1.64 To the east, the area is made up of Dyke Parade and a portion of Mardyke Walk. Predominantly urban in character, it is characterised by its extensive roadway with wide pedestrian footpaths and orthogonal stands of trees. Its historic stock of Georgian and Late Victorian terraced houses is grouped together in formally designed terraces, and range from 3-storey on-street townhouses to more modest 2-storey dwellings with walled front gardens of varying finishes including smooth render, cut-stone with red brick quoins, some with limestone coping and often surmounted by wrought iron railings. The area contained between the roadway and the river is home to various important educational institutions including St. Josephs National School whose position almost directly on the street edge combined with its rough-rendered boundary wall with high wrought iron railing contributes to its prominence within its historic surroundings. 1.65 To the west of Slí Chumann na mBan, the area centred on Mardyke Walk is markedly different in character with a mix of recreational and residential uses. It is much smaller in scale and far less urban in character, contributed to by a more uniform cover of shrubbery and trees along the northern boundary of a more modestly sized roadway. The varying treatment of the boundary between private
residences and the public domain is an important feature that affects the character of this area, whether that be the tall gates and garages of the rear gardens of large 3 and 4-storey buildings facing onto Western Road, the low rendered walls with wrought-iron railings of the front gardens of smaller Victorian 2-storey terraced dwellings facing onto Mardyke Walk or the higher pebble-dashed walls of mid-20th century semi-detached dwellings. 1.66 In contrast, the area north of Mardyke Walk is primarily recreational in character and is home to many historic sporting associations including the Sunday’s Well Boating and Tennis Club and the Cork County Cricket Club, the early 20th century clubhouses of which, both designed in the Colonial style, contribute to the character of the area. The important public amenity of Fitzgerald’s Park as well as the boundary of the UCC Mardyke Sports Complex, formed of dressed limestone walls with rendered coping and fine wrought-iron railings with trident motif combined with the turnstiles at the junction of Mardyke Walk and Western Road, are of social and heritage value and contribute to the varied historic character of the area.
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Cork City Draft Development Plan 2022-2028
Volume 3 I Part 1
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