TITANIC MEMORIAL STONE AT FITZGERALD’S PUBLIC PARK IN CORK
This has been here since 2012 but I never noticed it until this visit (August 2021) to Fitzgerald’s public park in the Mardyke area of Cork city.
Titanic was planned to arrive at New York Pier 59 on the morning of 17 April. After leaving Queenstown [now Cobh] in Cork , Titanic followed the Irish coast as far as Fastnet Rock, a distance of some 55 nautical miles (63 mi; 102 km). From there she travelled 1,620 nautical miles (1,860 mi; 3,000 km) along a Great Circle route across the North Atlantic to reach a spot in the ocean known as “the corner” south-east of Newfoundland, where westbound steamers carried out a change of course. Titanic sailed only a few hours past the corner on a rhumb line leg of 1,023 nautical miles (1,177 mi; 1,895 km) to Nantucket Shoals Light when she made her fatal contact with an iceberg. The final leg of the journey would have been 193 nautical miles (222 mi; 357 km) to Ambrose Light and finally to New York Harbour.
PAVILION OF LIGHT BANDSTAND AT FITZGERALD’S PARK ON THE MARDYKE
“The redevelopment of Fitzgerald’s Park has created a state-of-the-art public facility in the heart of the city. The thoughtful re-imagining of the space, driven by the relocation of the bandstand to the front lawn, was integral to the success of the scheme and of reinventing the park. The Pavilion is now a modern landmark, conjuring memories of the grand bandstand of the international exhibition held at the site in 1902. Its success has acted as a catalyst for community engagement and has facilitated a range of events enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. As an icon of collective memory, it forms the heart of a wider community, designed to serve diverse ages and interests. It is a wonderful facility, whose flexibility of use will attract visitors from near and far for years to come as the park evolves and grows.”
Fitzgerald’s Park or, if you prefer, Fitzgerald Park is a public park in Cork city and the location of the Cork Public Museum.The park is located on the Mardyke and is a short distance from Cork city centre and University College Cork.
The park was originally the site of the 1902 Cork International Exhibition, a world’s fair showcasing the city’s economy. After the exhibition the grounds were converted into a public park, with a large pond and fountain as the main focus. The park was named for Edward Fitzgerald, the then incumbent Lord Mayor of Cork and proposer of the Cork International Exhibition.
The park is approximately 12 acres in size and contains a pond, the Cork Public Museum, sculpture trail, bandstand, a café and a large children’s play area. The area of the park is joined to Sunday’s Well across the River Lee by Daly’s bridge (a pedestrian suspension bridge known locally as the “Shakey Bridge”).
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