Cork City Centre Walk - Shandon Walk

A self-guided walking tour of Cork’s historic Shandon district.

Welcome to Cork Walks and in particular to this walk of the Shandon area. This is a self-guided walking tour of one of the older parts of the city of Cork and takes just under one 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 throughout the walk to help orient and guide you. Ten information panels are located at various 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 carrying 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, galleries, theatres and cafés. We hope you enjoy this Cork Walk.

The Shandon 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 traverses some of the most historically significant parts of Cork. At its centre is the Butter Exchange complex, the most successful part, but only a part, of the city’s international trading enterprise. Its imposing architecture speaks of the wealth and power which the merchant princes of the city once exercised, merchants now known only from the street names which they bequeathed to the city. The churches encountered on the walk also tell a tale: Anglican dominance in the 18 th century; Catholic resurgence in the 19 th century. The naming and renaming of streets gives a glimpse of the city’s political history. The walk is not simply a tour through the past. Shandon Street, the North Main Street, and Paul Street remain busy trading thoroughfares. The old Custom House is now incorporated into the Crawford Gallery; the Butter Exchange complex is now home to heritage and cultural bodies. 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.

A self-guided walking tour of Cork’s historic Shandon district.

described in 1690 as ‘a large round tower with 16 guns and a good entrenchment’. The terrace of houses to the left of the Firkin Crane have gable fronts, characteristic of early 18 th century Cork. Continue to Information Panel 6 (St Anne’s Church, Shandon). On the right side of Bob & Joan’s Walk is the birthplace of Jack Lynch, distinguished sportsman and former Taoiseach (Prime Minister). To continue the walk return along Bob & Joan’s Walk, turn right and, with the front of St Anne’s Church on your right, continue straight up toward the North Cathedral; at the end of Chapel Street, cross the road to Information Panel 7 (Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne). To continue the walk proceed to the main crossroads and cross the road onto the left hand side of Shandon Street. Walk down Shandon Street. You are now walking down what was the spine of the city’s commercial life in the 18 th century. Such was the scale of the beef trade that the area was known as the “slaughterhouse of Ireland”. Notice, on the right side of the street, the bow front of No 120 , a characteristic of 18 th and 19 th Cork architecture and the gable fronts of No’s 118 – 119 and No’s 111 – 112 . Continue on to Information Panel 8 (Shandon Street Area). Continue down Shandon Street. Beyond the Post Office, the car park of the modern Pope’s Quay apartment development was once the site of the 1693 Anglican St Mary’s Church, which was demolished in 1879 . It was described as ‘a neat parish church, with two windows in the east end’. Continue down Shandon Street to Information Panel 9 (Brown’s Square) and across Griffith Bridge (North Gate Bridge) to the North Main Street. Walking across Griffith Bridge you enter the medieval city. Up to the end of the 18 th century the bridge at this location was the only connection between the city and its rich agricultural hinterland to the north. The street itself was once the northern part of the main street of the city. On the footpaths are plaques which mark the sites of the lanes which ran off the street. Continue to the junction of Adelaide Street and North Main Street. This is the site of Skiddy’s Castle, marked by a plaque. The fireplace from the castle is now high in the wall of No 13 , which is on the left side of the street. The next Information Panel 10 (North Main Street) is situated at the Vision Centre, formerly St. Peter’s Church. The walk ends here. To return to Information Panel 1 on Daunt’s Square, continue along the North Main Street, turn left onto Castle Street and then right to Daunt’s Square.

The Shandon Walk

cathedral of St mary and St Anne (North Cathedral)

This walk begins on Daunt’s Square at Information Panel 1 . Continue from here and walk along Paul Street. This is an early 18 th century street. On the left is the 18 th century St Paul’s Church. It was in St Paul’s graveyard that strangers to the city, often mariners, were buried. At the junction with St Paul’s Avenue is the former SS Peter & Paul School and Presbytery, built in 1879 . Off Paul Street is the 1859 Church of SS Peter and Paul, designed by Edward Pugin, son of the more famous Augustus. At this point, Paul Street passes through Rory Gallagher Place, named to commemorate the guitarist, who grew up in Cork. Carey’s Lane and French Church Street, run off to the right. This area was associated with Cork’s once thriving Huguenot community, whose graveyard is on French Church Street. Continue across the junction of Paul Street and Half Moon Street, onto Emmet Place. Half Moon Street was the childhood home of the writer, Seán Ó Faoláin. The Crawford Art Gallery, designed by Arthur Hill, was built in 1884 and incorporates the 1724 Customs House. Continue around the front of the Crawford Gallery to Information Panel 2 (Emmet Place). From there cross the road at the Christy Ring Bridge (do not cross the bridge) and proceed left along the river side of Lavitt’s Quay. Lavitt’s Quay was named after Joseph Lavitt, merchant and onetime mayor of the city. The view across the river is to the Shandon area. The area is a creation of Cork’s rapid commercial expansion into the food trade in the 18 th century. No 16 Lavitt’s Quay, now encased in the modern development, is a late 18 th century house. By the 1820 s, this area was no longer a commercial docks but small trade continued into the mid 19 th century, using the stairways to the river, to the annoyance of the city fathers who considered “the practice of buying potatoes out of boats ... a source of riot.”. Continue along the quay to Information Panel 3 (Shandon Bridge). From there cross Shandon Bridge and turn right. Remain on the river side of the road. This river frontage is Pope’s Quay named after the Widow Pope who, in 1718 was “given liberty” to build a quay. In the 18 th century, this area was the thriving docks of the city. The houses fronting the river are early 18 th century. Continue along Pope’s Quay to view Information Panel 4 (St Mary’s Church). Next continue around the wide corner onto John Redmond Street. John Redmond Street, formerly Mulgrave Street, was laid out in the late 1830 s, to create access from the Butter Exchange

Presbytery

Key:

Skiddy’s Almshouse St. Anne’s church

Walk route

CHURCH STREET

BOB & JOAN WALK

Information Panel

Butter exchange

Hotel

Fingerpost guide

Firkin crane

DEVONSHIRE ST.

