County Cork

Philipps-UniversitÐ"¤t Marburg

Fachbereich 10: Fremdsprachliche Philologien

Institut fÐ"јr Anglistik und Amerikanistik

PS: The Landscape of Ireland

Leitung: Madeleine Kinsella

Hausarbeit von Mathias Weber

County Cork

County Cork

The aim of this term paper is to give an overview of the county Cork, beginning with its geographical location then present some historical events that are relevant to the history of Cork and finally show the places of interest, both of the county Cork and of the city itself.

The population amounts to 400,000 inhabitants according to the CSO and the principal city, Cork city, covers an area of 378 hectares with about 120,000 inhabitants. County Cork also includes 640 km of coastline with many beaches, steep cliffs, making the importance of the sea play an even greater importance since Cork has one the principal harbor of Ireland. It connects Ireland to France (Roscoff, Le Havre) and the United Kingdom (Swansea). Until the sixties it used to be the starting point of many steamers for America and also the departure point of three million Irishmen who emigrated to the “new world” in the 19th. This port has in fact contributed a lot to the economic and commercial development of Cork and the whole of Ireland. The climate is also largely influenced by the ocean: soft, wet and windy thus allowing a great variety in flora and fauna.

Cork derives from the Irish ‘Corcah Mor Mumham’ and means the ‘great Marsh of Munster’ and refers to the fact that the center of Cork city is built on islands, surrounded by the River Lee, which were marshy and prone to episodes of flooding. Some of the waterways between the islands were built over to form some of the main streets of present day Cork. The oblong shape of the city center island, bounded by the north and south channel of the Lee give Cork much of its physical charm. Spencer even immortalized the unusual topography of the city when he wrote:

“The spreading Lee that like an island fayre

encloseth Cork with his divided flood”

Even tough a few prehistoric artifacts have been found, the monastery of Cork represents one of the earliest evidence of human settlement in this region. As said earlier the sea played an important role in the history of Cork as the first foreign known settlers came using maritime means: the Vikings frequently raided isolated monasteries. An attack by the Vikings is reported to have taken place around Cork in 802; they raided the abbey and the settlement nearby. The Vikings and the monastic community eventually coexisted peacefully but this period of tranquility was disturbed in 914 A.D by massive raids on Cork and Munster from Scandinavia. By the 12th, the descendant of the Vikings had mixed with the native settlers. These people are known as the Eastmen or Ostmen. Cork was starting to become an important city and was under the rule of the Mac Carthy King of Desmond. He established Cork as his capital and built some fortification around the city. But the rule of the Ostmen came to an end in 1169, the year when Normans landed at Bannow Bay in Wexford and began the Norman conquest of Ireland. A few years later, in 1182, the Normans extended the fortification. The wall was then extended over time and the mediaeval city became one of the greatest fortified towns of Ireland.

During the 13th and 14th, the city prospered thanks to the trades and crafts that flourished in Cork. This prosperous state encountered a few setbacks such as the Black Death, the need to defend the city against the native population living outside the city and by a devastating fire in 1354. In the middle of the 14th, the plague decimated the population of Europe. It is estimated that 35 per cent of the population of Cork city died. The Black Death had a devastated effect on the social and economic life of the city. In the 15th, Cork was ruled by an oligarchy of wealthy merchant families who did not do much in improving the fortunes of Cork. The next century was marked by the Desmond rebellion, the impact of the reformation and the Elizabethan wars. Religion became an important issue as the unity of the European Christendom was sundered by the Reformation, which was sparked by the 95 theses of Martin Luther in 1517 condemning corruption and practices that did not seem to have a biblical foundation. The 17th saw important events taking place in the history of Cork and Ireland: the battle of Kinsale in 1601 and the flight of the Earls in 1607. This battle of was a turning point in the Irish history: O’Neil joined Hugh O’Donnell; Earl of Tyrconnell in armed resistance to England. O’Neil was a skilled leader, won early victories over superior English forces ant the battle of Yellow Ford near Monaghan in 1598, recorded Spanish reinforcements in 1601 and marched with his army south to confront the enemy at Kinsale in Cork but was defeated. Spanish forces also surrendered. So when the Earls of Tyronne and Tyrconnell fled in 1607, it marked the end of Gaelic Ireland as a distinct political system. It eventually paved the way to English rule over the whole of Ireland.

Despite political turmoil, the economy of Cork began to improve in the first half of the century; the population is believed to have trebled from approximately 300 in 1600 to 900 in 1640, the town also expanded. The English government encouraged trade and development of agriculture and Cork became a major center for the export of goods (exports of hides, pipe staves, rugs and tallow) and imports of wine, salt and other commodities. Trade with other ports, like Bristol or Bordeaux and even with the West Indies, was increasing.

The economic prosperity of the city began to recover in the second half of the 17th mainly through the provision trade: salted beef, pork and butter were exported to the wets Indies. The ability of Cork harbors to shelter large fleets was a major factor in the expansion of the provision trade in the Cork. Cork butter market, the woolen and cotton industries also flourished during this period. The physical development mirrored the economic development of Cork. But the close link of Cork’s economic prosperity to the war economy and the export of salted goods proved to be weaknesses in the period of peace following the Napoleonic war and later by the development of refrigeration.

Meanwhile