Jews in Cork ?

Ang3lus

Hello all,

I'm from Israel and i might be coming to visit Ireland in Feburary, i don't know why it has been fascinating me for the past few years but i intend to find out.
During my stay i would like to find work, i don't have a degree or anything, i'm just an electronics salesmen, but i'm willing to do pretty much anything considering it's only for 4-5 months or so.

do you guys know about the jewish community in Ireland ?
how do they accept jews from other places ?
do they have places to live there ? (what's the rent per month approx ?)
is there any job i can get there considering i'm an outsider ?

One-Day-Juande

Shalom.

There isn't any particular big Jewish community in Cork, I do know that there is a synagogue in the city on South Terrace. Apparently it was a lot bigger in the 40's/50's for obvious reasons. Lots moved on after that to America/Israel.

I don't see any reason why they would be welcoming/unwelcoming. I would hazard a guess that with it being a small community that it would be good for them to have a new face around.

I think that there is a bigger community in Dublin, but ugh it's Dublin.

As far as work and accomodation goes it's there. You can get a room for about 80 euro a week and up, sharing with others. If you're on your own that's the best way to get to know people anyway.

For work, it depends on what kind of experience you have, I'd say you need a work permit, if you have that though there's allways barwork or in a shop. If you have ability/knowledge of computers Apple are allways hiring people aswell.

Good luck anyway, whatever happens you'll have a great time in Ireland I'm sure, country of a thousand welcomes:)

DublinWriter

I'd imagine you could count the number of native Irish Jews living in Cork on the fingers of one hand now. Same goes for Dublin.

From Wikipedia:

Cork saw significant Jewish immigration from Lithuania and Russia in the late 19th century. Jewish citizens such as Gerald Goldberg (several times Lord Mayor), David Marcus (novelist) and Louis Marcus (documentary maker) played important roles in 20th century Cork. Today, the Jewish community is relatively small in population, although the city still has a Jewish quarter and local synagogue.

Ang3lus

Thanks guys,

do you know what's the minimum wage that goes in ireland ?

I just want to live in some peace and quiet and it looks like ireland is a good place to do just that, life has been hectic lately.

you guys really set my mind at ease

I do have a work permit (i think ?) i got a german passport as my grandfather was born in Berlin.
so i got an EU passport.

One-Day-Juande

If you have the German passport, that means you'll have absolutely no problems. The minimum wage is €8.65 an hour, not too shabby at all compared to other countries. But with luck you'll be able to get over €10 an hour without much bother.

Anyway regardless, there is nothing to stop you really. Go to www.daft.ie that'll give you some idea of renating a house. Try maybe www.monster.ie for jobs, though I don't have much of an idea for online job hunting. Actually it might also be worth your time checking google for Apple jobs.

Ang3lus

right now i get like 4 euros per hour
that's twice my salary !
hehe

i'm an electronics salesman, you know, TVs, computers and the stuff

fastrac

There is a Jewish cometary near the city.Its called the Currikippane. Google it and you might find out more

craichoe

The area down by the ESB building near Anglesea street is nicknamed 'jewtown' afaik. Big enough Jewish community there.

Beware though, Cost of living in Ireland is ALOT higher than what your used to !!

dulpit

Buddy of mine plays soccer with a load of lads from Albert Road area (which i believe would be part of "Jew town") and they're called Jewventus... (quality)


As for work and such, earning minimum wage isn't brilliant, the cost of living is quite high here, but it'll do...

Good luck and such too...

Flamed Diving

Corks most famous Jew!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Goldberg

BanzaiBk

I think there are a lot more people of the Jewish faith in Cork than you can count on one hand! My neighbours are part of a large Jewish family that originated in "Jewtown". I used work near the Synagogue aswell and the place was always packed on the sabbath. There's a Jewish society up on the far end of the Western Road aswell, you'd often see their ads in the echo classifieds.

Balmed Out

The Jewish community in Cork is very small. They havent had enough people to have a quorum at the Synagogue for many years and for important events they have to get Jewish people from other parts of the country to come down. Whether this is because people strayed from the faith or moved away i have no idea.

