Trip along the New Route
The curve of St Patrick’s Street follows the line of a river that once flowed freely along it. St Patrick’s Street has held many historic gatherings over the years with rallies from political figures such as Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Collins. Many of the buildings were destroyed during the Burning of Cork in the War of Independence in 1920. Today it stands proud as the main street in Cork City . ½ mile in to your run you pass the Opera House on your left hand side as you continue on down the quay to cross the River Lee at North Gate Bridge. On the one mile mark you pass St. Marys Dominican Church on the left with the River Lee now on your right hand side. Following Sinn Féin’s victory in the local elections of January 1920, Tomás Mac Curtain was elected Lord Mayor of Cork on 31 January 1920. His tenure as the first Republican to hold the office, however, was cut short. In the early hours of his 36th birthday, on 20 March 1920, members of the RIC (the Royal Irish Constabulary) burst into his house in Blackpool and shot him dead in front of his family. The shocking murder brought near universal condemnation. At the coroner’s inquest into the killing, the jury passed a verdict of wilful murder against the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, and various members of the RIC. Just before the Church of the Annunciation on Great William O’Brien Street, a monument to Mac Curtain stands on the right-hand side outside the Baldy Barbers’ shop. You’ll pass Mac Curtain’s house where he was murdered shortly after the two-mile mark, on the left-hand side just as you come onto Thomas Davis Street. It’s commemorated by a plaque over the Daybreak shop, opposite the church.
St. Patrick’s Street, Opera House, Dominican Church.
Tomás Mac Curtain & Blackpool
24 Cork City Marathon 2026
Powered by FlippingBook