A self guided walking tour of the historic, ecclesiastical and archaeological sites of Cork City’s South Side.
Index
century a number of large industries were situated in this locality, including a glassworks, a sawmill, a bacon factory, a corn mill and a malthouse. By the turn of the 20th century, Cork’s Jewish Community were holding their services in two separate buildings on the South Terrace, but they opened a new purpose-built synagogue there in 1915, which is still in use today, albeit very infrequently. The family of one of Ireland’s great writers, James Joyce, had very close connections to this locality also. His father grew up in the family home that stood at the end of the South Terrace and his grandfather had a business nearby. The family also owned some property on White Street and a recent development of houses on the site have been named Joyce’s Court, remembering the historic connections to the Joyce family.
Scottish Presbyterians, the Scots Church, as it was known, opened in 1841 and continued in use until its closure in 1928. We now enter one of Cork’s most impressive streets, and another of the city’s former waterways, the South Mall. It wasn’t until the early years of the 19th century that it was developed from a river into a street. It is filled with wonderful examples of architecture and unusual features. From banks, hotels, gentlemen’s clubs, Turkish baths, cinemas, libraries and war memorials, this street has had it all. One of the finest buildings in Cork is the old Provincial Bank situated at the eastern end of the Mall. The Imperial Hotel was the first prominent building to be constructed there when it opened in 1813 as the Commercial Buildings. Among the earliest structures are the brick-built nos. 73 & 74, which date to the 18th century and a time when the street was still a waterway, with sailing vessels plying their trade where motor vehicles drive by today. The decorative frontage of no. 22 South Mall is all that remains of the old Assembly Rooms, a venue for all types of meetings and theatrical events for over a century following its opening in 1861 and also Cork’s first cinema. Following the directions from the South Mall plaque: At the western end of the South Mall you are met by two fine monuments. In the park on the left stands the War Memorial that was unveiled on St Patrick’s Day 1925 to commemorate the men from Cork who died in the First World War. Just beyond this is the magnificent National Monument, unveiled on St Patrick’s Day 1906 to commemorate the Irish Rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848 and 1867. The eastern wall of the old medieval City of Cork ran roughly along where the buildings on the western side of the Grand Parade stand. A section of this wall can be seen just inside the gates of Bishop Lucey Park. The land to the east, where the city centre is today, was marshland that was reclaimed and developed during the 18th century. The old city centre was originally located to the west, along the North and South Main Streets, but following the 1690 Siege of Cork the old city walls began to be taken down and, as the surrounding land was developed, the main focus of the city gradually shifted to its present location, centred on St Patrick’s Street. The Grand Parade is the location of one of Cork’s great attractions, the English Market, a favourite among locals and visitors alike. It opened in 1788, around the time that the change from waterway to street was being completed, and for more than two centuries it has served the city in its own special way. The sights, sounds and smells of this unique location should be experienced by all visitors to Cork.
Abbey Street . .............................. E4 Academy Street . .......................... E1 Barrack Street . ........................... C4 Beamish and Crawford Brewery.C2 Beamish and Crawford Brewery Stables ......................................... B3 Bennett’s Hill .............................. B4 Bishop Lucey Park ....................... D2 Bishop Street . ............................. A4 Carey’s Lane . ............................... E1 Castle Street ................................ C1 College of Art and Design ......... A3 College of Commerce ............... G3 Cook Street . .......................... F1, F2 Copley Street .............................. H3 Cove Street ................................. E4 Daunt’s Square . ........................... D1 Dean Street ................................. A4 Douglas Street ............................ F4 Dunbar Street . ............................ F4 Elizabeth Fort ............................. C4 English Market ............................. D1 Evergreen Buildings ................... D4 Evergreen Street ................. D4, E4 Fort Street ................................... B4 Fr Mathew Hall ........................... G3 Fr Mathew Quay .......................... F3 Fr Mathew Street ........................ G3 French Church Street .................. E1 French’s Quay ............................. C3 Friar Street . ................................. E4 George’s Quay . ................... F3, G4 Gilabbey Street ........................... A4 Grand Parade . .............................. D1 Hanover Street..................... B2 Industry Street ............................ D4 James Morrison House . ............. G4 Keysers Hill . ............................... C4 Lancaster Quay ........................... A2 Liberty Street ............................... B1 Marlborough Street ...................... F1 Mary’s Street ............................... F4 Morgan Street .............................. F2 Morrison’s Quay ......................... G3 Nano Nagle Footbridge ............. E3 Nano Nagle’s Tomb ................... F4 National Monument ................... E3 Oliver Plunkett Street .......... E2, F2 Parliament Bridge . ....................... F3 Paul Street .................................... D1 Prince’s Street . ...................... E1, E2 Proby’s Bridge ............................. C3 Proby’s Quay ............................... C3 Prosperity Square ....................... D4 Queen’s Old Castle .................... D1 Red Abbey ................................... F4
