The Changing Face of Cork


Cork was shaped by events outside of Ireland during the 15th and 16th century.

First, some background information.


During the middle years of the 15th century, the English nobles had been fighting bitterly among themselves as to who should be King. This war was known as the `War of the Roses`. It is so called because the two sides in the war chose a rose as their standard or emblem. The House of Lancaster chose a red rose as their and the House of York chose a white rose as their badge or symbol. The House of Lancaster won the war and Henry VII became King of England.

In 1491 a man named Perkin Warbeck arrived in Cork. He claimed to be the rightful king of England and in 1492 tried to overthrow Henry VII. The mayor of Cork and several important citizens went with Warbeck to England and tried to capture the city of Exeter but when the rebellion collapsed they were all captured and executed. After the attempted rebellion Cork became known as 'Rebel Cork'.

Perkin Warbeck
Henry VIII and Elizabeth I succeeded Henry VII to the throne in England. Henry VIII was very headstrong and because the Pope wouldn't allow him to divorce his wife, Henry decided he and all the people in his kingdom would no longer obey the Pope.
A new church or religion was formed. It was called The Church of England and Henry made himself leader of this new church. He ordered that all the Catholic monasteries and churches in England and Ireland be handed over to his new Protestant church. This is how St.Finbarr's monastery became a Protestant church. Henry also ordered all the Catholics in Ireland to change their religion but most didn't. Catholic families were ordered out of the city and their property was given to Protestant families. Tough laws, called the Penal Laws, were introduced in an effort to force the Catholics to change their religion but without much success.

 

Did you know? The word `Protestant` comes from the word 'protest'. When some people disagreed with the Pope, they 'protested' by starting their own religions. Henry VIII was one of these.

Google task: Find out more about 'The Reformation' and about the 'Penal Laws'.
   
At the end of the 16th century the English built a fort, called Elizabeth Fort, to protect the Protestant population of Cork against attacks.

In 1649 Cork surrendered to Oliver Cromwell during his plantation of Munster.

Again in 1685 there was another quarrel as to who should be King of England, whether James II ( a Catholic) or the Dutch Prince, William of Orange ( a Protestant), should rule. In 1688 the Catholic citizens of Cork gave support to King James II. He had come to Ireland looking for help. However William beat James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1688 and Cork was made to pay for supporting the beaten James.

 

Elizabeth Fort (side wall)
In 1690 Cork underwent a 5 day siege by the army of William of Orange and during this siege a cannon was placed on the Red Abbey and began firing cannon balls at the walls of the city. Much of the city wall was destroyed. This was first seen as a disaster but later it turned into an opportunity when the citizens decided to break out through the old walls and build a new city centre over the marshes outside the wall. Many of the marshes were filled in over the next hundred years and the city, as we know it today, took shape.

 

Task: Compare the shape of Patrick's St, Grand Parade, South Mall with an old Map of Cork.

Google: Oliver Cromwell in Ireland

Puzzler: Look at the photo below.Why are there steps to many of the buildings on the South Mall?

Red Abbey
 

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