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St Patrick's Street

Pana
St. Patrick's Street looking south in 2006
Shown within Cork Central
Namesake	Saint Patrick
Length	500 m (1,600 ft)
Width	up to 35 metres (115 ft)
Location	Cork, Ireland
Coordinates	51°53′55″N 8°28′20″W / 51.89861°N 8.47222°W / 51.89861; -8.47222
northeast end	Merchant's Quay, Bridge Street
Major junctions	Grand Parade, Merchant's Quay, Lavitt's Quay
southwest end	Grand Parade
Other
Known for	shops, English Market

St Patrick's Street (Irish: Sráid Naomh Pádraig) is the main shopping street of the city of Cork in the south of Ireland. The street was subject to redevelopment in 2004, and has since won two awards as Ireland's best shopping street. St Patrick's Street is colloquially known to most locals as simply 'Patrick's Street', with the 'St' honorific dropped, in accordance with the pattern applied to many locations named after saints. It is also referred to colloquially by some locals as "Pana", with the first 'a' being elongated.

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.

History

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, although 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 to be more "pedestrian-friendly". This included repaving, and as well as widening of pedestrian pavements to create plazas.

In the early 21st century, the street underwent various modernisation and rejuvenation projects, including the opening of Opera Lane in 2010, the redesign of shop facades in 2016, and the development of the former Capitol Cinema site in 2017.

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. While the ban was lifted within a few weeks, due to a reported impact on city centre traders, it was subsequently reinstated. Its enforcement has reportedly been inconsistent.

Businesses and landmarks

The street is home to a number of retail and department stores, which at the northern end includes Brown Thomas, Dunnes Stores, Marks & Spencer and Penneys. 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. 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.

References

1. "Cork history initiative - St Patrick's Street". Cork Past & Present. Cork City Library. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Since its redevelopment in 2004, it has twice won the award as Ireland's best shopping street
2. "St Patrick's Street - Historic Outline". Cork Past & Present. Cork City Library. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020.
3. "St Patrick's Street - Redevelopment". Cork Past & Present. Cork City Library. 22 September 2004. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017.
4. "Cork set for multi-million euro retail rebuild". Irish Examiner. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
5. Barker, Tommy (26 March 2017). "Stores in The Capitol confirmed; Oyster Tavern to reopen". Irish Examiner. 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. Nolan, Amy (19 August 2021). "56 people fined for flouting parking restrictions on Cork's Patrick Street". The Echo. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
9. "Debenhams' big shoes to fill on Cork's St Patrick's Street". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
10. An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of Cork City (PDF). buildingsofireland.ie (Report). National Inventory or Architectural Heritage. p. 89. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
11. "St Patrick's Street - Selected places of interest". Cork Past & Present. Cork City Library. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017.

• Shopping districts and streets in Ireland
• Streets in Cork (city)