The Urban Cartographer Likes Cork

THE REAL CAPITAL CITY

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PHOTOGRAPHED IN MAY 2019 NOT LONG BEFORE IT WAS REPAIRED AND RESTORED

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DALY’S BRIDGE BUT LOCALLY IT IS THE SHAKEY BRIDGE

The formal opening of Daly’s Bridge took place on Saturday 9 May 1927.

As I did not know that it was officially named Daly’s bridge I was unable to locate this bridge and then I entered a laneway hoping for a short-cut and there was a pedestrian bridge that was in very poor condition.

This unusual and dramatically sited bridge is an important pedestrian crossing over the River Lee and replaced an earlier ferry crossing. Named Daly Bridge, it is better know locally as the Shaky Bridge due to the movement of its carriageway. Designed by Cork City Engineer S.W. Farrington with steelwork by the London-based David Rowell & Company of Westminster, it is the only suspension bridge in Cork city. Spanning 160 feet, it represents a significant technical and engineering feat.

CROSS RIVER FERRY SERVICE IN CORK

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GLENBROOK AND CARRIGALOE

My plan was to visit the Gleenbrook Side and then use the ferry to cross over to Carrigaloe but unfortunately the weather turned really bad, so bad that I could not use my camera so I decided to get a bus back to the city centre. But I had to wait about three hours for a bus and as my iPhone failed I was unable to call a taxi or go online to find out why there were no buses.

As it was August 2021 I assume that transport services had been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. Despite Ireland’s high vaccination rate, there was another surge in late 2021 due to the Omicron variant, with record-breaking cases being reported. Proof of vaccination or non-infection became mandatory to enter most indoor venues, but the government imposed another curfew on indoor hospitality from 20 December. Cases fell sharply, and the majority of restrictions, including mandatory mask wearing and social distancing, were eased in January and February 2022.

Established in 1993 Cross River Ferries is owned and operated by the Doyle Shipping Group. Doyle Shipping Group was founded in Cork in 1886 by Francis Denis Doyle.

Passage West (locally known as “Passage”) is a port town in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the west bank of Cork Harbour, some 10 km south-east of Cork city. The town has many services, amenities and social outlets. Passage West was designated a conservation area in the 2003 Cork County Development Plan.

In 1836, a new quay was built where the vessels could berth and land their passengers and freight. Sir John Arnott was chiefly responsible for the building of the granaries, intended for the storing of the freight from the vessels. The freight from one ship only was received there before the channel was dredged. The town then possessed three hotels and two dozen public houses. The dredging of the channel largely ended the importance of Passage as a port.

The ferry between Passage and Carrigaloe increased trade in the town. Until the opening of the Cork to Cobh Railway, the daily traffic on this ferry included up to 300 covered-in cars (jingles) carrying passengers from Cork. During the first twenty days of August 1836, over 20,000 people crossed on the ferry. The boats were flat-bottomed ones worked by a system of cables and pulleys, and capable of taking heavy cargoes. This ferry dated back to the reign of James I or earlier. In his reign, it was leased to a Patrick Terry for a yearly rent of 35 shillings. The opening of a railway line to Cobh (then known as Queenstown) caused the demise of the Passage ferry; however, in the early 1990s a car ferry service was opened between nearby Glenbrook and Carrigaloe on Great Island.

NUMBER ONE COOK STREET AND CARRIAGE ARCH ENTRANCE TO ELBOW LANE

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THE ZANIBAR RESTAURANT WAS LOCATED HERE

For many years my favourite Chinese Restaurant was located on Cook Street. The name of the Chinese restaurant was the Ambassador Chinese Restaurant. It closed after over 30 years in business. I visited on the last day and the manager told me that they had decided to close because the building had been purchased by Pennys [Primark]. The last time I checked the building appeared to be unoccupied.

Elbow Lane is the sign above the green gateway, Elbow Lane in Cork City is a narrow laneway that runs between Oliver Plunkett Street and Patrick Street in the heart of the city centre. The laneway is said to have gotten its name from the fact that it was once used by butchers to transport their meat to the market. The butchers would often have to bend their elbows to get through the narrow passage, hence the name. Note: There is an Elbow Lane restaurant located on Oliver Plunkett Street

This building at No One Cook Street is described as follows: “Terraced two-bay four-storey commercial building, built c. 1925, with single-bay two-storey block incorporating carriage arch to the south. Flat roof with rendered parapet, and having balustrade to southern bay. Rendered walls with incised render surrounds to window openings, and having decorative frieze over carriage arch. Render consoles, fascia, lettering and plaque to carriage arch, with pair of timber doors having wrought-iron hinges. Segmental-arched openings to first floor, square-headed opening and hexagonal opening to second floor, and square-headed openings to third floor. Timber casement windows.”

