Dowcha bai!
Excuse my (woeful) attempt at Corkonian, I’m afraid I’m not a native!
While I ventured abroad for my last blog post, I’ve decided to stay closer to home this week and delve into Cork’s past to explore it’s history of food retail and it’s markets, specifically during the 19th and early 20th centuries which for Cork, was an interesting period indeed. For the purpose of this blog, I’m going to hone in on The English Market, Cork Butter Market, St. Peter’s Market and street sellers down along the, as it’s colloquially known, Coal Quay. This week’s task requires us to create a story through digital photographs which surprisingly started out a little difficult with very few online archives storing many photographs of Cork’s markets.
“Still images can be moving and moving images can be still. Both meet within soundscapes.” ~ Chien-Chi Chang
The photograph of the Queen of England visiting The English Market took worldwide media by storm and became one of the most iconic photographs of the year. What was the reason for this? So what if Queen Lizzy visited the place I do some of my weekly shopping? This got me thinking of the importance of markets to Cork.
The economic prosperity of Cork grew in the 18th Century and was based primarily on the provisions trade; salted beef, pork, butter and the like were exported to the West Indies to provision the British navy. The unrivaled ability of Cork Harbour to shelter huge fleets was of course a major factor in the expansion of this type of trade. Cork Butter was internationally renowned and became the largest butter market in the world for its time because of this ability to export huge quantities of goods.
- Image 1.1 Grand Parade entrance of The English Market with tram-line passing outside. This perhaps provided transportation for those frequenting the market with their load of shopping. Sourced from Cork City and County Archives’ current exhibit named Cork:Merchant Heritage.
As well as being able to ship stuff out, huge cargo ships had easy access into Cork’s Harbour. It allowed exotic food stuffs such as spices from the East to be imported and sold to the people of Cork, or at least to the more affluent. With this, saw the opening of The English Market in 1788 as a flagship municipal market located at the heart of the new CBD (central business district for those less geographically inclined).
- Image 1.2 This photo captures a moment on any given day in The English Market back in the 19th Century. Photographer unknown. Sourced from The English Market’s archives.
This photo is very showing of the time as the majority of the people doing their shopping are in fact women and their children. Not only this, but they are very well dressed which perhaps is telling of their social class. Although the English Market was praised by many, it only served the prosperous. The less well off shopped in what was known as the Irish Market, St. Peter’s Market which had entrances on North Main Street and Cornmarket St. Food prices were more affordable here.
- Image 1.3 St. Peter’s Market Street Front c. 1900. Sourced from Michael O’Leary Collection of Cork City Council Archives.
Above is the shop front of St. Peter’s Market (where today lies the Bodega) which was completed in 1843. It was, in a way, the centrepiece of Cork’s market revolution. It was designed by the renowned architect Alexander Deane and modelled on St John’s Market in Liverpool, the largest in the U.K. Its hundreds of stalls sold meat fish and vegetables to the Cork working class. The quality of the food was below par with its grander counterpart, however the medieval town dwellers who enclosed their settlements with defensive walls greatly depended on the market for their supply of food and other necessities.
- Image 1.4 A bustling Coal Quay, 1904. See the difference of this bustling crowd compared to the desert St. Peter’s Market (no wonder it didn’t survive!) Sourced from The South of Ireland Illustrated with Descriptive Letterpress and Maps.
- Image 1.5 Roadside Butter Market Vendors, Cork. c. 1900. Photographer unknown. Sourced from Cork City Libraries.
“The virtual porosity between the ‘covered street’ that was St Peter’s and the bustling real street outside down by Coal Quay (shown above) proved ultimately fatal to its prospects. It was never able to establish its own distinct, insulated identity as the English Market had done. While the latter continued to turn a healthy profit for the corporation, justifying continued expenditure on it and copperfastening its identity in the process, the Irish Market rapidly became a loss-maker. By early 1905 fifty-eight stalls in St Peter’s were vacant and its annual income of less than £500 was over £200 less than it had been the mid-1880s. Estimated expenditure on the market for 1906 was £600.” (http://www.englishmarket.ie, accessed on 01/11/2014)
In the mid 20th Century the remaining handful of stallholders in St Peter’s Market were given notice of eviction so to speak and were offered alternative pitches in The English Market. The Irish Market was no more. Present day Cork still enjoy weekly markets down by the Coal Quay and are invited to enjoy the creaminess of it’s once world famous butter at the Cork Butter Museum. The English Market is what Cork is known for; it has been a symbol of the city since its opening welcoming both citizens and tourists alike to enjoy its successful innovations and creations of artisan foods.
I guess that explains my question; I’m sorry I ever doubted the Queen’s decision to come visit!
- Image 1.6 Queen with Pat O’Connell of K O’Connell Fish. Sourced from The English Market’s archives.
I hope you’ve enjoyed your perusal of my blog installment this week, despite it not being as exotic as the others’! Keep your eyes peeled for next week when I get the opportunity to showcase some of my own photography skills.
Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye…should I just stop trying to be so Cork while I’m ahead?
Jennifer | 112302041
Bibliography
General History of The English Market. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.englishmarket.ie/historygallery/thehistoryoftheenglishmarket/theemergenceanddevelopmentofmarketsincorkcity/. [Accessed on 01 November 2014]
Image 1.1 Cork City and County Archives’ online exhibition, Cork: Merchant Heritage. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.corkarchives.ie/merchantcity/home/retailheritage/. [Accessed on 01 November 2014]
Image 1.2 and Image 1.6 The English Market’s Online Archives [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.englishmarket.ie/historygallery/gallery/. [Accessed on 01 November 2014]
Image 1.3 Michael O’Leary’s Collection [ONLINE] Available at:
Drawing From The Archives 
Hi Jennifer, Corkonian or not, I really enjoyed this post! Born and reared in Cork I am ashamed to say that although I knew of and shopped/still shop in both the ‘English Market’ and ‘Coal Quay’ Markets, I had never heard of St. Paul’s Market, at all. Is there any firm reasoning, besides the ‘cheaper and probably lesser quality produce on sale there, to account for its demise? As one would consider that, due to our terribly inconsistent weather patterns and propensity to ‘many rainy days’, that shoppers would have preferred shopping indoors, in a Market with even the slightest level of overhead shelter from the rain and wind, especially as you point out, many of it shoppers were women with children? An enclosed shopping space would also have been safer for children, especially compared to the Coal Quay open Market Stalls, with such proximity to the river nearby.
Your comparisons were excellent and again the references in particular to the ‘famed Cork Butter’, and the marketing of same. A small reference to how all of this rich food heritage led to the building of incredible housing for Cork’s ‘Merchant Princes’ would have made a welcome addition as would our famed Cork Coat of arms- two merchant ships flanking the entrance to our harbour- ‘a safe haven for ships’ ….with the 3rd deepest berths in all of Europe.
A really interesting piece and although images were scarce, you still managed to find excellent samples of all three! Corcaigh Abú and well done!
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