Red Abbey Street ........................ F4 Reed’s Street ............................. C4 Sawmill Street ............................ H4 School of Music .......................... H3 Sharman Crawford Street ........... A3 Sheares Street .............................. A1 South Chapel Church ................. F4 South Gate Bridge ...................... D3 South Main Street ....................... C2 South Mall ............................. F2, E3 South Presentation Convent ...... E4 South Terrace . ........................... H4 St Fin Barre’s Cathedral . ............ B4 St Marie’s of the Isle Convent ... B3 St Nicholas’ Church . ................. D4 St Patrick’s Street . ................. D1, E1 Sullivan’s Quay . .......................... E3 Synagogue .................................. H4 Tourist Information Office ......... E2 Trinity Footbridge ....................... G3 Tuckey Street .............................. D2 Union Quay ................................. H3 Vicar Street . ................................ B4 Wandesford Quay ....................... B2 War Memorial . ............................ E3 Washington Street . .............. B2, C2 White Street ............................... G4 Information Panels No 1, Daunt’s Square ................... D1 No 2, Grand Parade .................... D2 No 3, South Gate Bridge . .......... D3 No 4, Bishop Street . .................. B4 No 5, St Fin Barre’s Cathedral . . A4 No 6, Elizabeth Fort . ................ C4 No 7, St Nicholas’ Church . ....... E4 No 8, Red Abbey ........................ F4 No 9, South Chapel ................... F4 No 10, George’s Quay .............. G4 No 11, Holy Trinity Church ......... G3 No 12, South Mall ........................ F2
Welcome to Cork Walks and in particular to this walk of the South Parish area. This is a self-guided walking tour of one of the older parts of the south side city centre of Cork and takes just over 1 hour. There are three elements to this walk. This leaflet describes the walk and the sights along the way. It also has a detailed map. There are directional signs (blue walking symbols) throughout the walk to help orient and guide you. 12 information panels are located at various interest points along the route. These feature short descriptions of places and events in these locations. Along the route there are many buildings of interest open to the public and which carry information leaflets. In addition the Tourist Office, on the Grand Parade, has further guides of the City and the greater Cork area. Please linger along the way, taking the time to go inside our churches, museums, and cafés. We hope you enjoy this Cork Walk. The South Parish Walk A city carries the imprint of the people and events that have shaped it over time. These stories never reveal themselves in a simple line: the old sits beside the new; - the new reinterprets the old. A small detail can be as revealing as a large building. This walk shows the development of the City from its watery beginnings to the industrial development from mills to breweries and traverses some of the most historically significant parts of the south side of Cork. The religious diversity of the City is celebrated on this route and includes some places as St Finn Barre’s Cathedral, Nano Nagle’s grave at the South Presentation Convent, the Red Abbey as well as the Synagogue on South Terrace. In addition, the prominent families and individuals from Cork’s past are also remembered in the place names encountered along the route. Continuity and renewal are interwoven in the life of a city. We hope that this walk will contribute to the understanding of these processes in the life of this city.
COMHAIRLE CATHRACH CHORCAÍ CORK CITY COUNCI L
Following the directions from the George’s Quay plaque:
Crossing the road here brings you onto one of the parts of Cork that was formally marshland. In the mid 18th century, the area between today’s Union Quay and Anglesea Street was known as Allen’s Marsh, and later, Union Island, to commemorate the 1801 Act of Union that created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. By the 1830s the area had been reclaimed and an old dock that was situated here was replaced by Copley Street. The headquarters of the Royal Irish Constabulary stood on Union Quay, later it became the Garda Headquarters until the early 1990s. Trinity Bridge was opened in 1977 by the then Lord Mayor, Gerald Goldberg, who is the only Jew to have held this prestigious post. Although the name of the bridge remembers the Holy Trinity Church, because of the connection to Gerald Goldberg and its proximity to the synagogue, Cork people often refer to it as the Passover Bridge. Facing you now is the impressive College of Commerce building which was opened in 1938, though the rooftop section is a recent addition. Onwards now to the magnificent Capuchin Holy Trinity Church, which was a very long time in the making. It took from the laying of the foundation stone in 1832 until the completion of the sanctuary in 1908 to give its present dimensions. Following the directions from the Holy Trinity plaque: As you enter Fr Mathew Street, the building on your right is now occupied by the state broadcaster RTÉ, but it was originally the home of the Cork Gas Company. Next we come to the Fr Mathew Hall, which was opened by the Capuchins in 1907 to be a place of recreation, without the temptation of alcohol, for members of the temperance societies. It later became a favourite theatrical venue for the people of Cork and still plays host to the annual Feis Mathiú, which has been running there since 1927. Just beyond the hall is a building that once housed a church for
www.corkcity.ie
SOUTH PARISH
A self guided walking tour of the historic, ecclesiastical and archaeological sites of Cork City’s South Side.
