St Patrick's Street ( ga, Sráid Naomh Pádraig) is the main shopping street of the city of
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 the south of Ireland. The street was subject to redevelopment in 2004, and has since won two awards as Ireland's best shopping street. St Patrick's Street is colloquially known to some locals as "Pana".
Location
St Patrick's Street runs in a curve from Saint Patrick's Bridge to Daunt Square, where it meets Grand Parade. The street obtains its curved shape due to its location over an arm of the
River Lee
The River Lee (Irish: ''An Laoi'') is a river in Ireland. It rises in the Shehy Mountains on the western border of County Cork and flows eastwards through Cork, where it splits in two for a short distance, creating an island on which Cork's ...
.
History
![Patrick Street Cork Ireland from Daunts Square Circa 1890](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Patrick_Street_Cork_Ireland_from_Daunts_Square_Circa_1890.jpg)
The street dates from the late 18th century, when the city expanded beyond the walls of the ancient city, which was centered on North and South Main Streets. During the 1780s, many of the streets that now make up the city centre of Cork were formed by the spanning of the river channels of the Lee, between marshy islands.
From 1898 to 1931, the street was served by the
Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company
The Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company operated a passenger tramway service in Cork between 1898 and 1931.
History Origins
The Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company was a subsidiary of British Thomson-Houston, a major electrica ...
. Services started on 22 December 1898, although it closed on 30 September 1931 due to increasing popularity of bus services operated by The Irish Omnibus Company and the takeover of the company's electricity plant by the
Electricity Supply Board.
Parts of Patrick Street were extensively damaged during the Irish War of Independence in an event known as the "
Burning of Cork
The burning of Cork () by British forces took place on the night of 11–12 December 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. It followed an Irish Republican Army (IRA) ambush of a British Auxiliary patrol in the city, which wounded twelve ...
" in 1920. This included the Munster Arcade and Grant's department store.
In 2004, the street was redeveloped by architect Beth Gali to be more "pedestrian-friendly". This included repaving, and as well as widening of pedestrian pavements to create plazas.
In the early 21st century, the street underwent various modernisation and rejuvenation projects, including the opening of Opera Lane in 2010, the redesign of shop facades in 2016, and the development of the former
Capitol Cinema site in 2017.
Between March and April 2018,
Cork City Council
Cork City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Prior to the enactment of the 2001 Act, t ...
banned afternoon traffic on Patrick Street, with only public transport traffic allowed between 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. This was lifted within a few weeks due to a reported impact on city centre traders.
Businesses and landmarks
The street is home to a number of retail and department stores, which at the northern end includes
Brown Thomas
Brown Thomas & Company Limited is a chain of five Irish department stores, located in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Dundrum Town Centre. Part of the Selfridges Group, Brown Thomas is an upmarket chain, akin to Britain's Selfridges store ...
,
Dunnes Stores
Dunnes Stores is an Irish multinational retail chain that primarily sells food, clothes and household wares.
In addition to its main customer base in Ireland, the chain also has operations in Spain, and formerly in England and Scotland. The f ...
,
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...
and
Penneys
Primark Stores Limited (; trading as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland) is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. It has stores across Europe and in the United States. The Penneys brand is not u ...
. The
Roches Stores
Debenhams Ireland was a national chain of department stores in Ireland, that was owned ultimately by Debenhams plc. It was largely based on the former Roches Store chain, though after that business divested its grocery units.
History
Roches ...
building, built at the northern end of the street in the mid 1920s, housed the Roches Stores department store from the early 20th century until leased by
Debenhams Ireland
Debenhams Ireland was a national chain of department stores in Ireland, that was owned ultimately by Debenhams plc. It was largely based on the former Roches Store chain, though after that business divested its grocery units.
History
Roches ...
, who operated it from 2006 until 2020. The opposite (southwestern) end of the street includes smaller units, with jewellery stores such as
Pandora, video game stores like
GameStop, and health store
Holland & Barrett
Holland & Barrett (H&B) is a multinational chain of health food shops with over 1,300 stores in 16 countries, including a substantial presence in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, ...
.
A monument to
Fr. Theobald Mathew, the Apostle of Temperance, stands at the northern end of the street facing St. Patrick's Bridge over the River Lee. The monument dates back to October 1864.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick's Street
Shopping districts and streets in Ireland
Streets in Cork (city)