Cork woman Mary Elmes is the first Irish person honored as “Righteous Among Nations” for her work saving Jewish children from the Nazi gas chambers during World War II.

In honor of Cork Rebel Week (October 14th - 20th), organizers are distributing a special rebel county passport.

After years of research Dr. Noel Buckley has traced legendary singer and actor Bing Crosby’s lineage back to his great-great-grandfather’s home in West Cork. 

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan has come to an agreement with US businessman Gregg Bemis to allow an investigation at the site of the RMS Lusitania wreckage 13 miles off the coast of Cork.

The Irish Times reports that Minister Deenihan has endorsed plans to begin a broad set of exploration objectives with US businessman Gregg Bemis, who owns the rights to the wreck.

What better way to celebrate all that the Ring of Cork has to offer, than a super festival in the year of the Gathering.  The Ring of Cork Festival will be held on Saturday May 18th in Midleton, Co. Cork and all are welcome from near and far to join in an impressive and truly unique line-up of activities, fairs and fun on the day.

Background: A Brooklyn resident, Brooks is originally from Clonakilty, Co. Cork. She is currently working in the film industry in New York.

A three-minute video, captured on a cellphone in Cork, has started a debate on UFOs. The recording, which shows three bright orbs flying erratically, has sparked discussion over the existence of little green men and spurred criticism from skeptics.

Kerry failed to take their chances in the Pat O’Brien Cup in Boston on Sunday afternoon, going down to rivals Cork by a scoreline of Cork 1-7 to Kerry 0-3.

Donegal used a high scoring full-forward line as the catalyst for an opening day senior football victory over Cork.  They also needed some excellent saves from keeper Brian Cuilinan; one was outstanding at full stretch before getting to the finish line. 

Former World Champion, Olympian, and one of Ireland’s leading sports people, Sonia O’Sullivan was honored at the weekend (13 April 2013) by University College Cork when the new international standard 400 meter running track was re-opened and named the Sonia O’Sullivan Athletics Track at the Mardyke Sports Grounds in Cork. 
 
“We are delighted to celebrate the achievements of one of the world’s greatest athletes, by naming our world class athletics track after Sonia O’Sullivan here in UCC’s Mardyke Sports grounds.  An honorary graduate of UCC, Sonia is an inspiration to athletes everywhere, and particularly for those who will train and compete on this track in the future,” said UCC President Dr. Michael Murphy at the opening.
 
Having trained on the new track earlier in the day, Sonia O’Sullivan was delighted to officially reopen the running track at the Mardyke Sports grounds in UCC and stated that she was honored and privileged to see the running track bear her name.
 
The original running track at the Mardyke was irreparably damaged by the flooding of the River Lee in November 2009.  While half the track was in use for a limited period, the athletics track was closed for major renovations for over six months this year. The university invested €650,000 in the new running track which will be used for training and competitions, by individuals, teams and sport clubs.
 
The opening of the Sonia O’Sullivan Athletics Track is the latest investment and development of sporting facilities at UCC. In 2012 the university celebrated a centenary of sporting success, since the purchase of the Mardyke grounds by UCC in December 1911.  During the UCC Sport 1911-2011 centenary year, a number of significant capital investment projects, including the redevelopment of the Mardyke Pavilion and the opening of the Mardyke Arena phase III development, were completed to ensure that the Mardyke sporting complex continues to enhance the positioning and reputation of UCC as a leading university for sport both in Ireland and internationally.
 
Christine O’Donovan, Director of Sport and Physical Activity (Acting) at UCC said, “Sonia herself trained on the Mardyke running track for many years in the early days, and it was here that we all first witnessed her amazing talent. It’s extremely special to us that the UCC running track will bear her name, and we are thrilled that she is here with us today to mark this important occasion”.
 
The Sonia O’Sullivan Athletics Track was already being put to good use as the Irish University Athletics Association Track and Field Intervarsities were held in the Mardyke Sports grounds at the weekend, with several hundred athletes from all around Ireland competing in the races.

On the day and time that RMS Titanic dropped anchor in Cork Harbour over 101 years ago (Thursday 11 April 1912), a poignant collection of a number of passengers and survivors of the luxury liner’s maiden voyage was unveiled at the Titanic Experience, the permanent visitor attraction in Cobh, Co. Cork.
 
