The Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company operated a passenger tramway service 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 ...

between 1898 and 1931.

History

Origins

Patrick Street Cork Ireland from Daunts Square Circa 1890

The Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company was a subsidiary of British Thomson-Houston, a major electrical contracting company. The contractor for the permanent way was

William Martin Murphy William Martin Murphy (6 January 1845 – 26 June 1919) was an Irish businessman, newspaper publisher and politician. A member of parliament (MP) representing Dublin from 1885 to 1892, he was dubbed "William ''Murder'' Murphy" among the Irish ...

, who later became chairman of the company. The power station was built by Edward Fitzgerald (later

Sir Edward Fitzgerald, 1st Baronet Sir Edward J. Fitzgerald, 1st Baronet (24 November 1846 – 22 June 1927) was an Irish politician. He spent several decades as a member of Cork Corporation and was the second Lord Mayor of Cork. Early life Born in Inchigeelagh, County Cork, F ...

) and the engineer for the system was Charles Hesterman Merz. The gauge of the tramway was gauge, selected to allow trains from the narrow gauge

Cork and Muskerry Light Railway The Cork and Muskerry Light Railway was a narrow gauge railway in County Cork, Ireland. The first part of the railway opened in 1887 and closed in 1934. A major reason for building the railway was to exploit tourist traffic to Blarney Castle. ...

and the

Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway The Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway known locally to the locals aThe Black Bridge(CB&PR) was a narrow gauge railway in County Cork, Ireland. The line originally opened in 1850 as a Irish standard gauge railway between Cork and Passage West ...

to connect using the tram lines. Services started on 22 December 1898, when the company had 17 cars in operation. Over the Christmas period, weekend traffic was heavy and there were some minor accidents and injuries, including some passengers who, having been celebrating Christmas, fell from the tramcars.

The Burning of Cork

There was substantial disruption to services and destruction of some tramcars during 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 December 1920. The events which occurred to the driver, John Hurley, conductor Alex Garvey and passengers on tramcar no 3 were recorded in the Cork Examiner:

"Passengers by the last tram to St. Luke's Cross, which left the Statue at 9 p.m. on Saturday, had a rather eventful journey. The car had got about 60 or 70 yards beyond Empress Place police barracks when a number of men in police uniform, carrying carbines and accompanied by Auxiliaries in plain clothes, held it up. They ordered all the passengers off at the point of revolvers. Male passengers were somewhat roughly handled and then ordered to line up for search. Some few were inclined to run and a voice rang out: "I'll shoot anyone who runs." All then stopped but some shots were fired in the air while the searches were being conducted. In some cases when the search was completed the person searched was ordered home, getting a bit of a rough send-off. The tramcar was then broken in by the police and a rifle shot was discharged, the smell of powder permeating the air. The tramcar was brought back to the Statue by the driver and conductor who when it neared there were ordered off. It was later set on fire and completely destroyed."

Closure

The tram operations were permanently discontinued on 30 September 1931, falling victim to the increasing popularity of bus services operated by The Irish Omnibus Company, and the takeover of the tram company's electricity plant by Ireland's Electricity Supply Board (ESB).

Fleet

The company ordered the first 18 tramcars from Brush of Loughborough in 1898. Subsequent orders of 11 in 1900 and 6 in 1901 took the fleet to a maximum of 35. The livery was bright green and cream.

Routes

The three cross city routes radiated out from the statue to Theobald Mathew in

St Patrick's Street St Patrick's Street ( ga, Sráid Naomh Pádraig) is the main shopping street of the city of Cork 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 ...

and were: * Blackpool to

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 Civi ...

*Summerhill to

Sunday's Well Sunday's Well () is a suburb of Cork city in Ireland. It is situated in the north-west of the city, on a ridge on the northern bank of the River Lee. Sunday's Well is part of the Dáil constituency of Cork North-Central. The area's GAA club i ...

* Tivoli to

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...

. The track was double through the main streets, up the Summerhill and along part of the Western Road, and short stretches of other routes. On the rest it was single with fairly frequent passing loops.

Legacy

The tramway generating station at Albert Road now houses the National Sculpture Factory and the adjacent tram shed - complete with inspection and service pits (with tram rails still in place) - is also still intact and in use as a commercial premises.

Greenway

The Blackpool to Douglas route has been converted to a section of the Cork Harbour Greenway.

References

{{reflist 900 mm gauge railways in Ireland Tram transport in the Republic of Ireland Railway companies established in 1898 Railway companies disestablished in 1931

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 ...