This project demonstrates the Government’s support for cycling and walking as the most sustainable ways to travel.
For more information please contact Cork City Council Traffic Division T: 021 492 4452 email: traffic @ corkcity.ie
CW-SP-EN-09-10
The South Parish Walk
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Daunt’s Square
an old blocked-up archway, again this was also originally part of the old 18th century cathedral. On entering Fort Street you can see the dominant position of the southern wall of the Elizabeth Fort, from where the street derives its name. Barrack Street is one of the longest occupied parts of Cork and at its southern end stands the birthplace of General Daniel Florence O’Leary, a great hero in parts of South America for his actions in fighting for independence from Spanish rule. During the 1690 Siege of Cork the Fort withstood attack from three sides, but when the city fell it had to be surrendered. On the left, just inside the entrance to the Fort, stands one of the few surviving WWII air-raid shelters in Cork.
by giving hope of a better future to the poorest in society. Her tomb in the grounds of the South Presentation Convent should be a stopping point of any visitor to Cork. Entering the precincts of the Red Abbey Tower brings you to the oldest piece of architecture in the city, dating to the 14th century. It is all that remains of the former Augustinian Red Abbey. The tower was used by John Churchill, the Earl of Marlborough, as a viewing platform during the Siege of Cork in 1690 to conduct cannon fire on the old city walls. The abbey spent its final decades during the 18th century being used as a sugar refinery. Known as the Red Abbey Sugar House, a huge fire in 1799 saw many of its buildings destroyed. The tower was handed over to the city by its then owners in 1951. Following the directions from the Red Abbey plaque: As you pass through Red Abbey Street, notice the unusual variety of doorways in the houses on both sides of the street. Dunbar Street was once known as New Chapel Lane and did not originally run all the way out to Douglas Street. It was a narrow lane that ran from George’s Quay and terminated at the southern boundary wall of the South Chapel. Towards the end of the 18th century it was opened onto what was then called Cove Lane, now Douglas Street. When the South Chapel was built during the Penal Times in 1766 it would have been tucked away at the end of this lane and also set back from the front of the lane so as to be as inconspicuous as possible. Originally L-shaped, later additions to it in 1809 and 1866 gave it its present cruciform shape. It’s the oldest Catholic church in the city and played a leading role in Cork during the struggle for Catholic Emancipation in the 1820s.
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Queen’s old castle
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Following the directions from the Daunt’s Square plaque: As you walk along the Grand Parade, imagine that what is now solid ground, was, until the latter half of the 18th century, a major waterway that flowed outside the eastern wall of the old medieval City of Cork. On your right you pass the beautiful 19th century façade of the large department store that was known as the Queen’s Old Castle, whose name remembers one of the main towers of the walled city, the Queen’s Castle, thought to be one of the towers depicted on the Cork Coat of Arms. The major thoroughfare that is Washington Street was completed in 1824 and was then known as Great George’s Street, called after King George IV. In 1918 the Cork Corporation re-named it in honour of the first American President, George Washington. The impressive entrance gates to Bishop Lucey Park once formed the entrance to the old Corn Market that stood on Anglesea Street, to the rear of the Cork City Hall. They were placed here in 1985, when the park was opened to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the granting of Cork’s first city charter in 1185. Following the directions from the Grand Parade plaque: Tuckey Street, formerly Tuckey’s Lane, was named after Timothy Tuckey, Mayor of Cork in 1677. The “Lane” became a “Street” in 1761, and a limestone plaque situated between nos. 7 and 8 remembers that event. The Tuckey family owned a lot of property in this area, and part of the western side of the present day Grand Parade was also known as Tuckey’s Quay, when it was still a waterway. The first building you meet on your right is the Masonic Lodge, an 18th century building that is home to the First Lodge of Ireland. Entering South Main Street, brings you to the heart of medieval Cork. This was part of the main street of the old city that ran between the bridges at the South Gate and North Gate. The neo- Tudor offices of the former Beamish and Crawford’s Brewery were constructed around 1920. Following the directions from the South Gate Bridge plaque: French’s Quay was named after James French, a wine merchant and Mayor of Cork in 1696. Originally, only a portion of this quayside was called French’s Quay. There were a number of properties situated along the quay wall heading west from the South Gate Bridge and the thoroughfare in front of these was called Globe Lane. It was not until 1872, following the demolition of these properties, that the whole quay became French’s Quay. You pass on your left a narrow, stepped hill called Keyser’s Hill. This is a Norse
The english market
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Information Panel
Bishop lucey Park
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Following the directions from the Elizabeth Fort plaque:
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River lee (South channel)
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Beamish and crawford Brewery
Evergreen Buildings was formerly known as Barrack Lane and the neat terrace of red-bricked houses, as well as many others in this area, were built during the 1870s and 1880s following the clearance of the narrow, unsanitary alleyways and old dilapidated houses that stood here previously. This leads you onto Industry Street, and the part of which you walk along now was also newly constructed around the same time. To the east of this street stood the old Blue Coat School, which taught boys of the Protestant religion and apprenticed them out to various trades from around 1700 until 1916. The 13th century St Stephen’s Church and Leper Hospital had previously stood on this site. Now you face the rear of the former St Nicholas Church of Ireland. It stands on a site that has been occupied since at least the 12th century, when the last leader of the Ostmen, the name given to the descendents of the Viking settlers in Cork, Gilbert, son of Turgarius, had his Court here. A church dedicated to St Nicholas has stood here since around 1177, and the present church, which opened in 1850, is the third one to occupy this site.