Among the items that will be on permanent display at the Titanic Experience Cobh is a beautiful 20th century blue leather suitcase, purchased at Harrods for the journey on board Titanic. The suitcase was the personal property of Mrs. Lily Odell, a first class passenger on board the ill-fated ship.  Lily Odell traveled with some members of her family, including her son, Jack and sister in law, Kate and her two brothers, Richard and Stanley May. The Odell family party disembarked the Titanic at Queenstown, now Cobh, and collected a hire car from Johnson & Perrott Motors to travel around the south of Ireland. 
 
Managing Director of the Titanic Experience Cobh, which is located in the original White Star Line building, Gillen Joyce said, “We endeavor to make the Titanic Experience as authentic as possible in providing information about Titanic, and depicting the story of the passengers on board.  With this in mind, we felt that it was vital to include artifacts from the liner to ensure a true visitor experience here in the original White Star Line building in Cobh. We are delighted that our hard work has paid off and it is an honour for us to have the Odell Collection exhibited here at the Titanic Experience”.
 
On hand to formally open the exhibition was Tommy Barker, property editor of the Irish Examiner and grandson and namesake of Thomas Barker, the Cork Examiner photographer who captured some of the best known images of RMS Titanic and her Irish passengers while in Cobh.
 
There are a number of photographs in the Odell collection, including the original photo postcard showing Titanic survivors, Millvina Dean as a baby, with her brother Bertram in a pram and their mother, Eva. Another photograph shows young Jack Odell, in a Star Laudaulette automobile hired from Johnson and Perrott with Mr May (Lily Odell’s brother) and their luggage.
 
A hand painted and signed French silk lace and mother of pearl fan in its original silk covered box used on board the Titanic is also on loan to the collection by Titanic Experience Historian, Vincent McMahon.
 
Titanic Experience Historian, Vincent McMahon gave a short talk at the unveiling of the Odell collection, which took place at 1.30 pm to coincide with ‘Titanic’ weighing anchor on this day on Thursday, 11th April 1912, 101 years ago.  McMahon described the journey of the Odell family who traveled on board ‘Titanic’ on the 10th and 11th April 1912. 
 
“The loss of Titanic with so many lives has always been a very sad story. Today we recall the passengers on board.  It is a privilege to exhibit items carried on board Titanic on that voyage from Southampton via Cherbourg to Queenstown. The Titanic Experience Cobh looks forward to keeping their memory alive through this Odell collection going on display today.” added McMahon.

An old American “war” monkey with a unique history was honored with a statue in Cork over the weekend.

Graffiti including swastikas was etched on tombstones on a plot in St. Finbarr’s Cemetery in Glasheen Road in Cork. The police in Cork are currently investigating the vandalism which is thought to have happened during the evening on Thursday, March 28.

The mother is delighted with the new pope. Great man. He gets the bus.He pays his hotel bills. He cracks little jokes. He talks about love. One Direction for the arthritis gang.
 
Very unpopey yet you couldn’t knit yourself a better pope. He’s no George Clooney but at seventy-six, he’s just a spring chicken. The life in your pope is as important as the pope in your life. And!  There’s no faint smell of Nazi off him. No taint of child abuse cover up. Ok. He was at the back of the bus gazing out the window when the junta in Buenos Aires started disappearing some of his Jesuit colleagues but look, when the Smart Boy Wanted sign goes up in the Vatican window you don’t expect to find the perfect candidate.

Cork have their sights set on All-Ireland champions Kilkenny according to selector Kieran Kingston after they showed real character to snatch a 2-12 to 2-12 draw against Galway in the NHL Division 1A game in Salthill last Sunday.

The Irish health minister has called for a report into the circumstances that lead to the death of a seven-year-old boy, who died after falling into a flooded river.

E Cork Foundation, a new not-for-profit funding organization established by a group of leading business and public figures to help drive social and economic growth throughout the Cork region, was launched last week at the Port of Cork, Custom House Street in Cork by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney and the chairman of the Cork Foundation Strategic Board, Sean O’Driscoll, the chairman and CEO of Glen Dimplex.

Rebecca McCarthy held her three-year-old daughter Clarissa’s favorite toy as the young girl was laid to rest in the same coffin as her father, Martin McCarthy, in West Cork.

McCarthy drowned his daughter and then took his own life earlier in the week in an incident that has shocked the community of Ballydehob.

If you’re heading down South to the country’s “real capital," or just heading to Ireland in general, you simply have to step inside a traditional Irish pub. Despite the smoking ban, and a fairly hefty tax-rate on liquor sales, the Irish pub scene continues to thrive and features as largely as ever in modern Irish life.