Dominican Priory

Brown’s Square

St. mary’s church

50 Pope’s Quay

Griffith Bridge

POPE’S QUAY

CAMDEN QUAY

Shandon Bridge

RIVeR lee (North channel)

christy Ring Bridge

St. Patrick’s Bridge rick’s Bri

opera House

LITTLE MARKET STREET

crawford Gallery

Rory Gallagher Place

finish

Vision centre @ St Peter’s

Presbytery

St Paul’s church

SS Peter & Paul

start

Daunt’s Square

To Tourist Information office

to the quays beyond St Patrick’s Bridge. It was renamed in the early part of the twentieth century to honour a leader of the Nationalist movement. Continue up the hill, passing Dominick Street on your left, and follow the curve of the street. Opposite is the former 1721 North Infirmary, now a hotel. A stone tablet listing the subscribers to the 1883 rebuilding is retained just inside the gates. Continue up John Redmond Street.

No 2 Rowland’s Lane was the home of Annie Moore, the first person to enter Ellis Island, New York. At the junction of John Redmond Street and Mulgrave Place is the Exchange Toffee Works. The Cork Shakespearian Company, the nursery of a generation of Cork actors guided by Father O’Flynn, is commemorated in stone above the side entrance to the toffee works. Opposite is the former home of the Butter Exchange Band, established in 1878. Continue to Information Panel 5 (The Firkin Crane). The Firkin Crane stands on the site of Shandon Castle

Index

Liberty Street . ................................. B5 Little Market Street ...................... C4 Mulgrave Place . ............................. C2 No 11 Emmet Place ........................ E4 North Cathedral Presbytery ......... C1 North Cathedral ............................... C1 North Main Street . ......................... B4 North Mall . ...................................... A3 Old Friary Place .............................. C2 Old Mallow Road . ......................... E3 Paul Street ....................................... D5 Pine Street . ....................................... E3 Pope’s Quay ..................................... B3 Roman Street . .................................. D1 Roman Walk . ................................... D3 Shandon Bridge . .............................. C3 Shandon Craft Centre .................. C2 Shandon Street . ............................... C1 Skiddy’s Almshouse ....................... D2 St Anne’s Church ........................... C2 St Patrick’s Bridge .......................... F4 St Patrick’s Street . ........................ D5 St Paul’s Avenue ............................. D4 St Paul’s Church ............................. D5 St Peter’s Church ............................ B4 St Rita’s Place . ................................ B3 Tourist Information Office .......... D5 Widderling’s Lane . ......................... C3 Wolf Tone Street .............................. B1 Information Panels No 1 . .................................................. D5 No 2 ................................................... E4 No 3 . .................................................. E3 No 4 ................................................... C2 No 5 . .................................................. D2 No 6 .................................................... C1 No 7 ................................................... B2 No 8 . .................................................. B3 No 9 .................................................... B4 No 10 ................................................. C4

50 Pope’s Quay . ............................ D3 Academy Street ............................... E5 Adelaide Street . .............................. B4 Bachelor’s Quay .............................. A4 Blarney Street . ................................. A3 Bob & Joan Walk . ........................... D2 Bridge Street . .................................... F3 Broguemaker’s hill . ........................ B2 Brown’s Square ................................ B3 Camden Quay ................................. E3 Carroll’s Quay . ................................ E3 Carey’s Lane ................................... D5 Castle Street . .................................. C5 Cathedral Avenue ............................ C1 Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne (North Cathedral) .................................. C1 Cathedral Road . .............................. B1 Cathedral Street . ............................ C1 Chapel Street ................................... C1 Christy Ring Bridge ......................... E4 Church of SS Peter and Paul ...... D5 Church Street . ............................... C2 Coal Quay ........................................ C3 Coburg Street .................................. F3 Cork Butter Exchange .................. C2 Cork Butter Museum . .................. C2 Cork Opera House ......................... E4 Cork Vision Centre ......................... B4 Cornmarket Street . ....................... C4 Crawford Municipal Art Gallery.E4 Daunt’s Square .............................. D5 Devonshire Street .......................... E3 Dominican Church of St Mary ... D3 Dominican Priory . ......................... D3 Dominick Street ............................ C2 Eason’s Avenue .............................. C2 Eason’s Hill ........................................ D1 Emmet Place . .................................. E4 Exchange Street . ........................... C2 Fair Street . ......................................... B1 Firkin Crane ...................................... C2 French Church Street . ................. D5 Gerald Griffin Street ...................... C1 Glen Ryan Road .............................. A2 Graffiti Theatre Company . ......... C2 Grand Parade ................................... D5 Grattan Street . ................................ A4 Griffith Bridge (North Gate Bridge) .. B3 Half Moon Street ............................ E4 John Philpot Curran Street ............ C1 John Redmond Street . ................. D2 John Street Upper ......................... D2 Knapp’s Square ................................ E3 Kyle Street ....................................... C4 Kyrl’s Quay ....................................... B3 Lavitt’s Quay ................................... D4

COMHAIRLE CATHRACH CHORCAÍ CORK CITY COUNCIL

www.corkcity.ie

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-S-EN-09-09

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