677 



CORK. 



CORK. 



578 



Cork included, besides the present county, a considerable tract in 

 Kerry and Limerick. In 1172 Dei-mod Mac-Carthy, king of Cork, 

 swore fealty to King Henry II., but broke his engagements, and the 

 kingdom thus forfeited was bestowed by King Henry in 1177 on 

 Robert Fitz-Stephen and Milo de Cogan. The city of Cork, with the 

 cantred adjoining, was reserved to the king. Fitz-Gerald, the 

 eighth earl of Desmond, a descendant of De Cogan, found himself in 

 possession of almost the entire kingdom of Cork ; but assuming to 

 himself the right of levying separate exactions on the king's subjects, 

 after the Irish manner, he was attainted of treason and beheaded at 

 Drogheda, 15th February 1467. Gerald, the fifteenth and last carl, 

 possessed territory to an amount almost unexampled in the history of 

 private property in Ireland. His estates extended upwards of 150 

 miles throughout the counties of Waterford, Cork, Kerry, and Lime- 

 rick, and comprehended an area of 574,628 acres, according to the 

 rough estimate of those times, the calculation seeming to have refer- 

 ence only to profitable land. When Simnel and \Varbeck endeavoured 

 to engage the English people in favour of their pretensions, many of 

 the Irish nobility who were of English descent left their estates in 

 Ireland in order to render assistance. While they were absent in 

 England the Irish returned from their fortresses and overran the new 

 plantations. 



On the breaking out of the northern rebellion in Elizabeth's time, 

 Cork * as considered the fittest place for an attempt in favour of the 

 Catholic cause under the auspices of King Philip of Spain, to whom 

 the country had been offered by Pope Gregory XIII. The principal 

 Irish agent in bringing about the invasion was James Fitz-Maurice, 

 the brother of tae fifteenth earl. The war which ensued was preda- 

 tory and sanguinary on both side*, and lasted till November 1583, 

 when the Earl of Desmond, after losing all his castles, and being driven 

 to lurk for months together in the woods, was put to death by one 

 Kelly. 'The forfeited estates were divided into seigniories, and granted 

 to English adventurers. Upwards of 20,000 acres fell to Sir Walter 

 Raleigh, who had been active in the suppression of the rebellion. In 

 1602 Sir Walter Raleigh conveyed his proportion in Cork and Water- 

 ford for a small sum to Sir Richard Boyle, afterwards earl of Cork. 

 On the breaking out of the rebellion of 1641 the English were generally 

 successful in retaining the walled towns and castles. Lord Castlehaven 

 had some successes on the other side in 1645, taking Mitchelstown, 

 Liscarrol, Mallow, Doneraile, and various castles north of the Black- 

 water in this county ; but these places did not long remain in his 

 hands. Two important engagements took place in the county in 1642 

 and 1647, in both of which the Irish were defeated. About 1657 

 Lord Broghill began to agitate the question of the restoration, which 

 event he was mainly instrumental in bringing about in 1660 ; he was 

 subsequently created Lord Orrery, and advanced to the presidency of 

 Munster. During the war of the Revolution this county was again the 

 theatre of a desultory but sanguinary series of conflicts between the 

 native Irish of the rural districts and the militia of British descent. 



The antiquities of Cork county are chiefly military, and comprise 

 nomc of the finest buildings of the kind in Ireland. The castle of 

 Kanturk, built by MTJonogh, Prince of Duhallow, is a quadrangle of 

 12' i feet by 80 feet, and about 70 feet in height. Lohort castle, 

 built in King John's reign, is a massive keep 80 feet high. Liscarrol 

 castle, of the same date, is already noticed. Blarney castle, built by 

 Cormack M'Carthy in 1449, is still a fine ruin, though only one- 

 fourth of the original building is now standing : the walls are 18 feet 

 thick, and the great tower 90 feet high. The other castles still 

 standing in the county are very numerous, and of great historical 

 i Ti* -rest. 



Cork county lies within the dioceses of Cork, Cloyne, Ross, and, 

 to a small extent, in Ardfert and Aghadoe. Cork is the assize-town. 

 The county jail, about three-quarters of a mile from the city, is 

 !<;red the most perfect institution of the kind in Ireland. 

 There are 18 bridewells in the other principal towns. Quarter 

 sessions for the east riding are held at Cork, Fermoy, Kanturk, 

 Kinsale, Mallow, Midleton, and Youghal ; for the west riding at 

 Bandon, Bantry, Clonakilty, Macroom, and Skibbcreen. The county 

 infirmary and lunatic asylum are at Cork : there are fever hospitals 

 at Cork and 15 other towns, and 71 dispensaries in the county. Cork 

 city is the head-quarters of the Cork military district : there are 17 

 barrack stations in the county. A -convict establishment commenced 

 in 1847 is maintained on Spike Island. The constabulary force 

 riiiiiilicre in all 647, including officers; in the east riding there are 

 \'i districts with 79 stations ; the west riding has 8 districts and 50 

 stations. The east riding has 19, and the west riding 33 stations 

 <rf tho coast-guard, including in all 29 officers and 246 men. In 

 1 -~i I there were three savings banks in the county at Cork, Fermoy, 

 and yougti.il. The amount owing to depositors on November 20th, 

 1851, wm 303,728*. 14. "'/. 



The county waa represented in the Irish Parliament by 26 



members, of whom two were returned by the county, two by the 



city of Cork, and two each by the boroughs of Kinsale, Youghal, 



Bsndon, Mallow, Doneraile, Rathcormack, Midleton, Charleville, 



nnit.yr, l'.!dtiinor>:, a.nd Clomikilt.y. With the exception of 



Guidon, Midl'.w, Kinnale, and You;;lial, tlnvx: boroughs, at the 



.(' representation. The ivpiv- 

 :..n in tin! Imperial Parliament is now confined to two members 



OKOO. luv. 



for the county at large, two for Cork city, and one for each of the 

 boroughs of Youghal, Baudon, Mallow, and Kinsale. 



