Making an Irish Free State City – The survey’s challenges
Published in the summer of 1926, ‘Cork, A Civic Survey' was an ambitious document giving an insight into an array of topics, which the column has been exploring during this summer. In the communications chapter, commentary is given on the city’s roads and tramways, and railways infrastructure.
The survey published a large detailed communications map of the main road system and maps out the actual density of street traffic. It captures a slow moving world but a busy world of varied transport methods. For example, through Blackpool and into the Shandon district, there was a considerable amount of people, bicycles, private motor cars, commercial motors, people on horse and cart, commercial horse and cart, handcarts and barrows, coming into the city.
This latter northside traffic merged with a considerable volume of traffic from Blarney Street as it entered the old city.
On the west of the city there were two streams of traffic from Bandon and Macroom, which entered along the Western Road.
Magazine Road and Bandon Road were comparatively little used, although they gathered up traffic coming in from the south, so that South Gate Bridge carried a considerable traffic load. Much traffic as well used Anglesea Street and Parnell Bridge. The communications map also indicates that there was almost an equal volume of traffic with various transport methods on North Main Street as on other suburban roads.
In particular, the Civic Survey comments that Cork appears to have a good suite of approach roads on its southern side. “Cork appears to have on an admirable system of radiating roads on the south, and some re-modelling to overcome the severe gradients nearer the river would do all that is necessary to create an ideal road system on this side combined with an outer ring to give inter-communication between these radials before they enter the city”.
The detailed communications map also shows the routes of the tramways and shows the extent to which the existing trams served the suburban areas round the city. The average number of passengers using the Blackrock-Tivoli tram route daily was 5,100 with Blackpool-Douglas route was 4,600 whilst the Summerhill-Sunday’s Well route carried 6,130 passengers daily.
The Civic Survey called for further tram routes in the southern suburbs as well to meet future residential development as well as the use of motor buses or trackless trollies to add to the stimulation of further house building.
With regard to railway routes, the Civic Survey details that on the north bank of the Lee was the main station of the Great Southern and Western Railway (now Kent Station) and it was approached from the north by the tunnel through a sandstone ridge. The Cork-Dublin main railway line on average daily carried 491 passengers.
From the terminus, another rail line continued with double track skirting the north (or east) bank of the river Lee to Cobh (Queenstown). A single track branched off near Little Island through Midleton to Youghal. Average figures for passengers daily combined on both latter eastern rail routes were 669.
The Civic Survey denotes that on the south bank three single lines converged towards the same spot near the old City Hall. Each historically had their own separate terminus – the Cork-Macroom Railway carried on average 447 passengers daily. The Bandon and South Coast Railway carried on average 533 passengers daily. Just prior to 1926, the Macroom terminus was taken into the Bandon Terminus, which had two street line connections - (a) across the two swing bridges to the Great Southern and Western Railway and (b) along the Victoria Quay, downstream.
The Blackrock and Passage Railway opened up the western side of the harbour, passing through Monkstown to its terminus at Crosshaven. The city terminus was in Albert Street, opposite that of the city’s terminus for the Cork Bandon Railway. The Blackrock and Passage Railway carried on average 838 passengers daily.
At the west end of the city there was the Muskerry Light Railway, which used the Western Road approach parallel with the tramway, and had a terminus at Western Road. This light railway travelled up-stream and had three branches, a short one to Blarney, a western to Coachford, and a northern to Donoughmore. This Muskerry Light Railway carried on average 447 people daily.
The main source of cattle entering the city was also by two of the railway lines. The average number of cattle transported every week entering on the Cork-Dublin main railway line was 2,803 whilst a further 1,181 was brought by the Cork Bandon and South Coast railway line. Very little cattle if any were being brought by the main roads through the city’s toll house.
The busiest toll house for cattle was Dublin Hill Toll House, which on average witnessed only 220 cattle per week. Farmers and cattle market officials also sought out a new cattle market space in the city centre in the mid-1920s.
Upcoming September Historical Walking Tours with Kieran and end of season:
All free, two hours, no booking required.
Saturday 5 September: Rochestown, its local history & The Battle of Douglas, An Irish Civil War Story. Meet at carpark and entrance to Old Railway Line, Harty’s Quay at 2.30pm, (finishes near Rochestown Road)
Sunday 6 September: Sunday’s Well historical walking tour; discover the original well and the eighteenth century origins of the suburb. Meet at St Vincent’s Bridge, North Mall end at 2.30pm.
Saturday morning, 12 September - New tour -: The Western Marshes – The Middle Parish and its Histories, Grattan Street to Western Road. Meet at St Peter’s Graveyard, Grattan Street, opp. Middle Parish Community Centre at 10.30am.
Saturday 26 September: The Historic Peninsula of Mahon. Explore social histories & the stories of some of the former big house estates in the area, meet at Blackrock Garda Station entrance at 2.30pm.