Tramore Valley Park is a park on the southside 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 Ireland. With an area of approximately , the park site is located on a

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

site which closed in 2009. While parts of the park opened in mid-2015 (including for

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...

and

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

events), and had been targeted to open more completely during 2016, the park was not completely opened until May 2019. It is managed by the Glen Resource Centre on behalf of

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, ...

Development

The park was designed to have an area of , and was developed on the site of the city's former

, which ceased operation in 2009. While parts of the park opened in mid-2015 (including a

track), and some events held in the park since September 2015 (including

events), by late 2017, not all parts of the park had opened. While planned to open by mid-2016, by late-2018, access and parking issues had delayed the opening of the park on a broader scale or to larger events. Additional funding, to address these issues, was allocated in the Cork City Council budget for 2018, with a view to "open Tramore Valley Park .seven days a week before ummer 2018. By late 2018 however it had been reported that at least a further €6m would be required "to provide full and safe access to the site", and that the opening would be delayed until 2019. Following the opening of a pedestrian entrance onto the South Douglas Road and the addition of 400 car parking spaces, the park was officially opened in May 2019, with further enhancements proposed "in the coming years". Following public campaigns, an additional pedestrian and cycling entrance was opened to the north side of the Park, on Half Moon Lane in 2021. After 6-year break, a weekly parkrun event returned to the park in July 2022. In 2022 a new pedestrian and cyclist link to the south of the park was approved. The new route officially opened in November 2023. The walkway and bridge connect to the Grange Road, and totals 1.5km in length. Cork City Council named the bridge after nearby

Vernon Mount Vernon Mount (sometimes Vernon Mount House or Mount Vernon) is a ruined Georgian manor house in Cork, Ireland. It was built between the 1780s and early 1790s to designs attributed to Abraham Hargrave. Originally built for the merchant Hayes fam ...

after a public consultation process. A large-scale public art project, the KinShip project, has been running in Tramore Valley Park since 2021. As part of the project, an open shelter (known as "EcoLab") has been created in the park with the intent that it would host public events. The structure, described as the "first public building using rammed earth in Ireland", is roofed with reed thatch and based on the Irish vernacular cottage.

Location

The park boundaries are broadly triangular in shape, marked on the south-side of the site by the South Ring Road ( N40), on the north-west by the South Link Road ( N27), and on the north-east by housing estates off the South Douglas Road. Neighbouring suburbs include

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 ...

, Turner's Cross,

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 scheme ...

, Frankfield and

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 ...

. As Grange lies across a

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 ...

, planning consideration was given for a pedestrian access bridge. As of 2023, there were three access points to the park. These included regular vehicular access from the N27 South Link Road (opposite the Black Ash Park and Ride), with pedestrian and cyclist access from the south east via a walkway in Willow Park, Douglas and in the north of the park at Half Moon Lane. The latter pedestrian gate, included in the park's original plans, was opened in 2022. A fourth access point, via the Vernon Mount pedestrian and cycle bridge in the south of the park, opened in November 2023.

Electricity generation

When completed, it was expected that almost €40m would have been spent sealing off the rainwater waste and harvesting any gas produced by the former landfill. It was planned to use this gas to generate 0.5MW of electricity - enough to power approximately 400 to 500 local homes. In 2012, Cork City Council and Naturgy Energy announced the commencement of energy generation from reclaimed

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Eart ...

gas. At the time of its development, the methane-fired

combined heat and power Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...

generating station, was supplying 1.8MW of electricity, amounting to approximately 4% 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' ...

's domestic power demand. This subsequently reduced to 1MW (2% of houses in Cork) and, as of 2015, the small plant could reportedly supply electricity to the equivalent of "500 houses on an ongoing basis until 2021". As of 2017, the site was expected to generate power "for another 3-5 years".

References

{{Cork City Geography of Cork (city) Parks in Cork (city)