The International Exhibition (sometimes ''Cork International Exhibition'') was a world's fair held in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland, in 1902, 50 years after the first world's fair held in Ireland, which also took place in Cork. At the time of the exhibition, Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom.

Organisation

Edward Fitzgerald, the then Lord Mayor of Cork, originally proposed the idea for the fair which took place on 8 hectares of reclaimed marshland in the Mardyke area of Cork. This area is now known as Fitzgerald's Park. The exhibition opened in spring (between April and 1 May ) and closed in autumn (September or November).

Exhibits and entertainment

Exhibitions included a Canadian pavilion, art gallery, machinery hall and industrial hall, and Hadji Bey launched their Turkish Delight. One of the industrial exhibits was 'Engine 36' (pictured), built by Bury, Curtis, and Kennedy in 1847, to run services from Dublin to

. The Capuchin community of Cork's

Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church may refer to: Albania * Holy Trinity Church (Berat), Berat County * Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, Opar, Korçë County Armenia * Holy Trinity Church, Yerevan Australia * Garrison Church, Sydney, South Wales, also known as ''H ...

organised a

Father Mathew Theobald Mathew (10 October 1790 – 8 December 1856) was an Irish Catholic priest and teetotalist reformer, popularly known as Father Mathew. He was born at Thomastown, near Golden, County Tipperary, on 10 October 1790, to James Mathew and his ...

Pavilion, which included memorabilia of Mathew and wooden models of the church, and a fountain made of Portland cement. Entertainments included a water chute, a skating rink,

switchback railway The original Switchback Railway was the first roller coaster at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York City, and one of the earliest designed for amusement in the United States. The 1885 patent states the invention relates to the gravity double tr ...

, temperance restaurant, a creamery, shooting gallery and, an

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

Legacy

The immediate legacy was a follow on exhibition in 1903 which was visited by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. After the second fair closed the grounds were donated to Cork Corporation for recreational use by the public and opened to the public in 1906. Now known as Fitzgerald's Park, the park retains the original pavilion and fountain from the fair and also houses the Cork Public Museum.

References

External links

{{Cork City 1902 in Ireland History of Cork (city) World's fairs in Ireland