The river Lee flows through Cork city and has two channels, North and South. As soon as you notice yourself making your way up a hill in Cork, chances are your heading for the North side of the city. The people here are the true heart of Cork with family roots tracing back through generation after generation. If you happen to see a tower with four clocks, one on each face, then you are looking at Shandon. Quite counterintuitively, each of the different clocks on this towering timepiece display a different time, a trait which has earned the building the title of ‘The Four Faced Liar’. A wind vain atop its spire is in the shape of a fish, an ode to the salmon of knowledge. If you were not previously sure, the sight of this tower confirms all suspicions, solidifying the fact that you are most definitely in the North side of the city. Shandon’s bells are open for tourists to ring and one must do so in order to qualify as a true ‘Corkonian’. On your ascent up the winding hill you’ll come across a Shandon sweet factory, run by the Linehan family who hold 100 years’ experience. Walking through the door, you could set your watch back fifty or sixty years, ‘Clove rocks’, ‘apple drops’ and ‘bulls eyes’ all feature on the shop’s shelves and are decorations which most definitely call for childhood reminiscence.