National monument
War memorial
Holy Trinity church
School of music
Friary
River lee (South channel)
Nano Nagle Footbridge
South Gate Bridge
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Parliament Bridge
college of commerce
Proby’s Bridge
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Trinity Footbridge
St marie’s of the Isle convent
Beamish and crawford Brewery Stables
college of Art and Design
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James morrison House
elizabeth Fort
St Nicholas’ church
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South chapel church
Synagogue
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St Fin Barre’s cathedral
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Red Abbey
Prosperity Square
Nano Nagle’s Tomb
South Presentation convent
Following the directions from the South Chapel plaque:
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As you enter George’s Quay, notice on your left the row of buildings that run westwards and how they have been constructed with a stepped effect to keep them in line with the quayside. For centuries the river here would have been a very busy area, with many ships tied up on both sides of it, loading and un-loading their wares. Heading east, you pass two beautiful examples of 18th century bow-fronted Georgian houses. One of these was used in the 19th century as a friary for the Capuchins of the Holy Trinity Church across the river, later it became the presbytery for the priests of the South Chapel. Two well- known figures associated with this area were the Folklorist Thomas Crofton Croker, who was born on Buckingham Place and the Miniaturist Painter Adam Buck, who is believed to have lived there for a few years. Here also stands the large 18th century residence of James Morrison, now part of the College of Commerce, and beyond that were the fine Georgian houses built by him on the South Terrace in the latter half of that century. During the 19th
Following the directions from the St Nicholas Church plaque:
The thoroughfare that today incorporates both Abbey Street and Douglas Street has gone through a number of name changes since it was first named Red Abbey Lane in around 1726. By the end of the 18th century, it had been divided into two sections, with the western end called Abbey Lane (now Abbey Street) and the eastern end called Cove Lane (now Douglas Street). To the north of Abbey Street runs Cove Street, which has the distinction of being the place of residence of two of Ireland’s great 19th century figures, the sculptor John Hogan and the “Apostle of Temperance” Fr Mathew. Occupying the southern side of Douglas Street is a historical site of national importance, where the foundations of Catholic education for the masses were laid by the great Nano Nagle in the 18th century. The Penal Laws were still in force at that time, yet she disregarded her own well-being
Following the directions from the St Fin Barre’s Cathedral plaque: On leaving the cathedral you enter Dean Street, so-called because it was where the Dean of St Fin Barre’s resided for the past couple of centuries. Recently a new Deanery was built just to the west of Dean Street. There is a gateway in the boundary wall of the cathedral, inside of which can be seen a beautiful carved archway. This formed the entrance to the previous, 18th century cathedral, and was placed here following its demolition in the 1860s. A bit further on, leading off to the right is Vicar Street, where some of the oldest houses in Cork are said to stand. Just opposite Vicar Street, in the boundary wall of the cathedral you can see
name and it indicates that it is one of the oldest thoroughfares in Cork City. Opposite Keyser’s Hill is a very unusual bridge, Proby’s Bridge. It is really only half a bridge, as what was originally the western side of the bridge now forms part of the roadway. The old river channel has been culverted and runs westwards under the modern road surface. This road still retains the name Proby’s Quay, remembering the old waterway that ran in front of it. Following the directions from the Bishop’s Street plaque: On the northern side of the street, the old stables of Beamish and Crawford’s Brewery were built around 1902 to the designs of Houston & Houston. The foundation stone of the convent
of St Marie’s of the Isle was laid in 1850 and completed within two years. Additional buildings, such as schools, a chapel, and an orphanage were added to the complex over the rest of that century. As you turn the bend in Bishop’s Street to make your way to the gates of the cathedral, on the other side of the street you will see the gates leading to the Episcopal residence of the Church of Ireland Bishop Paul Colton, who officiated at the wedding of the footballer David Beckham and Victoria Adams in 1999. Next to those gates stands the beautiful 18th century Carrigbarre House. Enter the grounds of the cathedral and you are entering the place out of which grew the foundations of our great City of Cork, and a place of worship for fourteen centuries.
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