Cork (city)
Cork is the second-largest city in the Republic of Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the province of Munster and the third-largest on the island of Ireland. At the 2022 census, it had a population of 224,004.
The city centre is an island between two channels of the River Lee which meet downstream at its eastern end, where the quays and docks along the river lead outwards towards Lough Mahon and Cork Harbour, one of the largest natural harbours in the world.
Cork was founded in the 6th century as a monastic settlement, and was expanded by Viking invaders around 915. Its charter was granted by Prince John in 1185. Cork city was once fully walled, and the remnants of the old medieval town centre can be found around South and North Main streets. The city's cognomen of "the rebel city" originates in its support for the Yorkist cause in the Wars of the Roses. Corkonians sometimes refer to the city as "the real capital", a reference to its opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty in the Irish Civil War.
History
Cork was originally a monastic settlement, reputedly founded by Saint Finbar in the sixth century. It became urbanised some point between 915 and 922 when Norseman settlers founded a trading port. It has been proposed that, like Dublin, Cork was an important trading centre in the global Scandinavian trade network. The ecclesiastical settlement continued alongside the Viking longphort, with the two developing a type of symbiotic relationship; the Norsemen providing otherwise unobtainable trade goods for the monastery, and perhaps also military aid.The city's charter was granted by Prince John, as Lord of Ireland, in 1185. The city was once fully walled, and some wall sections and gates remain today. For much of the Middle Ages, Cork city was an outpost of Old English culture in the midst of a predominantly hostile Gaelic countryside and cut off from the English government in the Pale around Dublin. Neighbouring Gaelic and Hiberno-Norman lords extorted "Black Rent" from the citizens to keep them from attacking the city. The present extent of the city has exceeded the medieval boundaries of the Barony of Cork City; it now takes in much of the neighbouring Barony of Cork. Together, these baronies are located between the Barony of Barrymore to the east, Muskerry East to the west and Kerrycurrihy to the south.
The city's municipal government was dominated by about 12–15 merchant families, whose wealth came from overseas trade with continental Europe—in particular the export of wool and hides and the import of salt, iron and wine.
The medieval population of Cork was about 2,100 people. It suffered a severe blow in 1349 when almost half the townspeople died of plague when the Black Death arrived in the town. In 1491, Cork played a part in the English Wars of the Roses when Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the English throne, landed in the city and tried to recruit support for a plot to overthrow Henry VII of England. The then-mayor of Cork and several important citizens went with Warbeck to England, but when the rebellion collapsed they were all captured and executed.
During the Williamite War in Ireland, the city was besieged in September 1690 leading to the surrender of its Jacobite garrison to the Earl of Marlborough.
In the 18th century Cork sustained its trade with Continental Europe, and was known for the export of wool, yarn, tallow, and hides. The title of Mayor of Cork that was established by royal charter in 1318 was changed to Lord Mayor in 1900 following the knighthood of the incumbent mayor by Queen Victoria on her visit to the city.
Since the 19th century, Cork had been a strongly Irish nationalist city, with widespread support for Irish Home Rule, and the Irish Parliamentary Party, but from 1910 stood firmly behind William O'Brien's dissident All-for-Ireland Party. O'Brien published a third local newspaper, the Cork Free Press. Cork was overtaken by Belfast as Ireland's second-largest city in the nineteenth century.
In the War of Independence, the centre of Cork was burnt down by the British Black and Tans, in an event known as the "Burning of Cork" and saw fierce fighting between Irish guerrillas and UK 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.
City boundary
The boundary was expanded in 1840, in 1955 and in 1965.In 2018, cabinet approval was given for a further extension of the Cork City boundary, to include Cork Airport, Douglas, Ballincollig and other surrounding areas. Legislation to expand the boundary of the city, which would increase its area to and the population within its bounds from 125,000 to 210,000, was debated and approved in Dáil Éireann in June 2018. Corresponding legislation was drafted during July 2018, and enacted as part of the Local Government Act 2019. The boundary change occurred on 31 May 2019, following the 2019 local elections.
