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Cork City And County

THE KINO ON WASHINGTON STREET IN CORK

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CURRENT MURAL IS NOT AS INTERESTING AS THE JACKIE OH MURAL

Dragon by Dan Leo has replaced the Jackie Oh mural at the Kino on Washington Street in Cork and to be honest I am a bit disappointed but that does not mean that I do not like the new artwork. Also, the Banger Events sign does not help.

The Kino was a 250 capacity arthouse cinema and music venue. Recently, not sure when, the Kino cultural complex reopened as a fully-licenced bar and nightclub.

Washington Street is a street in central Cork city, Ireland. Built in 1824, it runs from the old medieval town centre onto the site of the western marshes, and today links the Western Road and Lancaster Quay with the Grand Parade.

EXAMPLES OF THE CELTIC CROSS

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ST. FINBARR’S CEMETERY IN CORK CITY

The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses erected across the islands, especially in regions evangelised by Irish missionaries, from the ninth through the 12th centuries.

A staple of Insular art, the Celtic cross is essentially a Latin cross with a nimbus surrounding the intersection of the arms and stem. Scholars have debated its exact origins, but it is related to earlier crosses featuring rings. The form gained new popularity during the Celtic Revival of the 19th century; the name “Celtic cross” is a convention dating from that time. The shape, usually decorated with interlace and other motifs from Insular art, became popular for funerary monuments and other uses, and has remained so, spreading well beyond Ireland.

The Celtic Revival of the mid-19th century led to an increased use and creation of Celtic crosses in Ireland. In 1853, casts of several historical high crosses were exhibited at the Dublin Industrial Exhibition. In 1857, Henry O’Neill published Illustrations of the Most Interesting of the Sculptured Crosses of Ancient Ireland. These two events stimulated interest in the Celtic cross as a symbol for a renewed sense of heritage within Ireland.

New versions of the high cross were designed for fashionable cemetery monuments in Victorian Dublin in the 1860s. From Dublin, the revival spread to the rest of the country and beyond. Since the Celtic Revival, the ringed cross became an emblem of Celtic identity, in addition to its more traditional religious symbolism.

Modern interest in the symbol increased because of Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie. The two worked on the island of Iona in Scotland from 1899 to 1940 and popularised use of the Celtic cross in jewelry. Using the Celtic cross in fashion is still popular today.

Since its revival in the 1850s, the Celtic cross has been used extensively as grave markers. Straying from medieval usage, when the symbol was typically used for a public monument. The Celtic cross now appears in various retail items. Both the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Northern Ireland national football team have used versions of the Celtic cross in their logos and advertising. The Church in Wales since 1954 have used a flag with a Celtic cross in the centre.

PALMENTO PIZZA

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ON CHURCH STREET IN DOUGLAS CORK

Palmento Pizza in Douglas was started by one of the Tavolieri family who’ve been operating pizzerias in Cork for over thirty years and I read in a local newspaper that they have confirmed that they will be opening a brand new Cork city centre restaurant in a unit on the Boardwalk at Lapps Quay which has been closed since 2019.

Lapp’s Island was once an island in the River Lee. It is now joined with the island which forms the centre of Cork City, Ireland and refers to the eastern tip of that island.

It was apparently named after an owner in the 17th century. The island had probably been reclaimed from swamp at that time. In the 18th century it was separated from the main island by a canal which roughly followed what is now Parnell Place. It was fully joined to the main island by 1832.

The Custom’s House, at the eastern extremity of the island, sits on what was called the tongue of Lapps’s Island, and the modern Lapp’s Quay sits on the southern shore of Lapp’s island.

HOLLAND PARK IN CORK HAS CHANGED SINCE MY LAST VISIT

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CORK CITY TO PASSAGE WEST GREENWAY

There was a thunder storm underway when I visited this area of the Marina.

The first phase of the Cork City to Passage West Greenway was officially opened in April 2023

The 3km greenway provides a high-quality recreational and commuter corridor between Cork City Docklands and Mahon tracing the route of the 19th century Cork, Blackrock, and Passage Railway line. The greenway provides a wide accessible route for pedestrians and cyclists. There are new and improved access ramps such as the one at Holland Park.

The new greenway has access points at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, the Old Blackrock Railway station, Blackrock Road, Skehard Road, and Mahon. There are also additional points of entry by the Marina Park and Eden development.

When I visited Cork Marina back in 2018 the area known as Holland Park was predominantly an open green field bordered by the embankment and Dundonion Castle to the south. A recent tree survey indicated interesting tree species planted around in the open field and looks like an arboretum that started around 30 years ago but not developed any further. This grassland habitat was wild and unmanaged and was composed largely of coarse grass species and ruderals but is more species rich than the amenity grassland found elsewhere in the area.

In 1837, the Passage Railway Bill was passed in the Westminster Parliament but work only got underway in the late 1840s. By this time, the Cork Passage Railway Company had been reformed into the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway Company. Legislation was passed for this company in 1846 and in September of that year, the company’s engineer Sir John MacNeil carried out the relevant survey work.

The entire length of track between Cork and Passage West was in place by April 1850 and within two months, the line was opened for passenger traffic.

The City’s terminus, designed by Sir John Benson, was based on Victoria Quay but due to the creation of the Cork City Park Racecourse in 1869, it was rebuilt and opened in 1873 on Hibernian Road. The old building can still be seen.

In the early 1930s because of reduced revenues the company ceased operations

I WALKED ALONG RICHMOND HILL

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FROM THE FEVER HOSPITAL STEPS TO HARDWICK STREET

I walked from the top of the Fever Hospital Steps all the way along Richmond Hill to Hardwick Street.

Hardwick Street may be named after Philip Yorke, the Third Earl of Hardwicke, who was the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1801 to 1806.

The Cork Fever Hospital and House of Recovery was founded in the year 1802 by Dr. Milner Barry from Bandon, Co. Cork. Fever was endemic in Ireland at the time. The buildings were situated in an ‘airy part’ of the city at the top of Richmond Hill; the steps leading to the hospital from the Murphy’s Brewery area were known as the Fever Hospital steps. The cost of erecting the buildings and the running expenses of the hospital were met mainly by charitable donations, and the administration of the hospital were by a voluntary management committee.

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