The Irish Industrial Exhibition was a

world's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

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 ...

in 1852,National and State Industrial Exhibitions
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Historical Register of the Centennial Exposition, 1876. Edited by Frank Norton. Frank Leslie's Publishing House, New York, 1877. Pg. 4 the first to be held in Ireland (then part of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

). It was opened on 10 June by the

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

, the Earl of Eglinton. Taking place two years after the Great Famine ended,Ross, David (2002) ''Ireland: History of a Nation''; p. 313 and following a significant increase in Cork's population due to an influx of people fleeing the countryside the fair stemmed partly from attempts to revive local industries. It was housed in the Albert Quay area in a cruciform building designed by John Benson with three wings given over to industrial exhibits such as whiskey, projectile shells,

hydraulic press A hydraulic press is a machine press using a hydraulic cylinder to generate a compressive force. It uses the hydraulic equivalent of a mechanical lever, and was also known as a Bramah press after the inventor, Joseph Bramah, of England. He inven ...

es, Valentia

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

and

gingham Gingham, also called Vichy check, is a medium-weight balanced plain-woven fabric typically with striped, check or plaid duotone patterns, in bright colour and in white made from dyed cotton or cotton-blend yarns. It is made of carded, medium or ...

and a fourth to fine arts.

Fine arts

There was a fine arts hall which included canvas and glass paintings, sculpture and Irish antiquities. Work on display included items by sculptures Thomas Kirk, John Edward Jones,

Patrick MacDowell Patrick MacDowell (12 August 1799 – 9 December 1870) was a Belfast-born British sculptor operating through the 19th century. Life MacDowell was born in Belfast in 1799. His father died whilst he was young and the family lived in relativ ...

Joseph Robinson Kirk Joseph Robinson Kirk (1821 – 30 August 1894) was a noted Irish sculptor. Life He was born in Dublin in 1821, the fifth child and eldest son of Thomas Kirk and Eliza Robinson. He lived in Jervis Street and studied with his father and at th ...

and

John Henry Foley John Henry Foley (24 May 1818 – 27 August 1874), often referred to as J. H. Foley, was an Irish sculptor, working in London. he is best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin, and of Prince Albert for the Albert Memorial in Londo ...

. John Hogan had works both in the main art section, but additionally his

The Dead Christ ''The Dead Christ'' or ''The Redeemer in Death'' is a statue of Jesus Christ executed in white Carrara marble by the Irish sculptor John Hogan in Rome. Hogan created three versions of the statue in the early 19th century: * the first (1829) is l ...

was in a separate darkened room.

Aftermath

Benson achieved success with his design for the exhibition building and this acted as a template for the opera house to be built in Cork. He was also asked to be the architect for the world's fair in Dublin the next year. However the aim of reviving industries was largely unsuccessful and census returns showed a decrease in males employed in manufacturing.

References

External links

Map of Cork produced for the fair, showing Cork with the exhibition buildings to the south
1852 in Ireland

World's fairs in Ireland Festivals established in 1852 June 1852 events {{Ireland-hist-stub