ONE OF Cork's hidden gems has made it into a list celebrating people's favourite areas in Europe.
'Our Europe: 27 things we love about the continent' is a collaborative article by The Guardian which asked writers in every EU nation to share a place which they believe evokes the spirit of their nation.
From Greece's Peloponnese peninsula, Belgium's Ostend seafront, the Imperial Parliament of Austria and Barcelona's famed Santa Caterina market, each country's writer described the thing that means 'home' to them.
Ireland's entry, written by author Philip Watson, boasted about 'Cork's best bar' and the street on which it sits-- Coughlan's bar on Douglas street.
Cork's colourful cityscape (Getty Images)The 200-year-old bar is acknowledged as having revived an area of Cork which had previously held an undesirable reputation.
The 'backstreet old man's bar' was restored and transformed in 2012, and has since breathed new life into Douglas street, becoming, as the author puts it, the best music venue in the whole of Ireland.
The author applauds the "intimate listening room in the formerly unloved lounge" which has seen the likes of Lisa O'Neill, Glen Hansard and Lisa Hannigan, and says the pub offers something "like a major venue in a music-savvy friend's sitting room".
Not only is it the best music venue in Ireland, but Coughlan's also claims it pours the best pint of Stout in all of Cork. Controversial, but we'll have to visit ourselves to find out!
The full list of European cultural gems can be found here.
