4. Description of project area
The Shandon IUS project area is located to the immediate north of Cork city centre. This historic area was, along with the borough of Fayth to the south (present-day Barrack Street area), one of the initial extra-mural suburbs to have developed beyond the core of the walled city during medieval times and was an important commercial, industrial and trading centre during the post- medieval period.
Figure 11: Early 20 th -century street scene from Church Street, Shandon (source: National Library of Ireland catalogue)
Shandon remains an area of significant social, economic, cultural, and religious importance. The area is compact and densely built-up, housing a diverse range of activities in its 18 th and 19 th - century buildings as well as in many more recent structures. It is an area that, though it has seen much change in recent years, still retains its historic pattern of streets, lanes and steps. Labourers’ cottages from the 18 th -century sit alongside modern infill developments, while monumental buildings such as the Firkin Crane, the North Cathedral and the tower of St. Anne’s Church give the area its own unique identity.
The IUS project area encompasses all principal streets and associated laneways and green spaces within the Shandon area including Shandon Street, Church Street, John Redmond Street, Roman
Integrated Urban Strategy, Shandon, Cork Baseline archaeological assessment
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