Shandon Street (), formerly known as Mallow Lane, is a street in the Shandon area 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' ...

, Ireland and is a retail area on the North-Side of Cork city.

Etymology

The name Shandon stems from the Irish ''Sean Dún'', meaning "Old Fort". It is believed that this refers to the

ringfort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales ...

of the MacCarthaigh family, who occupied the area around 1000 A.D.

History

Initial development

The area was originally developed by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

, as a route to the north gate of the city, and rose in prominence due to its proximity to Shandon Castle, the administrative centre of the

province of Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. The area was heavily damaged during the 1690 Siege of Cork, but subsequent rebuilding saw the erection of the landmark St. Anne's Church. The North Cathedral was also erected at the top of Shandon Street in 1624. The present day structure, however, is the fifth church to occupy the site; churches have been rebuilt there numerous times, most recently following an 1820 fire. Commercial activity at this time included a regular cattle market, where large numbers of animals were exported to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Eastern U.S. The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In response to a 1582 famine and outbreak of plague, Stephen Skiddy, a

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

Vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to deter ...

, willed funds to build a number of

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

in the city. One such almshouse, built in the 18th century and referred to as

Skiddy's Almshouse Skiddy's Almshouse is the oldest inhabited building in the city of Cork. It was built in 1718 and finished in 1719. It was the second almshouse built using a bequest from Stephen Skiddy for the city's poor, either Catholic or Church of Ireland ...

, is still standing adjacent to Shandon Street.

Growth

The 18th century saw the development of the Butter Market in response to the penal laws, which indirectly encouraged commercial ventures among wealthy

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

families. This led to the foundation of the Committee of Butter Merchants, who, in 1770, instated the inspection of butter exports. The increasing butter trade resulted in Shandon Street becoming an important international trading centre, and a focal point within the city. There was a notable diversity in standards of living in the area, with wealthy retailers living directly on the street, and many

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

halls on the numerous adjoining streets.

Later developments

The closure of the Butter Market in 1924 due to competition from continental Europe led to a period of decline in the area. Modern attempts at reversing the decline include the 2004 Shandon Area Renewal Scheme, which saw some redevelopment of Shandon Street. This €15m scheme included the renewal of paving and the replacement of derelict buildings with

infill housing In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an urban environment, usually open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any undeveloped land that is not on the urban mar ...

References

{{Cork City Streets in Cork (city)