestown Park, in Ireland.