Grand Parade, Cork

Grand Parade (Sráid an Chapaill Bhuí in Irish), is one of the main streets of Cork city, Ireland. It runs from South Mall in the south to St. Patrick's Street/Daunt Square in the north, with intersections with Oliver Plunkett Street, Tuckey Street, Washington Street, Augustine Street and a number of pedestrian-only lanes in between. The Irish name of the street, Sráid an Chapaill Bhuí, comes from a time when there was a statue of King George II on horse-back at the junction with South Mall. The location of this statue is now occupied by the national monument.

Grand Parade was originally a channel of the River Lee. The original Hiberno-Norse settlement of Cork grew up on its west bank.

The river channel existed until at least 1690, when it is shown on a map of Cork. At this time, the east bank was still largely undeveloped, with only a bowling green shown in the area.

By 1726, buildings had developed on the east bank, but the river channel remained in place. In a 1774 map, the northern portion of the street between Oliver Plunkett Street and Daunt Square had been reclaimed, but the southern portion was still a dock. Finally, by 1801, the river channel had completely disappeared and the street was fully present.

As of 2010, some members of the Cork City Council had "raised concerns about the shabby state of several city centre sites" on Grand Parade - including the former Capitol Cinema site. From 2016, these sites have seen renewed development and investment.

The street retains a number of commercial properties, with retail being most common at the northern end of the street and offices more common at the southern end close to the South Mall. It has an entrance to the English Market on its eastern side. Other features on the street include Cork's main library and Bishop Lucey Park, both of which are on the western side of the street, and the mid-19th century Berwick Fountain - which was originally in the centre of the street, but which was moved to the western side during later refurbishment works.

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