Crosshaven (Irish: Bun an Tábhairne)[2] is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in lower Cork Harbour at the mouth of the River Owenabue, across from Currabinny Wood. Originally a fishing village,[3] from the 19th century, the economy of the area became more reliant on a growing tourism industry.[3][4]
Crosshaven
Bun an Tábhairne | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Crosshaven | |
  Crosshaven Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates: 51°48′07″N 08°17′43″W / 51.80194°N 8.29528°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Cork |
| Elevation | 40 m (130 ft) |
| Population | 3,263 |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-1 (IST (WEST)) |
| Irish Grid Reference | W792606 |
Name
editThe modern Irish name for Crosshaven village is Bun an Tábhairne.[2] While some sources link the word tábhairne to the English word "tavern", other sources suggest that it is a corruption of "tSabhairne" a grammatical form of the word "Sabhrann" the name of a local river.[5] Bun refers to "river mouth" when in reference to placenames. Therefore, the name is potentially translated as "mouth of the River Sabhrann".[5] The old Irish name for the east side of the village was Cros tSeáin or "John's Cross", from which the English name derives.[2][5]
History
editCrosshaven was originally a Viking settlement, part of what was known as the 'Ostman's Tancred', after Cork city became a fortified English stronghold.[6]
According to local legend, Sir Francis Drake hid a small squadron from a larger Spanish fleet upstream from Crosshaven on the River Owenabue at Tubberavoid, now called Drake's Pool.[7] There is no evidence for this story,[8] which is first recorded in 1750 by Charles Smith,[9] who places it in 1589 after the Spanish Armada;[10] Julian Corbett in 1890 said it could only have happened in during the 1573–75 campaign of the 1st Earl of Essex.[11]
The local secondary school, Coláiste Mhuire, was founded by an aunt of James Joyce,[6] and the town is mentioned twice in Joyce's novel Ulysses.[12][13]
Nearby coastal artillery and military forts, Fort Templebreedy and Camden Fort Meagher, were British outposts until the Treaty Ports installations were relinquished in 1938. Camden is located on the headland of Rams Head and is occasionally open to the public.[14]
Economy and tourism
edit
Originally a fishing village,[3] in the late 19th and into the 20th century, tourism became important to the town,[4] which has 5 beaches within a 2-mile radius. The area saw an increase in 'holiday homes' in the mid-20th century,[15] accommodating families from Cork city who stayed locally in the summer months[4] - some of these temporary cabins were initially built using very large packing crates from the Ford factory in Cork.[16][17][18]
Tourism attractions in the town included Piper's funfair (known as "the merries"), a nightclub called The Majorca (now closed), a cinema (also since closed), and the Cockleshell (now an arcade called La Scala).[citation needed] Today Crosshaven is becoming a commuter town for Ringaskiddy and Cork city.[citation needed]
In the 1970s and 1980s, environmental concerns came to the fore as a large industrial estate was built across the river in Ringaskiddy.[citation needed] It has been host Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline and other pharmaceutical companies.
Sport
edit
The village is home to Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) which has had its headquarters in the village since 1966.[19] The club was established at the Cove of Cork (now Cobh) in 1720 and holds the title of the oldest in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. In 1966 the RCYC merged with the Royal Munster Yacht Club and made the Royal Munster's club house its headquarters. The biennial Regatta of Cork Week (formerly Ford Cork Week due to the sponsorship of the Ford Motor Company)[20] draws many competitors and upwards of 15 thousand spectators to each competition.[21]
Crosshaven AFC is one of the oldest soccer clubs in Cork, and was founded in 1898.[22] The club has two pitches, an all-weather training area and four-dressing-room clubhouse.
Crosshaven RFC (Rugby Union Football Club) was founded in 1972,[23] and has two pitches, an all-weather pitch and a gym located at Myrtleville Cross in Crosshaven.
The local Gaelic Athletic Association club is Crosshaven GAA, which has teams playing both hurling and Gaelic football.
Crosshaven Triathlon Club meets for training on the walkway, with swimming at Myrtleville.[citation needed]
Transport
editThe town is situated on the R612 regional road, and served by a single bus from Cork city centre via Carrigaline. Cork Airport is the nearest airport, and there are also ferries to France from nearby Ringaskiddy.