From the Irish Times
Tuesday, February 17, 1998
Cork's oldest Jew
Reflects in Sadness

By Dick Hogan
More than 60 years ago there were some 400 members in Cork's Jewish community. Now, at a push, that community can bring together no more than eight.

It is a loss felt, most likely, by no one more than Gerald Y. Goldberg, proud Corkonian, the oldest Jew in Cork and a former Lord Mayor of the city. To him the death of the once-thriving community is a sadness second only to the death just over a year ago of his wife, Sheila.

"How sad it is to say that if we can muster between six and eight males, we are lucky. We are left hoping that members of our faith in summer will want to pray with us and that there will be reason for us to keep our synagogue open because they are visiting. But in a heartfelt way I am sad to say that for the local community this seems to be the end. It is so sad."

The synagogue, not far from the city centre, on the South Terrace, is more often closed than open. Services are no longer held there. That is because, under Orthodox Jewish teaching, a minyan, or a quorum of 10 males over 13 years, must be present before the prayerful can gather.

While the synagogue, as a place of worship, has fallen almost into disuse, it is not closed down. There is always the hope, as Mr Goldberg says, that visiting Jews will want to go there and tell their people back home they prayed with their brethren in Cork.

Mr Goldberg no longer goes to the synagogue. There is no point, when a formal service can't be held any more; instead, he reflects on how things turned out.

He is convinced, for instance, that Prof Dermot Keogh's forthcoming book on the Jews in Ireland, which will be published on March 5th, will show that were it not for a deliberate Irish government policy of keeping out European Jews seeking refugee status here during the last war, a different scenario might have emerged in places like Cork and the communities today might be more vibrant. Instead, everywhere the story is one of decline, and with the exception of Limerick, probably nowhere more so than in the city which he once served as Lord Mayor and where he grew up.

"I have always loved Cork. As a Jew, and as one who grew up and made my career here, I believed that people like me owed something to the State that we should give something back to the places in which we were spawned. That is why I stayed and that is why I consider myself to be a proud son of Cork. I have no recriminations. My city elected me as its first citizen, the National University of Ireland conferred me with an honorary degree. I love my city, my faith and my Irishness," he says.

When he married Sheila in Belfast in 1933, the Jewish community in Cork was thriving. They married in the North because, though her mother was from Cork, Belfast was where the family had been brought up. They married, and because of family ties and connections, there was initially a real possibility that they would go to live in Israel. But Mr Goldberg, who likes to think he speaks classical Hebrew with a Cork accent, decided to remain in his native city. He adores Cork, its literature and its feel. He could not, he says, live in Dublin. Though probably he could have made more money there.

For most of his 63 years as a solicitor in Cork, Gerald Y. Goldberg was pre-eminent. He operated a law practice dealing mainly with criminal matters which was the State's largest, with the exception of Dublin. He was a fearless and daunting advocate. Goldberg on your side was one thing - it was another matter if he was against you. As a young reporter I saw his style first hand.

He was unfailingly courteous, and took meticulous notes in court no matter how comparatively trivial the case. He wrote into a ledger everything the witness was saying in the dock. A fountain pen recorded
minute the chink in his an opponent's weakness. He often found it and his courteous demeanour couldn't hide an inner toughness.

At 85, his intellect is as fresh as ever. He is no longer enjoying robust health, and has come through a triple bypass and two minor strokes. His interest in the arts, culture and scholarship has not waned and he continues to read hungrily and enjoys his formidable library.

He once represented the writer Frank O'Connor in a case. He has a unique collection of paintings, glass and books, reflecting a life's passions. In time he hopes his library will pass to University College Cork, where he is again a student, doing a thesis in the area of English literature.

"I am resentful of the decline and resentful of the fact that what is left of the Jewish community in Cork has been neglected by their fellow Jews, particularly in Dublin. It's too late now for a revival. I don't
see it happening, the opportunity for that has come and gone. I'm the oldest Jew left in Cork. What has happened here is nothing short of heartbreaking. It is one of the greatest sadnesses in my life."

