The Glen, Cork

The Glen (Irish: An Gleann, meaning "The Valley") is a predominantly residential area in the northeast of Cork City, Ireland. The area consists of mostly Local Authority housing estates located near an ancient glacial valley today known as the 'Glen River Park' (also the 'Glen Amenity Park', formerly 'Goulding's Glen'). Most of The Glen is in electoral area 'Glen A', with a population of 2,354 as of 2011.

During the and Early Holocene periods it is believed that the River Lee valley was occupied by a glacier which melted and the water which sought an outlet created a ravine or glacial valley that now makes up what is known as 'Glen River Park', so named because the 'Glen River' flows through the valley on an east-west axis, and joins the 'River Bride' and the 'Kilnap River' in the Blackpool Valley to form the 'Kiln River'. In the 1850s W. and H.M. Goulding built a large factory in The Glen that was used to make phosphate fertilizers and the area became known as 'Goulding's Glen'. The factory closed and was demolished in the mid-20th century and very little of it remains today. The land was donated to the people of Cork by Sir Basil Goulding in the late 1960s and was subsequently developed as an amenity park.

Most of the present housing estates in The Glen were built in the 1970s in an area to the south of the valley and generally consisted of three bedroom terraced houses (generally six per block) and a number of free standing flat blocks (two bedroom flats with 18 per block). Most of the flats were demolished or refurbished during the Glen Regeneration Project. Like most housing estates and urban areas developed on the outskirts of Irish cities in the 1960s and 1970s, the area was not equipped with adequate facilities for new families that had moved in, an issue that would later be rectified by a regeneration plan. Initial facilities developed with the housing estates include St Brendan's Church and two primary schools; St Mark's Boys National School and St Brendan's Girls School. The area also includes two shops and is near Blackpool Shopping Centre and Retail Park which was developed during the 2000s.

During the 2000s, The Glen underwent significant changes as part of the Glen Regeneration Project. Phase I of the project which was completed in 2006 involved using new infill housing to occupy obscure areas and provide passive supervision of public space. A series of new, mainly single-storey terraced houses were used to form a coherent edge to the development where it meets the Glen amenity park, with the re-formed embankment to the park planted with native trees and shrubs in keeping with local biodiversity. Much needed community facilities were provided in the form of a day-care centre which overlooks the Glen Park. The centre is flanked by a care-taker’s apartment, and opens onto a semi-private landscaped garden which is shared with a number of the residential units. Additional community facilities will be provided as part of subsequent phases of the Regeneration. One of the existing flat blocks was demolished and the other two refurbished to provide a mix of housing with private outdoor space and better security. Much of the unresolved public space was addressed by extending private space out to the existing road network, which allowed for new gardens and boundary walls as well as new driveways or parking bays to be provided to the existing houses. A new green space was created in the centre of the scheme.

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Wikipedia