Crosshaven railway station was the southern terminus of the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway (which originally opened in 1850, but only extended south of Passage West at the start of the 20th century).[24] The station opened on 1 June 1904, and finally closed on 1 June 1932.[25]
People
editNotable residents have included the father of Bob Geldof, who was manager of the local Grand Hotel for a time,[26] and Chelsea FC's all-time 2nd greatest scorer, Bobby Tambling.[27]
Sister town
editCrosshaven has been twinned with Pleumeur-Bodou, France, since 1992.[28]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Census Mapping - Towns: Crosshaven - Population Snapshot". visual.cso.ie. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ^ a b c "Bunachar Logainmneacha na hÉireann". Logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ a b c Samuel Lewis (1837). "Crosshaven". A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017 – via LibraryIreland.com.
Crosshaven [..] comprises about 100 houses [..] and several handsome villas and lodges, the summer residences of those who visit the coast for seabathing, closely adjoin the village. An extensive fishery was formerly carried on, but it has so much declined
- ^ a b c Kieran McCarthy; Daniel Breen (2014). Cork Harbour Through Time. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-3426-5.
In the late 1800s, Crosshaven flourished from a quiet backwater into a tourism resort
- ^ a b c Ó Murchadha, Diarmuid (1956). "The Irish name of Crosshaven" (PDF). Journal of the Cork Historical & Archaeological Society. 2. 61 (193): 7–9.
- ^ a b "Breath taking crosshaven". Cork Independent. 18 August 2011. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ Croker, Thomas Crofton (1824). Researches in the south of Ireland. London: John Murray. p. 209.
- ^ Knight, Frederick W. (1933). "The Drake family" (PDF). Journal of the Cork Historical & Archaeological Society. 38 Ser. 2 (147): 24–26. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ McCarthy, Kieran (18 March 2019). The Little Book of Cork Harbour. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-8960-2.
- ^ Smith, Charles (1815). The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork. Vol. I (new ed.). Cork: John Connor. p. 208.
- ^ Corbett, Julian (1890). Sir Francis Drake. London: Macmillan. p. 51.
- ^ "A truly magical haven by the coast". Southern Star. 24 August 2014. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ Gifford, Don; Seidman, Robert J. (2008). Ulysses Annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses. University of California Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-520-25397-1.
- ^ "Rescue Camden | Fort Camden, Crosshaven, Co. Cork". Rescuecamden.ie. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014.
- ^ "Examiner Property Section - Myrtleville, Cork". Irish Examiner. 12 July 2014. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
Crosshaven got hugely popular with Cork City families after WWII, with many built of old Ford boxes, or in converted railway carriages
- ^ "Tight squeeze for summer property in Graball Bay". Irish Examiner. 7 July 2007. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ "Ford Boxes" (PDF). Evening Echo. December 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017 – via Bikvanderpol.net.
holiday homes [..] known as 'Ford Boxes' [..were made from..] sheeted timber packing crates for tractor parts that came into Ford's Cork factory from ships
- ^ "Family reunites at holiday home made from old Ford crates". Irish Examiner. 15 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- ^ "RCYC - Club History". Royal Cork Yacht Club. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ "Events - Cork Week - Royal Cork Yacht Club, Crosshaven". DiscoveringIreland.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ "Volvo Cork Week regatta to attract 20,000 visitors". Sunday Business Post. 26 June 2016. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
Volvo Cork Week is expected to generate about €1.5 million for the local economy [.. and ..] expected to attract between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors, from Ireland and overseas
- ^ "Crosshaven AFC - The Club". Crosshavenafc.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ "Crosshaven RFC - Home". Crosshavenrugbyfc.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ "Crosshaven Railway". Crosshaven.ie. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ "Crosshaven station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
- ^ "Geldof reckons Rats deserve top billing". Irish Examiner. 23 February 2013. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ "Royalty on the King's Road". Irish Examiner. 11 May 2013. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
[..] Crosshaven has been Tambling's home for decades [..]
- ^ "Crosshaven - Pleumeur-Bodou". Crosshaven.net. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
External links
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