The Mardyke, also referred as the Mardyke Sports Ground, is the sport and fitness facilities used by sports team representing

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

, the general student body, and members of the public. It is based in the

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 ...

district of Mardyke. UCC acquired the grounds in 1911, and rented the main pitch to rugby, soccer, hockey and hurling clubs in the city for a 15% cut of the gate receipts. Outdoors, there are floodlit grass and all-weather pitches, used for

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

, and hockey.Sports Facilities in UCC
/ref> Kayakers train in the adjacent North channel of the River Lee. There is a

tartan track Tartan Track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. It lets athletes compete in bad weather without serious performance loss and improves their resu ...

for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, where the Cork City Sports are held annually. The most notable performance came in the

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

on 3 July 1984, when Yuriy Sedykh and Sergey Litvinov broke the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

six times in one evening. The facilities were severely damaged when the River Lee burst its banks on 19 November 2009. The Mardyke Arena reopened on 15 February 2010 after repairs costing €4m.

Mardyke Arena

The Mardyke Arena, an indoor sports centre opened in 2001, contains a gymnasium,

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

and other facilities. It is the home court of UCC Demons, a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team affiliated with the College though not limited to students.

Association football

The Mardyke was formerly an important venue for association football in Cork city. It was the home ground for several League of Ireland clubs in Cork city, including Fordsons,

Cork F.C. Cork Football Club was an Irish association football club based in Cork. They were founded as Fords F.C. and later became known as Fordsons F.C.. They played in the League of Ireland between 1924–25 and 1937–38. Like several fellow early L ...

, Cork City, Cork United,

Cork Athletic Cork Athletic Football Club was a former Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1948 and 1957. They were the successor club of Cork United. When United quit the league in October 1948, Cork Athletic was ...

and

Cork Hibernians Cork Hibernians F.C. were an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1957 and 1976 and, from 1962, played their home games at Flower Lodge. In 1971, they were League of Ireland champions. History The ...

. A crowd of 18,000 watched a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

in 1939 between

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, the first international arranged by the FAI to be played outside

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. It is still regularly used by University College Cork A.F.C., hosting the 2009

Collingwood Cup The Collingwood Cup is an association football cup competition featuring university teams from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Universities Football Union, and is the oldest surviving all Ireland associ ...

, the 2015

Crowley Cup The Irish Universities Football Union is the governing body for university association football in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is responsible for organizing the Collingwood Cup, the major cup competition for Irish universiti ...

and a

2015 League of Ireland Cup The 2015 League of Ireland Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2015 EA Sports Cup, was the 42nd season of the League of Ireland's secondary knockout competition. The EA Sports Cup features teams from the SSE Airtricity League Premier and Fi ...

quarter-final against

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

References

Sources

Citations

External links

Official Mardyke Arena website

UCC website - University sports - Mardyke Facilities

UCC website - University companies - Mardyke Leisure (UCC) Ltd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Markdyke Sport at University College Cork Athletics (track and field) venues in the Republic of Ireland Gaelic games grounds in the Republic of Ireland Rugby union stadiums in Ireland Republic of Ireland national football team home stadiums Association football venues in the Republic of Ireland Association football venues in Cork (city) Sports venues in Cork (city) Cork United F.C. (1940–1948) Cork F.C. Cork City F.C. (1938–1940) Cork GAA venues Cork Hibernians F.C. Basketball venues in Ireland Sports venues completed in 1911 1911 establishments in Ireland