Turners Cross Crois an Tornóra
|
|
---|---|
Town | |
The Church of Christ the King
|
|
Location in Ireland | |
Coordinates: 51°53′10″N 8°27′51″W / 51.8862°N 8.4642°WCoordinates: 51°53′10″N 8°27′51″W / 51.8862°N 8.4642°W | |
Country | Ireland |
Province | Munster |
County | County Cork |
Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
• Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
Turners Cross (Irish: Crois an Tornóra) is a ward on the south side of Cork City, and home to the Roman Catholic parish of the same name.
Largely residential, one of the key features of the area is the iconic church created by architect Barry Byrne and sculptor John Storrs, the Church of Christ The King. It was commissioned in 1927 by Rev Daniel Cohalan D.D., Bishop of Cork. The church was the first Irish church to be built from concrete instead of brick, and is one of the largest suspended-ceiling churches in Europe. Opened in 1931, the church is based on the principles of Art Deco which makes strong use of symmetric and geometric forms.
Rocque's map of Cork of 1759 is the first to show significant housing in the Turners Cross area in the areas that are now Evergreen St (then Maypole Lane) and Quaker Rd (then Graveyard Lane). Previous maps of Cork in 1690 and 1726 show only occasional houses associated with what were then farms on the southern edge of Cork City. The oldest housing still existing in Turners Cross now dates from the mid 19th century.
In 1879, the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway, which had shared the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway station at Albert Road in the city centre, moved its city terminus to a new station they created - Cork Capwell railway station in the Turners Cross area. This was used until 1925, when both the Cork and Macroom and Cork, Bandon and South Coast railways were merged into Great Southern Railways and the terminus reverted to Albert Road.
New housing was continually developed in the Turners Cross area until the 1950s, when there was little remaining spare land in the area.