Cork

Cork, a city and parliamentary borough of Ireland, capital of County Cork, and a county in itself, on the Lee, 11 miles above its mouth, and 166 SW. of Dublin by rail. Standing in the centre of a picturesque valley, it is built in part on an island, or group of islands, formerly a swamp, which the word Cork, Corcoch, or Corcaig implies; in part, on the north and south slopes of the river-banks. The houses are generally of old red sandstone. Nine bridges cross the river to the central islands. There is a spacious public park of about 400 acres, the chief use of which is as a racecourse, and a walk known as the Mar-dyke, above a mile long, lined by noble elms, on the west of the city. There is also a beautiful public cemetery. Cork has a pleasant picturesqueness from its uneven ground, irregular streets, intersecting river, and overhanging heights. The chief buildings are St Anne Shandon's Church, with a tower 170 feet high; the Protestant Cathedral, Early English in style, erected since 1865 at a cost of £100,000; several Catholic churches; 4 monasteries; 2 nunneries; the bishop's palace; the Queen's College, a fine Tudor-Gothic quadrangular building, opened in 1849; the Schools of Science and Art, erected mainly through the munificence of a citizen, Mr W. H. Crawford. The banks of the Lee above and below Cork are richly planted, and studded with villas. The Lee in both branches is navigable to about a mile above the city, and a large sum has been expended on the improvement of the navigation by the harbour commissioners. The extent of the quays is now above 4 miles, and ships of 2000 tons reach them. Cork harbour, noted for its size and safety, is a basin of 10 sq. mi., formed by the estuary of the Lee. It could contain the whole British navy, and has been the main source of the rise and progress of the city. It is the port of call for the transatlantic steamers plying between Liverpool and New York, the vessels of seven different lines touching each week to embark or discharge mails and passengers. The estuary contains several large isles, rising abruptly and high above the water, with narrow channels between them. The entrance is by a channel two miles by one, defended by batteries. Carlisle Fort on the east side, and Camden Fort on the west, while Spike Island, now called Fort Westmoreland, commands the entrance. In these forts some of the heaviest ordnance in the kingdom may be found, Camden in addition possessing a torpedo and submarine battery of immense destructive power. Spike Island has ceased to be a convict establishment, and is used now as a military depot. Adjoining the island of Haulbowline, on which are erected extensive government stores, is a large government dock, where vessels of the British fleet may be repaired. On the shores of the estuary are the towns of Passage and Queenstown, formerly Cove of Cork. Cork harbour is much frequented by wind-bound ships and ships waiting orders. In the years 1894-98 inclusive, an average of 2402 vessels, with a total tonnage of 563,319, entered the port annually, and an average of 2382 vessels, with a total tonnage of 619,413, cleared. The chief manufactures are leather, iron, gloves, gingham, friezes, flour, malt liquors, and whisky. The chief exports are grain, provisions, butter, live-stock, leather, and tweeds, valued at several millions sterling yearly. Pop. (1871) 78,642; (1881) 80,124—parl. bor. 104,496; (1891) 73,345, of whom five-sixths are Roman Catholics. Cork returns two members to parliament.—Cork grew up around an abbey founded in 600 by St Finbar. The Danes in the 9th century built the city walls. Dermot MacCarthy, king of Cork or Desmond, surrendered it to Henry II. in 1172. Cromwell besieged and took it in 1649, and Marlborough in 1690. James II. landed at Cork in 1688. In Cork, William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, became a Quaker. There is a statue of Father Mathew (q.v.), who laboured here many years. See Miss Cusack's History of the City and County of Cork (Dublin, 1875). For the Earls of Cork, see BOYLE.