© Copyright: The Irish Times

World Jewry

Home > World Jewry > Jewz.com: Cork's Jewish Community -- Small in Size, Grand in Spirit

Cork's Jewish Community -- Small in Size, Grand in Spirit
Marlena Thompson

After wandering around Cork and noting not only its loveliness but also the exceptional friendliness of its people, I concluded that this second largest city in the Republic after Dublin, was different from any place in Ireland I'd yet seen.

Cork, sometimes called the "Venice of Ireland" due to the various branches of the River Lee that flow into its Harbor, and the footbridges that bedeck the city, also offers 18th century churches, commemorative monuments, an opera house, assorted galleries, bookshops, and bistros. The city offers visitors a glimpse of its past, as well as an array of cultural and casual forms of entertainment, including some fine folk pubs featuring excellent brews and traditional Irish music.

But I had come to this pleasing city with a specific purpose. While exploring the Jewish community in Dublin, I'd inquired about the Jews living in Cork, and was told the community was defunct. But after learning that the synagogue in Cork was still holding services, I knew Cork's Jewish community must have some life to it yet. I decided to come to come and Cork and find out for myself.

Fred Rosehill, the Chairman of Trustees of Cork Hebrew Congregation, and informal "spokesperson" for the Jewish community, past and present, very generously took time from his busy schedule to serve as my guide. After collecting me at my hotel, we drove to the Jewish cemetery. Along the way, Fred filled me in on some of the history of Cork's Jewish community as well as a bit of his own background. Though Fred was born in Cork, his father's family came to Ireland from Lithuania. Most of Ireland's present Jewish community dates from the late 19th century when Jews from Lithuania fleeing pogroms arrived in Dublin, Belfast, Limerick and Cork. The community in Cork, always smaller than the ones in Dublin and Belfast, swelled to almost 500 souls in the early decades of the last century. But the population has since dwindled. Now, in a population of approximately 135,000, there are about 20-30 Jews, most of them intermarried.

When we arrived at the Jewish cemetery situated on a hillside above the city, a faulty lock prevented us from entering. As I peeked through the gates, trying to catch a glimpse of the graves, Fred said: "It's only about a quarter filled. Maybe less." When I asked why, he smiled and replied, "It was intended for a much larger community." The cemetery is, however, still in use.

Our next stop was the home of the illustrious Dr. Gerald Goldberg, another member of one of the Jewish community's founding families. I admit I was thrilled at the prospect of meeting Dr. Goldberg, not only because he had once been the Lord Mayor of Cork, but because I knew of his reputation as a patron of the Irish arts. Although the visit was brief, it didn't disappoint.

After describing how his father, Louis, had come to Ireland from Lithuania, and settled in Cork after having been injured in what is usually referred to as the Limerick pogrom (although no one killed) that took place in 1904, Dr. Goldberg showed me his spectacular library. As a former antiquarian bookseller, I appreciated the inclusiveness of such a collection. During a conversation liberally laced with Yiddish (which I, alas, do not understand,) Dr. Goldberg mentioned he planned to bequeath his collection of Judaica to Cork University College--subject to the College's inauguration of a Jewish faculty.

As Fred and I were about to depart, Dr. Goldberg informed us he would presently be attending a lecture on James Joyce, creator of Ireland's most famous Jew, Leopold Bloom, the hero of Joyces Ulysses. (Of course, Bloom would have been denied Jewish status by traditional Jews, since he was "born to a Christian mother and twice baptized.") Interestingly, James Joyce's father, John Stanislaus Joyce, was a native of Cork and his home was situated near the Goldberg family home in "Jewtown." (That name had no pejorative overtones but merely described the area in which most Jews had settled upon arriving in Cork.) Looking from Dr. Goldberg who, at just a few years shy of 90 was getting ready to drive the 30 miles to the lecture, to Fred Rosehill, who, at 73, looks and acts like a man at least a decade younger, I wondered if Ponce de Leon shouldn't have come to Cork in his quest to find the legendary fountain of youth.

Our next stop was a lovely green called, Shalom Park, opened in 1989, and situated in the area formerly called Jewtown. Fred explained how the park received its highly unusual name:

"An influential businessman [not Jewish himself] whose father grew up in Jewtown persuaded the city fathers to name the park, Shalom' to honor his father's personal relationship with the Jews in the area."

