page_title: Cork (city)
section_title: Railway and tramway heritage
hierarchical_section_title: Cork (city) / Transport / Rail / Railway and tramway heritage
caption_attribution_description: Chose this curvy photo of the railway station in Cork for the bewildering multiplicity of signage. Most scenes in our early photos are blissfully uncluttered, but not this one! Also chose it because it has a clock clearly displaying the time (like a moth to a flame), and the advertising posters are fab (technical term). However, think the adverts contain a first on our Flickr stream, unless of course you know different - Earth Closets! Also wonder what happened ladies who got confused or were short-sighted and wandered into the Ladies First Class Room rather than Ladies Third Class Room? Date: After 2 February 1893 NLI Ref.: L_NS_00149
context_page_description: Cork is the second largest city in Ireland, located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city's boundary in 2019, its population is c. 210,000.
  The city centre is an island positioned between two channels of the River Lee which meet downstream at the eastern end of the city centre, where the quays and docks along the river lead outwards towards Lough Mahon and Cork Harbour, one of the largest natural harbours in the world.
  Originally a monastic settlement, Cork was expanded by Viking invaders around 915. Its charter was granted by Prince John in 1185. Cork city was once fully walled, and the remnants of the old medieval town centre can be found around South and North Main streets. The third largest city by population on the island of Ireland, the city's cognomen of "the rebel city" originates in its support for the Yorkist cause in the Wars of the Roses. Corkonians sometimes refer to the city as "the real capital", a reference to its opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty in the Irish Civil War.
context_section_description: Cork was one of the most rail-oriented cities in Ireland, featuring eight stations at various times. The main route, still much the same today, is from Dublin Heuston. Originally terminating on the city's outskirts at Blackpool, the route now reaches the city centre terminus of Kent Station via the Glanmire tunnel and Kilnap Viaduct. Now a through station, the line through Kent connects the towns of Cobh and Midleton east of the city. This also connected to the seaside town of Youghal, until the 1980s.
  Other rail routes terminating or traversing Cork city were the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway, a line to Macroom, the Cork and Muskerry Light Railway to Blarney, Coachford and Donoughmore, as well as the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway connecting Bantry, Skibbereen, Clonakilty and many other West Cork towns. West Cork trains terminated at Albert Quay, across the river from Kent Station (though an on-street rail system connected the two for rolling stock and cargo movement).
  Within the city there have been two tram networks in operation. A proposal to develop a horse-drawn tram (linking the city's railway termini) was made by American George Francis Train in the 1860s, and implemented in 1872 by the Cork Tramway Company. However, the company ceased trading in 1875 after Cork Corporation refused permission to extend the line.
  In December 1898, the Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company began operating on the Blackpool–Douglas, Summerhill–Sunday's Well and Tivoli–Blackrock routes. Increased usage of cars and buses in the 1920s led to a reduction in the use of trams, which discontinued operations permanently on 30 September 1931.
  The wider city area, including the city's suburbs, is served by three railway stations. These are Cork Kent railway station, Little Island railway station and Glounthaune railway station.
caption: Glanmire Road Station (now called Kent Station) c.1890s
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