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Cork is the second city of the Republic of Ireland and Ireland's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast respectively. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city of the province of Munster. The city proper has ... more »
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Airports Cork is the second city of the Republic of Ireland and Ireland's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast respectively. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city of the province of Munster.
The city proper has a population of 119,143 (2006 census), a decrease from the 2002 population of 123,062; however, this increases to 186,239 (2002 figures) if the suburbs of the city in the Cork County Council area are included. In the "Cork Joint Housing Strategy", it states that the 2006 population of Metropolitan Cork stands at approximately 274,000.
The city's name is derived from an Irish word corcach meaning "marshy place", referring to its situation on the River Lee. Cork has a reputation for independence dating from 1491, when some townsmen tried to overthrow the king of England, but more recently referring to its participation in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. This has given Cork the nickname of "the Rebel County". It is not unusual for Corkonians to refer to Cork as the "true capital of Ireland" or to feel they have a distinct identity from the rest of Ireland.
The River Lee flows through the city, an island in the river forming the main part of the city centre just before the Lee flows into Lough Mahon and thence to Cork Harbour, one of the world's largest natural harbours. The city is a major Irish seaport — with quays and docks sited along the broad waterway of the Lee on the city's East side.
Things to do
Cork city in general boasts some good quality architecture, capable of rivalling that of Dublin or Belfast. The main street, St. Patrick Street, was remodelled in the years up to 2004. As the main shopping street, it boasts striking buildings along its broad avenue (much of which is given to pedestrian use). Grand Parade, another part of the route, is a tree-lined avenue, home to many offices and financial institutions. The old financial centre, is the South Mall with several banks whose interior derive from the 19th century, and are very deserving of a visit, particularly Allied Irish Banks which was once an exchange. Many of its buildings are in the Georgian style, although the modern County Hall tower is the tallest building in the Republic of Ireland. Across the river is Ireland's longest building, the Mental Hospital built in Victorian times, which has now been renovated and converted into a residential housing complex.
Cork's most famous building, also accessible to the public, is the church tower of Shandon dominating the North side of the city, with the North and East sides faced in red sandstone, and the West and South sides in the predominant stone of the region, white limestone. The clock tower on the church is known by locals as The Four-faced Liar, as from the base of the building, each clock face appears to show a different time. The bells of Shandon may be rung by members of the public.
The City Hall, another splendid building of limestone, replaced the previous one destroyed by British forces on December 11th 1920 during the War of Independence in an event known as the "Burning of Cork". The cost of this new building was provided by the British Government in the 1930s as a gesture of reconciliation.
There are two cathedrals in the city: The Roman Catholic St Mary's Cathedral (commonly called the North Cathedral), and the Church of Ireland St Finbarre's Cathedral.
The modern Cork Opera House is one of the few such venues in Ireland.
Fitzgerald's Park, to the west of the city, is worth a visit — as are the grounds of University College Cork, through which the River Lee flows.
The English Market, accessible from Grand Parade, Patrick Street, Oliver Plunkett Street and Princes Street, is a covered market for fish, fruit, meat, spices and luxury foods. The origins of the market can be traced back to 1610, but the present building dates from 1786.
The cross-continent European walking route E8 trail starts at Cork, ending 4700 km away in Istanbul, Turkey.
The city has many local traditions in food and customs, some shared with other parts of Ireland, but some specifically local. Famously traditional Cork foods include Crubeens and Tripe and Drisheen. Other traditions include the (now discontinued) celebration which marked the return of meat to local tables at the end of lent. Observed up to the early 19th century, and called Whipping The Herring, it involved a local butcher parading through the streets to the Lee while flogging a herring with a whip. Followed by local people, once at the river he would drop the herring into the water, and, picking up leg of lamb adorned with ribbons, he would then parade back to his shop. There he would distribute cuts of the meat to the spectators.
Cork's cultural life is vibrant. Music, theatre, dance, and film all play a prominent role in city life. The Cork School of Music and the Crawford College of Art and Design provide a constant throughput of new blood, as do the active theatre components of many courses at University College Cork (UCC). Highlights include: Corcadorca Theatre Company, where Cillian Murphy (from Batman Begins and The Wind That Shakes The Barley) got his start; Cork Film Festival, a major supporter of the art of the short film; The Institute for Choreography and Dance, a national contemporary dance resource; the Triskel Arts Centre; Cork Jazz Festival; the Cork Academy of Dramatic Art (CADA). The Everyman Palace Theatre and the Granary Theatre both play host to large amounts of dramatic plays throughout the year.
Cork has been gaining cultural diversity for many years, with people immigrating from all over the world, particularly from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and various African nations. This is reflected in the recent growth of multi-cultural restaurants and shops, including the standard fare of Chinese and Thai restaurants, and more recently French patisseries, Indian buffets, and Middle Eastern kebab houses. Though Cork saw significant Jewish immigration from Lithuania and Russia in the late 19th century, and though Jewish citizens such as Gerald Goldberg (several times Lord Mayor), David Marcus (novelist) and Louis Marcus (documentary maker) played important roles in 20th century Cork, the Jewish community is now almost non-existent, but it still retains a Jewish quarter and a local synagogue.
