Cork Street () runs from the junction of

The Coombe The Coombe (; ga, An Com) is a historic street in the south inner city of Dublin, Ireland. It was originally a hollow or valley where a tributary of the River Poddle, the Coombe Stream or Commons Water, ran. The name is sometimes used for the b ...

to Donore Avenue.

History

It was named after the first

Earl of Cork Earl of Cork is a title in the Peerage of Ireland, held in conjunction with the Earldom of Orrery since 1753. It was created in 1620 for Richard Boyle, 1st Baron Boyle. He had already been created Lord Boyle, Baron of Youghal, in the County o ...

and once formed part of the ancient highway "An Slighe Dála" connecting Dublin with the west of Ireland. On old maps it was described as "The Highway to Dolfynesberne" (Dolphin's Barn). The street was once a centre of fine wool and silk hand-loom weaving. The woollen industry was killed off around 1700 by the English government, who wanted to keep the wool monopoly in England, although a minor revival was started around 1775. Despite problems, silk spinning and the manufacture of

poplin Poplin, also called tabinet (or tabbinet), is a fine (but thick) wool, cotton or silk fabric that has a vertical warp and a horizontal weft. Nowadays, the name refers to a strong material in a plain weave of any fiber or blend, with crosswis ...

, supported by the Royal Dublin Society, continued into the 19th century.M'Gregor, A New Picture of Dublin, 1821 The Tenter House was erected in 1815 in this street, financed by

Thomas Pleasants Thomas Pleasants (1729-1818) was a notable merchant, property developer and philanthropist in Dublin, Ireland, after whom Pleasants Street in Dublin 8 is named. Life Pleasants was born in County Carlow in 1729, son of William Pleasants and his ...

. Before this the poor weavers of the Liberties had either to suspend work in rainy weather or use the alehouse fire and thus were (as Wright expresses it) "exposed to great distress, and not infrequently reduced either to the hospital or the gaol." The Tenter House was a brick building 275 feet long, 3 stories high, and with a central cupola. It had a form of central heating powered by four furnaces, and provided a place for weavers to stretch their material in bad weather. In 1861 a Carmelite priest bought the Tenter House and opened it as a refuge for the homeless. He ran the hostel for ten years until 1871 when the Sisters of Mercy came to Cork Street. In 1873 they built a convent and in 1874 a primary school, which closed down in 1989.

The Cork Street Fever Hospital (also known as the House of Recovery) was a hospital that opened in Cork Street on 14 May 1804. The hospital was extended in 1817-1819 to help cope with a national typhus epidemic. In 1953 the

Cherry Orchard Hospital Cherry Orchard Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Ghort na Silíní) is a public hospital in Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland. History The hospital, which was commissioned to replace the aging Cork Street Fever Hospital, opened in November 1953. By the 1980s ...

Ballyfermot Ballyfermot () is a suburb town nw of the city aside Dublin, Ireland. It is located, seven kilometres (5 miles) west of the city centre, south of Phoenix Park, it is bordered on the north by Chapelizod, on the south by Bluebell; on the east ...

replaced the old Cork Street hospital, which was renamed Brú Chaoimhín and became a nursing home.Douglas Bennett, Encyclopedia of Dublin, 1992, p. 74 Across the road from the hospital is the James Weir Home for nurses, built in 1903. The site had once been a Quaker burial ground. In 1932 the Maryland housing development off Cork Street was constructed by Dublin Corporation. 1932 was a Marian year, hence the name Maryland. During the mid 20th century, there were plans to widen the road into a dual carriageway, leading to buildings being left to fall into decay while the threat of compulsory purchase orders seemed possible. The street was totally reconstructed towards the end of the 20th century. It is now a mostly residential area.

References

{{Streets in Dublin city, state=autocollapse Streets in Dublin (city) History of Dublin (city)