We finally arrived at Cork Hebrew Congregation, which has been at 10 South Terrace for the past 110 years. It is a simple synagogue, externally and within. It boasts neither ornate chandeliers nor fancy stained glass windows. And yet, for all its lack of embellishment, Cork Hebrew Congregation has managed to touch the lives of many, including people living thousands of miles away. Fred relayed the story of a businessman from Canada who requested that his granddaughter be allowed to hold her Bat Mitzvah ceremony in Cork. The Canadian told Fred his son-in-law was Irish Catholic but felt strong ties to Judaism. The businessman thought a ceremony in a synagogue in Cork would have special significance for the family. Although Cork Hebrew Congregation is technically Orthodox, Fred allowed the Canadian businessman and his family to make use of the synagogue, and helped to make all the necessary arrangements. The family never forgot the kindness and hospitality, and returned to Cork many times.

Fred acknowledges that many people would object to the way in which he and Gerald Goldberg permit the synagogue to be put to use. "But Gerald and I think the main purpose of a synagogue is that it be used," he explained. "Would it be better for it to remain empty than for us to allow it to be used by, say, a visiting Reform rabbi, or a Canadian businessman who wishes to celebrate his granddaughter's Bat Mitzvah here?" He added with a smile, "Maybe we're just rebels in this part of the country." It would come as no surprise, as Cork's sobriquet is the Rebel County, because of its place in the struggle for Irish independence.

As we left the synagogue, Fred pointed to a nearby footbridge, and explained that although its official name is the Trinity Bridge, everyone refers to it as the "Passover" Bridge because of its proximity to the synagogue. Fittingly, Gerald Goldberg opened the bridge in 1977, during his tenure as Lord Mayor.

As our time was drawing to an end, Fred told me he was expecting a group of 54 Orthodox American Jews to arrive in Cork. He was giving them use of the synagogue in his absence. It is the fourth such group to have made use of Cork Hebrew Congregation in recent years.

Although the community is so small it must "import" a group of Lubavitch "boys" (as Fred calls them) from London to conduct Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, it held a large communal Passover seder this past year. Among the 63 attendees were American Jews, many of them intermarried, working for nearby Motorola, and others who found themselves in Ireland during Passover with no place to go. In Cork, all were made welcome.

I had come to Cork's Jewish community to discover whether it was dead or alive. The answer I found is complex. In numbers, the community might well require life support. But in essence, it manages to exude a brand of energy far beyond its diminished numbers -- which is why it attracts strangers from all over the world. I know of one former stranger who was utterly captivated by the charm of the place and who hopes very much to return.

* * *

bill_ashmount

On a more serious note:

One of the best looking women I ever saw was Jewish. Always stuck in my mind because of that phrase "Jewish Princess". Not sure where that came from, some film or something????

Happy Days

ciano6

One of my buddies in Cork is a fierce jew as long as I know him.

lostinsuperfunk

4 months too early for the OP but might be of interest anyway.

http://www.corkjewishfestival.com/

The first ever Jewish Cultural Festival in Cork will take place this weekend (18-19 October) in UCC. It will feature live music from the best Klezmer bands in the country, a lecture and a debut film showing on the history of the Jewish Community in Ireland.

Nichololas

bill_ashmount wrote: »

On a more serious note:

One of the best looking women I ever saw was Jewish. Always stuck in my mind because of that phrase "Jewish Princess". Not sure where that came from, some film or something????

Happy Days

The term is actually "Jewish-American Princess" and it's usually used in a negative way, actually.

Wikipedia definition:

Jewish-American Princess or JAP is a pejorative characterization of Jewish-American women. The term implies materialistic and selfish tendencies, attributed to a pampered background.

EithneConsidine

I am surprised that no on mentioned A. Fleilshman who , for years was the conducter of the Cork Symphony, a noted composer and music professor. I believe his family may still live in Cork.
ALso a cousin of mine was married to a Turkish Jew and ran Hadji Bays' Turkish Dleight for years in Cork. I know the street but cannot remember the name.