Cork Past and Present .ie

Old lanes and alleys of Cork

In the 19th century there were numerous lanes and alleys in Cork city, many of them in the areas off the North and South Main Streets, Shandon Street, Blarney Street and Barrack Street. A great many of those lanes are gone now, cleared away by Cork Corporation in the 1920s and 1930s and the occupants housed in the new housing estates on the north and south of the city. Since the 1901 and 1911 censuses have been made available online, interest in the locations of these lanes has grown as people research their family histories. As an aid to these researchers the staff of the Local Studies Library has drawn up an alphabetical list of these lanes, taken mainly from the street index of Griffith’s Valuation giving their locations, sometimes approximate. The first column in the table gives the name of the lane; the second column gives the relevant civil parish and the third column gives the location of the lane. In locating the lanes the staff used the online and microfilm editions of Griffith’s Valuation, maps, newspaper and periodical articles, and books, especially Gina Johnson’s indispensable Laneways of medieval Cork.

Some the lanes are shown and named on the 25 inch map of Cork city available online at the Ordnance Survey Ireland website historicmaps.ie Click on the ‘Search’ button and enter the name of the lane or the name of the nearest main street to the lane; then click on the ‘Historic 25”’ button.

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