Cork orientation · Orientation in Cork
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Orientation in Cork
Orientation in Cork
Cork is the anglicised version of the Irish word Corcaigh, which means marsh. The city centre was originally built on marshland and boats were able to navigate into the channels which separated the many islands. Many of the wider streets, such as St Patrick's Street, the South Mall and the Grand Parade, are actually built on former river channels. St Patrick's Street is Cork's commercial hub, and is known colloquially as either "Patrick Street" or "Pana".
The centre of the city forms an arrow-shaped island between the North and South channels of the River Lee. There are upwards of thirty bridges over the two channels. This, combined with the one-way traffic system, can make the centre a little bit confusing for first-time visitors. The River Lee flows from West to East, and outside of the centre, hills rise steeply to the Northside, while the Southside is that bit flatter but still hilly in parts. St. Anne's Church watches over Shandon, just to the North of the river. The University is about 2km to the west of the centre.
The Train Station is about 1km to the east of the centre. Shops are generally concentrated around St. Patrick's Street, Oliver Plunkett Street, Paul Street and North Main Street. Bars and Restaurants can be found everywhere, but especially around MacCurtain Street, Washington Street and Oliver Plunkett Street. Financial businesses are centred on the area around the South Mall and the Administrative heart of the city is on Anglesea Street.
Also, Corkonians pronounce Cork like "Caaark", stressing a very light A in place of the O. Be wary of this, don't get confused if people pronounce the city like this in conversation.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Cork
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Cork - updated May 2024
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Cork Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.