Recent additions to the arts infrastructure include splendid modern additions to Cork Opera House and the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery. The new Lewis Glucksman Gallery opened in the Autumn of 2004 at UCC, was nominated for the prestigious Stirling Prize in the United Kingdom, and building is about to commence on a new €60 million School of Music building. Construction of the €50 million Brookfield UCC Medical School complex was completed in 2005.
Cork was the European Capital of Culture for 2005. One of the key projects was the Cork Caucus. In 2005, a Smart Telecom wireless network was installed making the city centre (or, at least, a 1.5 sq kilometre block within it) one of the first in Europe with a complete high-speed Wi-Fi network.
There is a rivalry between Cork and Dublin, similar to the rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona, but Corkonians will sometimes view themselves as different from much the rest of Ireland also, and refer to themselves as "rebels" (The county is known as the Rebel County). This distinctly Corkonian view has in recent years manifested itself in an (often lighthearted) reference to the region as The People's Republic of Cork (no connection to Communism). Citizens of the True Capital adorn themselves with t-shirts and other items which celebrate The People's Republic of Cork printed in various languages such as English, Irish, Polish and Italian. The Cork bicolour is flown at public and civic buildings (including city's main courthouse, bus station, railway station and major department stores). It is often flown along with the Irish tricolour, but sometimes on its own.
Air
Cork Airport is one of Ireland's main airports and gateway to the South of Ireland. It is situated on the south side of Cork City in an area known as Ballygarvan. More than 10 scheduled airlines fly to over 50 destinations with over 50 flights a day. The airport continues to grow and a total of 2.730 million passengers used the airport in 2005, which makes it the second busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin. The airport is currently building a second terminal that will be able to handle up to three million passengers annually, and allows for a pier extension which will boost capacity to 5 million. The airport plays a vital role in the development of Cork City, County and other surrounding areas and increased services to mainland Europe continue to develop. However, the national policy of requiring transatlantic flights to stop in Shannon in addition to Cork Airport's relatively short runway have hampered efforts to develop transatlantic services. Recent controversy regarding the new Cork terminal has come to the forefront, with a massive €180 million debt preceding the opening of the terminal, which opened on August 1st 2006.
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Bus
Cork City's public transportation is provided by the national bus operator Bus Éireann. Routes connect the city centre to the principal suburbs, colleges, shopping centres and places of interest. There are also two city bus routes, Route Numbers 1 and 19, that provide orbital services across the Northern and Southern districts of the city respectively. Bus service has been rated by locals as poor and often unreliable. Outside of the Cork city center focused around Patrick Street, bus stops remain unlabelled and without proper schedules, leaving patrons all the more perplexed. Many bus stops have no shelters and consist simply of a solitary red pole marked only with the Bus Éireann logo. Unlike other modern European cities, there are no rear exits on the bus, forcing all passengers to enter and exit through the same front door, further exacerbating the already inefficient system. The current one-way fare as of 2006 is €1.30. Although paper tickets are issued upon payment to the bus driver, the tickets are essentially useless as transfers are not permitted and the tickets expire as soon as you step off the bus. Very infrequently, a bus inspector may ask to see your ticket, even though it is nearly impossible to board the bus without being asked to purchase a ticket or to show a bus pass.
Ferry
The Cross River Ferry, from Rushbrooke to Passage West, links the R624 to R610. This service is useful when trying to avoid traffic on the Great Island (Cobh). Cork Ferryport is situated at Ringaskiddy, 16 km SE via the N28. Direct sea links are available to Roscoff (France) with Brittany Ferries and Swansea (Wales) with Swansea Cork Ferries. A connecting bus service is available to the city centre from the ferryport. Plans for a water taxi service are being finalised to provide traffic free connections for both commuters and tourists alike.
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Cork's city charter was granted by King John in 1185. However, Cork has its beginnings in a much earlier monastic settlement, founded by St Finbar in the sixth century. Over the centuries, much of the city was rebuilt, time and again, after numerous fires and attacks by Vikings or Norsemen. The city was at one time fully walled, and several sections and gates remain.
The title of Mayor of Cork was established by royal charter in 1318, and the title was changed to Lord Mayor in 1900. The centre of Cork was gutted by fires started by the Black and Tans in the War of Independence, part of the policy of reprisals at the time; it was also the site of some fierce fighting between Irish guerrilla leaders and British forces. During the Irish Civil War, Cork was for a time held by anti-Treaty forces, until it was retaken by the pro-Treaty National Army in an attack from the sea.
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* The highest air temperature recorded in Cork was 29 °C (84.2 °F). The lowest was -9 °C (15.8F).
Temperature - Yearly Average
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Distances are calculated as the crow flies, and are provided as an aid in planning only.
* This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Source wikipedia.
