Dance Cork
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Firkin Crane John Redmond Street, Shandon Guided tours at 11.30am, 12.30pm & 1.30pm. Partial wheelchair access
Dance Cork Firkin Crane is located at the foot of the Shandon Bells, in Cork’s North City Centre. This heritage building, which was part of the Butter Market, was opened in 1855. “Firkin” is a Danish word meaning quarter barrel, the firkins, or casks, were weighed on a balance known as a “Crane”, hence the building’s unusual name. After the Butter Market closed in 1924, the building was deserted for many decades. It was put up for sale in 1979, and Joan Denise Moriarty, then Director of the Irish National Ballet, successfully applied to the Arts Council to have the building bought and refurbished as a home for her Cork-based professional dance company. This unique building was opened by then Taoiseach Albert Reynolds in April 1992, preserving a building of architectural interest in one of the most historic areas of Cork City. In 2005, the organisation changed its name to the Institute of Choreography and Dance (ICD). The organisation began to offer residencies of many kinds, professional dance classes and workshops, and began commissioning, co-producing and presenting new dance works. Now renamed Dance Cork Firkin Crane, we are proud of our history as Ireland’s first dance house. We continue to build on that tradition as a presenting partner of the European Aerowaves network, inaugurating our Take Off Festival in February 2023. We remain an organisation dedicated to dance and to serving Cork and Ireland’s growing contemporary dance community. Guided tours of Dance Cork Firkin Crane will take place at 11.30am, 12.30pm & 1.30pm. ¶ Booking essential on www.dancecorkfirkincrane.ie
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