St Patrick's Street

St Patrick's Street (Irish: Sráid Naomh Pádraig) is the main shopping street of the city of Cork in the south of Ireland. Since redevelopment in 2004, it has twice won an award as Ireland's best shopping street.[1] St Patrick's Street is colloquially known to some locals as "Pana".

St Patrick's Street
Pana
St. Patrick's Street looking south in 2006
NamesakeSaint Patrick
Length500 m (1,600 ft)
Widthup to 35 metres (115 ft)
LocationCork, Ireland
Coordinates51°53′55″N 8°28′20″W
northeast endMerchant's Quay, Bridge Street
Major
junctions		Grand Parade, Merchant's Quay, Lavitt's Quay
southwest endGrand Parade
Other
Known forshops, English Market

Location

St Patrick's Street runs in a curve from Saint Patrick's Bridge to Daunt Square, where it meets Grand Parade. The street obtains its curved shape due to its location over an arm of the River Lee.[2]

History
View of St. Patrick's Street from Daunt Square (circa 1890)

The street dates from the late 18th century, when the city expanded beyond the walls of the ancient city, which was centered on North and South Main Streets. During the 1780s, many of the streets that now make-up the city centre of Cork were formed by the spanning of the river channels of the Lee, between marshy islands.

From 1898 to 1931, the street was served by the Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company. Services started on 22 December 1898, however it closed on 30 September 1931 due to increasing popularity of bus services operated by The Irish Omnibus Company and the takeover of the company's electricity plant by the Electricity Supply Board.

Parts of Patrick Street were extensively damaged during the Irish War of Independence in an event known as the "Burning of Cork" in 1920. This included the Munster Arcade and Grant's department store.

In 2004, the street was redeveloped by architect Beth Gali in order to make the street more "pedestrian-friendly". This included repaving of the street and widening of pedestrian pavements in order to create plazas.[3]

In the early 21st century, the street saw various modernisation and rejuvenation projects. These included the opening of Opera Lane in 2010, the redesigning of shop facades in 2016,[4] and the development of the former Capitol Cinema site in 2017.[5]

Between March and April 2018, Cork City Council banned afternoon traffic on Patrick Street, with only public transport traffic allowed between 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. This was lifted within a few weeks due to a reported impact on city centre traders.[6][7]

Businesses and landmarks
Further information: List of public art in Cork city

The street is home to a number of retail and department stores, including Brown Thomas, Dunnes Stores, Marks & Spencer and Penneys, at the northern end. The Roches Stores building, built at the northern end of the street in the mid 1920s, housed the Roches Stores department store from the early 20th century until leased by Debenhams Ireland, who operated it from 2006 until 2020.[8][9] The opposite (southwestern) end of the street includes smaller units, with jewellery stores such as Pandora, video game stores like GameStop, and health store Holland & Barrett.

A monument to Fr. Theobald Mathew, the Apostle of Temperance, stands at the northern end of the street facing St. Patrick's Bridge over the River Lee. The monument dates back to October 1864.[10]

References
  1. "Cork history initiative - Patrick Street". Cork Past & Present. Cork City Library.
  2. "St Patrick's Street-Historic Outline". Cork Past & Present. Cork City Library.
  3. "Patrick Street - Redevelopment". Cork Past & Present. Cork City Library. 22 September 2004. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  4. "Cork set for multi-million euro retail rebuild". Irish Examiner. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  5. "Stores in The Capitol confirmed; Oyster Tavern to reopen". Irish Examiner. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  6. Roche, Barry (27 March 2018). "Cork bans private cars on Patrick Street in the afternoons". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  7. Bermingham, Darragh (21 April 2018). "Victory for the traders: city businesses celebrate as car ban parked". Evening Echo. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  8. "Debenhams' big shoes to fill on Cork's St Patrick's Street". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  9. An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of Cork City (PDF). buildingsofireland.ie (Report). National Inventory or Architectural Heritage. p. 89. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  10. "Selected places of interest". Cork Past & Present. Cork City Library. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
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