In 2022 Cork City Council approved plans submitted by Primark for the expansion of the city centre store. The plans would see the retail space of the store increase in size by 17,000 sq ft to 54,000 sq ft, with the project encompassing a site that stretches from Robert St to Cook St, and from Patrick St to Oliver Plunkett St. However, The owner of a property on Cook St, had expressed concerns surrounding the plans for Elbow Lane as part of the development. They property owner has argued that the developer has failed to answer questions such as how they propose to acquire Elbow Lane to develop those lands and secondly “how they propose to then accommodate the accrued private business usage rights for neighbouring premises over Elbow Lane at the Cook Street end of Elbow Lane for the permanent storage, for collection purposes, of refuse bins from that location since their planning application is set to close off that entrance for their sole private usage”.

The status of the Penneys expansion plan in Cork City Centre is that it has been approved. Cork City Council granted planning permission for the expansion in August 2023. The expansion is expected to take around two years to complete, and is estimated to cost around €30 million. Once completed, the new Penneys store will be one of the largest in the country.

THE SKY GARDEN BY DIARMUID GAVIN

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WON AN AWARD AT THE CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW IN 2011

The Sky Garden won an award at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2011 and it was planned for the Sky Gardens to come to Cork. The ‘pink pod’ element of the Sky Garden makes a stunning viewing point on the banks of the river next to the museum. It is also the centre piece of a state of the art gallery garden incorporating a cafe terrace, beautiful planting arrangements, a new impressive glazed canopy and an incredible series of stainless steel spheres and domes set amongst paths and planting arrangements.

Diarmuid Gavin (born 10 May 1964) is an Irish garden designer and television personality. He has presented gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show on nine occasions from 1995 to 2016, winning a number of medals, including gold in 2011. He has also authored or co-authored at least ten gardening-related books.

In May 2011 Gavin returned to Chelsea after a three-year gap, with his “Irish Sky Garden”, which attracted funding of more than €1.7 million from Fáilte Ireland, the Irish tourism body, and was also supported by Cork City Council. Gavin described the garden as inspired by the Oscar-winning animator Richie Baneham (who drove visual effects for Avatar), as well as by the “suspended table” novelty restaurant concept, and by the Midsummer Festival of the Senses at Cork, the landscapes of Capability Brown, Charles Jencks and the some Italian Renaissance figures. The garden was built in an ovoid container suspended more than 25 metres above the ground. Twenty-five reflecting and flowing pools on the ground showcased the garden, which could be visited by show-goers in groups of up to eight. This garden won the gold medal at the show.

The Sky Garden attracted controversy when Cork City Council in Ireland agreed to put the garden on permanent display at Fitzgerald’s Park in the Mardyke area of the city – at a cost of at least €300,000 to the cash-strapped council. The decision attracted widespread criticism including that of a number of Cork city councillors with Councillor Ted Tynan pointed out that there were over 500 boarded up local council houses in the city and demanded clarification from the council as to what the exact cost of the garden would be. In the end, the garden was not set up in its full form, but aspects of its design were used in a reworking of Fitzgerald’s Park.

THE COIS NA LAOI SCULPTURE BY BETTY GOLD 1994

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BESIDE THE RIVER LEE IN FITZGERALD PARK 2022

I usually have difficulty photographing this sculpture, in Fitzgerald Park, because children play on it but for some reason, maybe Covid-19 restrictions, there were very few children in the park when I visited in May 2022.

Betty Gold, a professional sculptor for more than 24 years, has worked in diverse media to create pieces that reflect her artistic focus on intensifying opposites. “I’ve always been interested in opposite ends of the spectrum, such as the contrast of my rugged, oversized, sandblasted outdoor steel sculptures with my indoor, delicate gold-leaf icon visuals.” Her works appear in more than 50 permanent installations and private collections throughout the world.

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