Cork
by Sharon King Hoge
Ireland’s second-largest city after Dublin, Cork draws big business with a warm Irish welcome.
It may be only a tenth the size of Dublin, but Ireland’s second-largest city offers such a wealth of arts, education, history, recreation and commerce that proponents score Cork City with a “perfect 10.” Situated on an “island” embraced by two channels of the River Lee, the city which originated on marshland (hence its Irish name, Coraigh, from corcach, meaning swamp) has transformed itself into a major metropolitan center.
An important trading hub since the Middle Ages, Cork sent hides, wool and cloth around the globe and famously became the world’s largest exporter of butter. When the potato famine struck, its port saw the departure of thousands of immigrants overseas, and during the civil wars fierce battles between British and Irish left this “rebel town” burned and pillaged. Late in the 20th century, when the shipbuilding industry and local Ford and Dunlop plants closed down, Cork turned to other opportunities. With the emergence of technology it has successfully attracted major international corporations.
