Brief Encounters

Brief Encounters fills the space left when Cork lost its gay sauna and The Loft cruise club: a 4,000 sq ft men-only adult playhouse at 3 Connell Street, near the bus station in the city centre. Inside are two cinemas, private booths with gloryholes, a sling room, darker cruising areas and an adult store at the front. It runs seven days a week - roughly midday to 10pm Sunday to Thursday, and until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights - which makes it the most reliable men-meeting-men space in the city, and the brand has done well enough to open a second branch in Galway. Note that this is a dry cruise club rather than a sauna: there are no wet facilities, and Ireland's only gay bathhouse remains the Boilerhouse in Dublin. Standard cruise-club etiquette applies - entry is ticketed, discretion is the norm, and condoms are available on site.