"Cork (city)

Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. The city has a population of 119,143, while the addition of the suburban areas contained in Cork County brings this total to 190,384. Metropolitan Cork has a population of approximately 274,000, while the Greater Cork area is about 380,000.

The city's name is derived from the Irish word corcach, meaning "marshy place", referring to its situation on the River Lee. Cork has a reputation for rebelliousness dating back to the town's support of the English pretender Perkin Warbeck in 1491 following the Wars of the Roses, and as a result of this Cork County has the nickname of "the Rebel County", and Corkonians often refer to Cork as the "real capital of Ireland" and themselves as "Rebels".

The River Lee flows through the city, an island in the river forming the main part of the city centre just before the Lee flows into Lough Mahon and then to Cork Harbour, the world's second largest natural harbour, after Sydney Harbour, Australia. The city is a major Irish seaport — with quays and docks sited along the broad waterway of the Lee on the city's East side. Cork is one of the three constituent cities in the Cork-Limerick-Galway corridor with a population of 1 million people.

History

Cork was originally a monastic settlement founded by St. Finbarr in the sixth century. However, Cork only achieved an urban character between 915 and 922 when Norseman (Viking) settlers founded a trading port. It has been proposed that, like Dublin, Cork was an important trading centre in the global Scandinavian trade network.

The city's charter was granted by King John in 1185. The title of Mayor of Cork was established by royal charter in 1318, and the title was changed to Lord Mayor in 1900 following the Knighthood of the incumbent Mayor by Queen Victoria on her visit to the City.

In the War of Independence, the centre of Cork was gutted by fires started by the British Black and Tans, and the city saw fierce fighting between Irish guerrillas and UK forces. During the Irish Civil War, Cork was for a time held by anti-Treaty forces, until it was retaken by the pro-Treaty National Army in an attack from the sea.

The city was once fully walled, and some wall sections and gates remain today."