Turners Cross () is a ward on the south side of

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

, and home to the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish of the same name. Largely residential, one of the key features of the area is the iconic church created by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Barry Byrne Francis Barry Byrne (December 19, 1883 – December 18, 1967) was a member of the group of architects known as the Prairie School. After the demise of the Prairie School, about 1914 to 1916, Byrne continued as a successful architect by dev ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

John Storrs, the ''Church of Christ The King''. It was commissioned in 1927 by Rev Daniel Cohalan D.D., Bishop of Cork. The

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

was the first Irish church to be built from concrete instead of brick, and is one of the largest suspended-ceiling churches in Europe. Opened in 1931, the church is based on the principles of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

which makes strong use of symmetric and geometric forms. Turners Cross is part of the Cork South-Central Dáil constituency.

History

Rocque's map of Cork of 1759 is the first to show significant housing in the Turners Cross area in the areas that are now Evergreen Street (then Maypole Lane) and Quaker Road (then Graveyard Lane). Previous maps of Cork in 1690 and 1726 show only occasional houses associated with what were then farms on the southern edge of the city. The oldest housing still existing in Turners Cross now dates from the mid 19th century. In 1879, the

Cork and Macroom Direct Railway The Cork and Macroom Direct Railway (CMDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland which ran the from Cork to Macroom. History It was incorporated in 1861 and was chaired by Sir John Arnott and Joseph Ronayne. The engineer for the scheme wa ...

, which had shared the

Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway (CB&SCR), was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland. It opened in 1849 as the Cork and Bandon Railway (C&BR), changed its name to Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway in 1888 and became part of the Great South ...

station at Albert Road in the city centre, moved its city terminus to a new station they created -

Cork Capwell railway station Cork Capwell railway station was the terminus of the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway (CMDR) in County Cork, Ireland. It was located just off the Summerhill South Road and the station building remains in use by Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; " ...

in the Turners Cross area. This was used until 1925, when both the Cork and Macroom and Cork, Bandon and South Coast railways were merged into

Great Southern Railways The Great Southern Railways Company (often Great Southern Railways, or GSR) was an Irish company that from 1925 until 1945 owned and operated all railways that lay wholly within the Irish Free State (the present-day Republic of Ireland). The p ...

and the terminus reverted to Albert Road. New housing was continually developed in the Turners Cross area until the 1950s, when there was little remaining spare land in the area.

Sport

Turners Cross is home to

Cork City FC Cork City Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chathair Chorcaí) is an Irish association football club based in Cork. The club was founded and elected to the League of Ireland in 1984. It was one of the first clubs in Ireland (and the first i ...

which is based in the Turners Cross Stadium. Nearby there is also a rugby stadium, Musgrave Park, which is home to both

Dolphin RFC Dolphin Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in Cork. It was founded in 1902, by members of Dolphin Swimming Club seeking to find a wintertime activity. They play in Division 2A of the All-Ireland League. Former Irish Coach, Declan Kidn ...

and Sundays Well RFC. In addition, Musgrave Park is used for many home matches in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

tournament by

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster B ...

. The local GAA club is

Nemo Rangers Nemo Rangers Hurling & Football Club is a Cork-based Gaelic Athletic Association club on the southside of Cork city, Ireland. The club was founded in 1922 and is involved in Gaelic football, hurling, Ladies football and Camogie. History Nemo R ...

, although they sold their grounds in Turners Cross for housing and relocated to a new location in nearby

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

in 2007.

Education

The main

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

in the area is ''Bunscoil Chríost Rí'', which is a Catholic mixed (co-educational) school. The

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

s in the area are ''Christ King'', an all-girls school, and ''

Coláiste Chríost Rí Coláiste Chríost Rí ( en, Christ the King College) is a Trusteeship Board Catholic secondary school for boys based on Capwell Road in Turners Cross, Cork, Ireland. History The school was founded by the Presentation Brothers and owned by th ...

'', an all-boys school.

Transport

Road

Turners Cross takes its name from an important junction, where the road from Cork to

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...

separated from the road to

Carrigaline Carrigaline () is a town and civil parish in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the River Owenabue. Located about south of Cork city, and with a population of 15,770 people, it is one of the largest commuter towns of the city. The R611 regiona ...

. The road to Carrigaline (passing through Douglas) is now the R851. The N27

dual-carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

, which links Cork city centre to Cork Airport passes through Turners Cross. This handles the bulk of the traffic that used the road to Kinsale.

Bus

Several bus routes serve Turners Cross, including route 203 (from

Farranree Farranree ( ga, Fearann an Rí) is a suburb on the northside of the city of Cork, Ireland. It is bordered by Blackpool, Churchfield and Fairhill. It mainly consists of terraced houses, many of which are owned by Cork City Council. The main school ...

Ballyphehane Ballyphehane () is a suburb in the south of Cork in Ireland. It is one of the oldest suburbs in Cork and was created as part of a post-World War II initiative to create a model community in Cork. Between 1948 and 1993, a total of 11 housing schem ...

via Turners Cross), 206 (

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...

to Cork city centre), 219 ( Mahon to

Bishopstown Bishopstown () is located in the civil parish of St. Finbar's, Barony of Cork, County Cork, Ireland. It is a southwestern suburb of Cork and is made-up of the townlands of Ballineaspigbeg and Ballineaspigmore (sometimes spelled Ballinaspigmore) ...

and MTU), and regional bus route 226 ( Kent Station to

Rail

Although both the Cork-Macroom and Cork, Bandon and South Coast railways previously went through Turners Cross, it is not currently served by rail. The nearest active railway station is

Cork Kent railway station Kent Station ( ga, Stáisiún Cheannt) is an Iarnród Éireann railway station in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally opened in 1893, the station operates as a hub for Intercity services to Dublin Heuston railway stati ...

References

{{Cork City Geography of Cork (city)