Republic of Ireland, Cork

Cork  is the second city of the Republic of Ireland and Ireland's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast respectively. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city of the province of Munster.

The city proper has a population of 119,143 (2006 census), however this increases to 186,239 (2002 figures) if the immediate suburbs of the city in the Cork County Council area are included. In the "Cork Joint Housing Strategy", it states that the 2006 population of Metropolitan Cork stands at approximately 274,000, while the Greater Cork area stands at 380,000 in 2006.

The city's name is derived from an Irish word corcach meaning "marshy place", referring to its situation on the River Lee. Cork has a reputation for independence dating from 1491, when some townsmen tried to overthrow the king of England, but more recently referring to its participation in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. This has given Cork the nickname of "the Rebel County". It is not unusual for Corkonians to refer to Cork as the "true capital of Ireland" or to feel they have a distinct identity from the rest of Ireland.

History

Cork's city charter was granted by King John in 1185. However, Cork has its beginnings in a much earlier monastic settlement, founded by St Finbar in the sixth century. Over the centuries, much of the city was rebuilt, time and again, after numerous fires and attacks by Vikings or Norsemen. The city was at one time fully walled, and several sections and gates remain. The title of Mayor of Cork was established by royal charter in 1318, and the title was changed to Lord Mayor in 1900. The centre of Cork was gutted by fires started by the Black and Tans in the War of Independence, part of the policy of reprisals at the time; it was also the site of some fierce fighting between Irish guerrilla leaders and British forces. During the Irish Civil War, Cork was for a time held by anti-Treaty forces, until it was retaken by the pro-Treaty National Army in an attack from the sea.

Climate

The highest air temperature recorded in Cork was 28.7 °C (84.0 °F). The lowest was -8.6 °C (17.0F

Culture
 
Cork's cultural life is vibrant. Music, theatre, dance, and film all play a prominent role in city life.

Media

Broadcast
The city's FM radio band is impressively crowded: as well as RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ 2fm, Lyric FM, Radio na Gaeltachta (all run by RTÉ), Today FM, and Newstalk, there are local stations such as Cork's 96FM, 103FM County Sound, CUH FM, Cork Campus Radio and Red FM.

Cork is also home to two television stations; RTÉ Cork broadcasts from its television centre in Fr. Matthew Street in the city centre and South Coast TV also broadcasts from Cork, providing a regional television station for the South of Ireland.

Cork is home to the RTÉ Vanbrugh String Quartet, and to many superb musical acts, including John Spillane, The Frank And Walters, Sultans Of Ping, and the late Rory Gallagher. The opera singers Cara O'Sullivan, Mary Hegarty, Nyle Wolfe, Brendan Collins, and Sam McElroy are also Cork born.
Print
Cork is also home to one of Ireland's main national newspapers, the Irish Examiner (formerly the Cork Examiner) with its headquarters now situated on Lapp's Quay in the city centre, having moved from its original Academy Street location. It also prints the famous Evening Echo, which for decades has been connected to the Echo Boys, who were poor and often homeless children from the 1930s and 1940s that had the job of selling the newspaper.

Today, the shouts of the vendors selling the Echo can still be heard all over the city. Other local newspapers are also printed in the city, but are less well known.

Economy

Retail
The retail trade in Cork City is developing quickly with a mix of both modern, state of the art shopping centres and family owned local shops providing unique and often hand-made crafts. Department Stores can cater for all budgets, with expensive boutiques for one end of the market with many high street stores also available.
Industry
Cork City is at the heart of industry in the south of Ireland. Its main area of industry is pharmaceuticals, with Pfizer Inc. and Swiss company Novartis being big employers in the region. The most famous product of the Cork pharmaceutical industry is Viagra. Cork is also the European headquarters of Apple Computer where their desktop computers are manufactured and their European call centre is hosted. EMC Corporation is another large I.T. employer with over 1,600 staff in their 52,000 sq metre (560,000 sq. ft.) engineering, manufacturing, and technical services facility. It is also home to the Heineken Brewery which also brews Murphy's Irish Stout and the Beamish and Crawford brewery which have been in the city for generations. And for many years, Cork was the home to Ford Motor Company, which manufactured cars in the docklands area before the plant was closed. Henry Ford's grandfather was from Cork, which was a main reason for opening up the manufacturing facility in Cork. But technology has replaced the old manufacturing businesses of the 1970s and 1980s, with people now working in the many I.T. centres of the city. Much of Cork's economic success is due to its strategic location near a Harbour, a well educated workforce from two third level universities/ Institute of Technology and a pro business Government policy.

Sport

Sport is intensely important to the people of Cork, with Gaelic football, hurling and soccer the most popular.