The Green Lung of the City - Cork Parkscapes 1: Fitzgerald Park

I admit, I love city life. There’s just something convenient about being able to get around without needing a car, or being able to go out without racking up a massive taxi bill. You simply have more money to spend on drinks. ;) However, even a died in the wool city dweller like me needs to see green every now and then, in order not to go completely crazy. This is a bit difficult in Cork, because, while the city is great, and I love it here, it simply lacks good city centre parks. That’s not to say there aren’t any, you just need to know where to look. So, I’ve decided to use a bit of unplanned downtime to detail them a bit more. Mind you, this article will not cover all Parks, but rather is planned to be part of a series over the next few months. And also, while some images may be current, others will come from my personal “archive”,
I’ll be starting out with Fitzgerald Park, out on the western Edge of the city. Situated in the Mardyke area of the city, an area that has traditionally been open due to its marshy nature and frequent flooding, it only started to be built up in the 18th century, when the area started to be drained and filled in. Even today, the building density is noticeably lower than in the rest of the city. The park itself is situated between the Cork Cricket Ground on one side and UCC’s Mardyke Arena athletics complex on the other, and also hosts the Cork Public Museum, but more on that later.

Getting there

Situated along the Mardyke Walk, there are a few parking spots along the Cricket ground and near the rear entrance to the park, however I’d advice against driving there. Mardyke Walk is a rather narrow road that you’re more likely than not going to have to share with cyclists and especially pedestrians, due to the narrow sidewalks. There are bus stops nearby, but I’d honestly recommend cycling out there, which should not take more than 10 minutes from most city centre stations.  There’s no less than three Coca Cola Zero Bikes stations nearby, with the closest being right outside the park’s main gate. Should that station be full, you can also use Bandfield or Gaol Walk, both in a few minutes walking distance. 
Considering how fond I am of the system, did you REALLY expect I'd write an article about something to see in Cork without including at least one picture of a Coke Zero Bikes station? 
As you can see on this second image, the Coke Zero Bikes Station is right outside the Park's main gate.

Fitzgerald Park

Panoramic view of the modernised section of Fitzgerald Park
The park itself is somewhat of a story of two parts. Parts of it, especially near the main entrance, have been completely redesigned over the last couple of years. Coloured and chrome spheres, as well as a futuristic band stand and new walkways make it easy to recognise this area of the park. The standout element however is the SkyGarden, which was one of the major attractions of the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show, winning a gold medal there. While it may not be suspended in mid air like it was at the show, it’s position overlooking the north channel of the Lee is still a showstopper. 

Those spheres are somewhat intriguing...
I really like the quirky design of the refurbished park.
The Sky Garden is a real showstopper, even if it is "grounded".
The view from the Sky Garden is not bad either.
Once you get past the museum and cafe, you get to the “older” part of the park, which is still a rather nice area. The centrepiece here is the large pond, just in case you don’t have enough water already in the form of the River Lee, which, together with the riverside walkway is the main attraction for me. Back in this rear area, you’ll also find a recently opened new playground. The choice of a wrecked pirate ship as the theme has turned out to be more apt than the city would have wished, considering that the playground, along with the rest of the park, was flooded during the winter floods 2015/2016, and that the playground was actually still underwater even after the rest of the park had “dried out”. Still, if you come here with children, it is certainly a good way to keep them busy.
Panoramic view of the older section of the park
Can anyone tell me what this thing actually IS? 
The pond forms one of the centrepieces of the "old" park.
Daly's Bridge, or "Shaky Bridge", as it is locally known, marks the western end of Fitzgerald Park. Technically speaking, it is already outside of the park.
The bridge, which is the only suspension bridge in the city, links Sunday's Well on the right of the image to the Mardyke area. It was built in 1927.

Cork Public Museum

It may seem a bit out of place right in the middle of Fitzgerald Park, but Cork Public Museum is actually the one thing that sets Fitzgerald Park apart from other parks. The Museum spreads across two buildings. The older building was built in 1845 by the Beamish family, one of Cork’s brewery dynasties. The family used the building, known as “The Shrubberies”, until it was sold to the city of Cork for the 1902/1903 Cork International Exhibition, Which spanned much of the Mardyke area. It first opened as a museum in 1910, but had to be used to house part of the city’s administration following the “Burning of Cork” in 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. After housing Cork’s Air Raid Protection offices during World war 2, or the Emergency, as it was known in Ireland, it finally re-opened as a museum in 1945. In 1996, a large modern extension was opened, and it is this extension that nowadays hosts most of the exhibitions, with the old building once again being used as offices for the museum. 
The entrance to the museum is in the link between the old building and the modern extension, a bit hidden. 
You can clearly see the large glazed windows of the extension. Sadly, that is not utilised on the inside.
A view of the backside of the Museum, looking at the Cafe.
The museum charts Cork’s history from palaeolithic times all the way to our present age, touching on almost all important events, and really shows how Cork has developed over the centuries. Indeed, right at the beginning of the exhibition is a scale model of Cork in the year 1185, which is basically current North and South Main Street, crossed by a tidal stream at Castle Street which formed the first port, all surrounded by a city wall. The area between the walls and the houses was filled with fields and pastures. To get a good impression of that, check out the Youtube video below, which shows Cork as it was in 1690, still within the original walls of 1185. 
Generally speaking, the museum is good, and refreshingly old-fashioned. Rather than going for a multimedia overdrive, it displays its exhibits in glass cases. The only criticism I can really level at it is that the cases are overloaded with exhibits, making it hard to figure out just what the hell you’re looking at. Not much is being said about the Burning of Cork, either. Also, despite having a huge glass facade facing west, the inside is rather dark, and the facade is not used at all.
Still, the museum should be on the radar of anyone who is interested in the history of Cork. There are also interesting temporary exhibitions, currently there are exhibitions about life in the trenches of World War 1, which is only now being rediscovered in the Republic of Ireland, as well as a look into Traveller culture and a guide into palaeolithic and neolithic rock art in Ireland, the latter being especially fascinating in my eyes. There’s also a cafe adjacent to the museum, though I haven’t tried that yet. Given that admission is free, I can really recommend the museum, it deserves far more visitors than it gets.

Opening Hours:

Monday - Friday: 11:00 - 13:00 and 14:15 - 17:00

Saturday: 11:00 - 13:00 and 14:15 - 16:00

Sunday: 15:00 - 17:00 (April to September only)

Admission: Free

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