Cork City

Cork (Corcaigh, meaning "marsh") is the second largest city in Ireland, located in the province of Munster.

The city centre is an island positioned between two channels of the River Lee which meet downstream at the eastern end of the city centre, 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 City Gaol - May 28, 1998
Model of the prison In 1806 an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the building of a new Cork City Gaol to replace the old gaol at the Northgate Bridge (the old gaol, which was nearly 100 years old, was on a confined site and was overcrowded and unhygienic). The work on the site, its approach roads and perimeters was commenced in 1816 and the building of the prison proper started in 1818 and it opened in 1824. The building was designed by William Robertson of Kilkenny and built by the Deane family. When the prison opened in the it housed both male and female prisoners, whose crimes were committed within the city boundary. Anyone committing a crime outside that boundary were committed to the County Gaol, across the river from the City Gaol near University College Cork. The 1878 General Prisons (Ireland) Act reorganised the prisons in Cork. The Cork City Gaol became a women's gaol (for Cork City and Cork County) and the Cork County Gaol near UCC became the men's gaol (for Cork City and Cork County). During the Irish War of Independence Republican women prisoners were imprisoned in the gaol. In October 1919, Constance Markievicz, the first woman to be elected to the British Parliament, was imprisoned at Cork Gaol for making a seditious speech. In January 1919, another member of Cumann na mBan, Mary Bowles, was imprisoned for arms offences. Later that month a Republican prisoner named Dolly Burke escaped from the prison. During the Civil War 1922-23 the prison was opened to male and female Republican (anti-treaty) prisoners. The gaol closed in August 1923, with all remaining prisoners either released or transferred to other prisons. From 1927 the top floor of the Governors house was used as a radio broadcasting station by 6CK, the first official radio station in Cork, Ireland. 6CK was succeeded by a national radio station – Radio Éireann (now Raidió Teilifís Éireann), and broadcasting continued at the gaol until the 1950s. Apart from the radio broadcasting and some storage use of the exterior grounds by the Dept, Posts & Telegraphs, the gaol complex was allowed to become totally derelict. The building reopened to the public as a visitor attraction in 1993.
Cork City Gaol - May 28, 1998
Warder's Rest Room In 1806 an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the building of a new Cork City Gaol to replace the old gaol at the Northgate Bridge (the old gaol, which was nearly 100 years old, was on a confined site and was overcrowded and unhygienic). The work on the site, its approach roads and perimeters was commenced in 1816 and the building of the prison proper started in 1818 and it opened in 1824. The building was designed by William Robertson of Kilkenny and built by the Deane family. When the prison opened in the it housed both male and female prisoners, whose crimes were committed within the city boundary. Anyone committing a crime outside that boundary were committed to the County Gaol, across the river from the City Gaol near University College Cork. The 1878 General Prisons (Ireland) Act reorganised the prisons in Cork. The Cork City Gaol became a women's gaol (for Cork City and Cork County) and the Cork County Gaol near UCC became the men's gaol (for Cork City and Cork County). During the Irish War of Independence Republican women prisoners were imprisoned in the gaol. In October 1919, Constance Markievicz, the first woman to be elected to the British Parliament, was imprisoned at Cork Gaol for making a seditious speech. In January 1919, another member of Cumann na mBan, Mary Bowles, was imprisoned for arms offences. Later that month a Republican prisoner named Dolly Burke escaped from the prison. During the Civil War 1922-23 the prison was opened to male and female Republican (anti-treaty) prisoners. The gaol closed in August 1923, with all remaining prisoners either released or transferred to other prisons. From 1927 the top floor of the Governors house was used as a radio broadcasting station by 6CK, the first official radio station in Cork, Ireland. 6CK was succeeded by a national radio station – Radio Éireann (now Raidió Teilifís Éireann), and broadcasting continued at the gaol until the 1950s. Apart from the radio broadcasting and some storage use of the exterior grounds by the Dept, Posts & Telegraphs, the gaol complex was allowed to become totally derelict. The building reopened to the public as a visitor attraction in 1993.

Pembroke Street, Cork City, Ireland - May 28, 1998
View down Pembroke Street