Climate
The climate of Cork, like the majority of Ireland, is mild oceanic and changeable with abundant rainfall and a lack of temperature extremes. Cork lies in plant hardiness zone 9b. Met Éireann maintains a climatological weather station at Cork Airport, a few kilometres south of the city centre. The airport is at an altitude of and temperatures can often differ by a few degrees between the airport and the rest of the city. There are also smaller synoptic weather stations at UCC and Clover Hill. Due to its position on the coast, Cork city is subject to occasional flooding.Temperatures below or above are rare. Cork Airport records an average of of precipitation annually, most of which is rain. The airport records an average of 6.5 days of hail and 9.5 days of snow or sleet a year; though it only records lying snow for 2 days of the year. The low altitude of the city, and moderating influences of the harbour, mean that lying snow very rarely occurs in the city itself. At Cork airport, there are on average 218 "rainy" days a year, of which there are 80 days with "heavy rain". Cork is also a generally foggy city, with an average of 97.8 days of fog a year, most common during mornings and winter. Despite this, however, Cork is also one of Ireland's sunniest cities, with an average of 4.04 hours of sunshine every day and only having 63.7 days where there is no "recordable sunshine", mostly during and around winter.
Culture
The Cork School of Music and the Crawford College of Art and Design provide a throughput of new blood, as do the theatre components of several courses at University College Cork. Important elements in the cultural life of the city include: Corcadorca Theatre Company, of which Cillian Murphy was a troupe member prior to Hollywood fame; the Institute for Choreography and Dance, a national contemporary dance resource; the Triskel Arts Centre, which includes the Triskel Christchurch independent cinema; dance venue the Firkin Crane ; the Cork Academy of Dramatic Art, Montfort College of Performing Arts, and Graffiti Theatre Company; and the Cork Jazz Festival, Cork Film Festival and Live at the Marquee events. The Everyman Palace Theatre and the Granary Theatre both host plays throughout the year.Cork is home to the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, and popular rock musicians and bands including John Spillane, Rory Gallagher, Five Go Down to the Sea?, Microdisney, The Frank and Walters, Sultans of Ping, Simple Kid, Fred and Mick Flannery. The opera singers Cara O'Sullivan, Mary Hegarty, Brendan Collins, and Sam McElroy are also Cork born.
Ranging in capacity from 50 to 1,000, the main music venues in the city are the Cork Opera House, The Everyman, Cork Arts Theatre, Cyprus Avenue, Dali, Triskel Christchurch, The Roundy, and Coughlan's.
The city's literary community centres on the Munster Literature Centre and the Triskel Arts Centre. The short story writers Frank O'Connor and Seán Ó Faoláin hailed from Cork, and contemporary writers include Thomas McCarthy, Gerry Murphy, and novelist and poet William Wall.
Additions to the arts infrastructure include modern additions to the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery and renovations to the Cork Opera House in the early 21st century. The Lewis Glucksman Gallery opened in the Autumn of 2004 at UCC, was nominated for the Stirling Prize in the United Kingdom, and the building of a new €60 million School of Music was completed in September 2007.
Cork was the European Capital of Culture for 2005, and in 2009 was included in the Lonely Planet's top 10 "Best in Travel 2010". The guide described Cork as being "at the top of its game: sophisticated, vibrant and diverse".
There is a "friendly rivalry" between Cork and Dublin, similar to the first and second city rivalry between Manchester and London or Melbourne and Sydney. Some Corkonians view themselves as different from the rest of Ireland, and refer to themselves as "The Rebels"; the county is known as the "Rebel County". This view sometimes manifests itself in humorous references to the Real Capital and the propagation of t-shirts and street art celebrating the fictional The People's Republic of Cork.
Food
The city has many local traditions in food, including crubeens, tripe and drisheen, which were historically served in eating houses like those run by Katty Barry in the mid-20th century. The English Market sells locally produced foods, including fresh fish, meats, fruit and vegetables, eggs and artisan cheeses and breads. During certain city festivals, food stalls are also sometimes erected on city streets such as St. Patrick's Street or Grand Parade.In September 2020, the food hall Marina Market was established in the docklands area of the city. A former warehouse, the Marina Market is an indoor, open-air space in which food vendors operate, and also incorporates an events space. One year later in September 2021, The Black Market opened in the Ballintemple area. The Black Market is a similar concept to the Marina Market. Izz Cafe, a Palestinian restaurant which opened in the city in 2019, has won several awards.