(Smith, History of the County of Cork ; Cox, History of Ireland ; 

 Ordnance Survey Map ; Thorn, Irish Almanac.) 



CORK, Ireland, a municipal and parliamentary borough, an epis- 

 copal city, a county in itself, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, is 

 situated in 51 53' N. lat., 8" 20' W. long., distant 166 miles S.W. 

 from Dublin by the Great Southern and Western railway. The 

 population of the municipal borough in 1851 was 85,745, besides 

 4277 in the workhouse and other public institutions. The borough 

 is governed by 16 aldermen and 48 councillors, one of whom is 

 mayor ; and returns two members to the Imperial Parliament. The 

 public works are under the care of various bodies of commissioners. 

 Cork Poor-Law Union comprises 28 electoral divisions, with an area 

 of 169,828 acres, and a population in 1851 of 167,450. 



The city is situated on the river Lee, about 7 miles above the 

 expansion of that river which forms the land-locked harbour of Cork. 

 The central part occupies the eastern half of an island about two 

 miles iu length and half a mile in breadth at the widest part, formed 

 by the north and south channels of the Lee. The remainder of the 

 city is built on the declivities of the river banks ; the northern 

 section extending to the distance of about a mile northward with a 

 steep ascent along the leading road to Mallow, and the southern lying 

 along a gentle slope parallel with the river. The name of the city 

 (Corcayh) indicates the marshy nature of the site on which it is built. 

 The city is lighted with gas, and well supplied with water. Among 

 the public buildings in the insular part of the city are the custom- 

 house, the commercial buildings, the county club-house, and the 

 chamber of commerce. The city and county court-house, erected in 

 1835, at a cost of 22,000?., has an octostyle Corinthian portico, 

 stirmounted by colossal emblematic figures of Justice, Law, and Mercy. 

 The columns, which are 30 feet high and advanced 20 feet in front of 

 the building, rise from a platform 7 feet above the level of the street. 



From the island a fine approach to the city is afforded through 

 Great George-street and along the Western-road. In the northern 

 part of the city are the city jail, and extensive barracks. The 

 church of St. Anne Shandon stands on the ascent of tho hill, and as 

 its tower rises 170 feet high, it makes a conspicuous appearance. 

 On the south side of the river are the corn exchange, the lunatic 

 asylum, the cathedral, the Queen's college, and the county jail. Tho 

 cathedral is a plain oblong building, almost wholly of modern 

 erection. A pointed doorway, and the tower, which is surmounted 

 by an octagonal spire, are the principal portions of the old building 

 remaining. The diocesan library stands to the east of the cathedral. 

 On the west is the episcopal palace, and to the west of this, on a 

 bold site overlooking the gardens and promenades of Mardyke, from 

 which it is separated by the south channel of the Lee, stands the 

 Queen's college. The northern front, extending 300 feet, exhibits a 

 bold elevation in the later English style. An entrance tower, 70 feet 

 high, and an examination hall, advanced beyond the line of the 

 facade, are conspicuous features. The interior quadrangle is cloistered 

 on two sides. The material of the building is gray limestone. Both 

 branches of the river, with the exception of a portion of tho 

 southern channel, are quayed throughout the whole extent of the 

 city. The river is crossed by nine bridges, of which the principal 

 are St. Patrick's bridge, of three arches, leading to St. Patrick's- 

 street from the northern side of the river, and Anglesey bridge, 

 of cast metal, opposite the corn exchange, with a drawbridge to 

 admit vessels to the upper quays of the south branch of the river. 

 A tract of 240 acres has recently been reclaimed from the bod of the 

 river, and laid out in walks and carriage drives as a city park. 



Besides the cathedral there are in Cork six parish churches and 

 two chapels of ease, three Roman Catholic parochial chapels, four 

 monasteries, and two nunneries, each having a chapel attached ; two 

 chapels for Presbyterians, four for Methodists, two for Baptists, one 

 for Independents, and one for Quakers. Of the Roman Catholic 

 places of worship, the most spacious is the united parish chapel of 

 St. Mary's and St. Anne's, Shandon, which serves as the cathedral 

 of the diocese. It is externally a plain building in the later English 

 style, but very richly decorated in the interior. Brickfield chapel of 

 case is a handsome edifice in the Grecian style, with an elegant 

 portico of eight columns of gray marble, and a Corinthian cupola 

 surmounted by figures ofjthe Apostles. St. Mary's chapel, on Pope's 

 Quay, in the northern division of the city, has an Ionic portico of 

 six columns. The Roman Catholic chapel on Charlotte's Quay, 

 adjoining the South Mall, erected a few years back by the very Rev. 

 Theobald Mathew, the celebrated advocate of Temperance, is a rich 

 and striking specimen of the pointed gothic, built in gray limestone. 

 The front has an open portico of three lofty arches, with a screen of 

 rich tracery in tho centre arch, forming a porch. The building con- 

 sists of a nave and aisles, with flying buttresses. Tho spire and 

 tower, which are of light and graceful proportions, rise to a height 

 of 200 feet. Tho cost of the building exceeded 20,000/., to which 

 Mr. Mathew contributed 10,000*. 



The literary and scientific institutions are, besides the Queen's 

 College, the Royal Cork Institution, incorporated in 1807, for 

 " diffusing the knowledge and facilitating the general introduction of 

 improvements in arts and manufactures, especially iu agriculture ; " 



2 P 



