Marina Park shines, Bishop Lucey divides — has Cork finally cracked the public realm question?

WHAT defines Cork City for both residents and visitors? The famous Shandon Bells and its goldie fish? The gastric delights of the English Market? A visit to the Crawford Art Gallery or Nano Nagle Place? Our great pubs and reputation for “having the craic”? A string of well-organised, well-attended festivals: Jazz, movie, choral, midsummer?

Only the most curmudgeonly would fail to recognise that all of the above make invaluable contributions to the cultural and social life of the city. But what about public realm, the environments that support everyday life? Any city worth its salt will recognise the importance of quality public outdoor space as a means of bringing its citizens together. Creating open spaces accessible to everyone at ground level is what fosters a sense of belonging and pride of place.

A cyclist passes the new colourful artwork by Street artist Raffaele Muraca (Silly Me Arts) on The Hut at Marina Promenade beside the River Lee. Picture: Larry Cummins

European cities excel in this respect. They’ve long recognised that good public realm is more essential to the successful functioning of a city than landmark buildings or annual festivals or flagship sporting events.

Up until recently, Cork City’s public realm has lagged so far behind its European counterparts, that no one ever factored sampling it into their list of reasons to visit or to live in the city. That has changed.

The Marina area of the city has been so monumentally transformed in the past few years — with the final leg of Marina Park completed just in time for this year’s festive season — that it’s surely due for inclusion in the definitive must-visit list for those coming to the city. 

Those who already live here are embracing it every day: Pacing its walkways, bringing kids by the carload to road test its playgrounds, and spending cash in waterside cafes at either end of the fantastically revamped Marina Promenade.

The Marina Park Phase 2 project is complete at the Atlantic Pond, Ballintemple, beside Supervalu Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Picture: Larry CumminsThe upgraded Marina Promenade Picture: Larry Cummins

The success of the Marina project didn’t come cheap. Upgrading the riverside promenade cost €7.5m.

Another €14m was spent on adjacent Marina Park, which includes the just re-opened re-vamped Atlantic Pond and Sunken Garden. A popular spot ever before work was done, it’s now more attractive and user-friendly than ever.

The completion of the park follows on from last summer’s opening of a new sustainable playground adjacent to the promenade at Holland Park, and the unveiling in autumn of a stunning, elevated tree walkway.

The walkway brings you to Barrington’s Folly, an historic landmark that no-one had seen for decades, but which emerged from the scrub in terrific shape, as if dropped from outer space. After painstaking conservation and restoration work, this real-deal castle is a big hit with the kids.

New wooden decking and bridge section at the Atlantic Pond. Picture: Larry CumminsElevated walkway in Marina Park. Picture: Larry CumminsRestored Barrington’s Folly is a big hit with the kids

The completion of Marina Park is ahead of the delivery of 337 homes by Glenveagh Properties plc, backed by the Land Development Agency, at the nearby former Live at the Marquee site. It’s a good example of putting the horse where it should be — before the cart — by ensuring denizens of a new city quarter will have ready-made quality outdoor space, instead of taking years to provide any decent amenities.

The apartments — which have flown up in the past few months — are part of a multi-phase scheme which should ultimately deliver 1,178 homes. Once issues with flooding on neighbouring roads are addressed, it’s the kind of development that should have people climbing over each other to secure units. They’ll have a turnkey playground on their doorstep, next to a greenway, and still within a short walk of the city centre.

The neighbourhood bike scheme in Mahon aims to enhance infrastructure, improve road safety, and foster a more accessible environment for residents. Picture: Honore Kamegni

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Marina Park is – as Cork City Council intended – a flagship green space, that integrates recreation, biodiversity, heritage, and landscape with Cork’s wider Docklands regeneration plans.

The council has done well in nearby Mahon too, opening a vast new network of bike lanes in 2025, alongside investment in roads, footpaths, and the streetscape. It represents a spend of about €15m, courtesy of the National Transport Authority.

Only a grinch could find it in their heart to criticise Marina Park. However tidyings of comfort and joy are in short supply when it comes to the re-imagined Bishop Lucey Park.

Upgraded Bishop Lucey Park has provoked a mixed reaction. Picture: Larry CumminsThe renovated Bishop Lucey Park at Grand Parade, Cork City after the €7 million spend by Cork City Council. Picture: Larry CumminsBishop Lucey Park after redevelopment. Picture: Rob Meehan

 Since it re-opened last month after two years of redevelopment and a €7m spend, it’s been described on online forums as “cold and dead”, “hideous”, and a “mishmash of manmade materials”.

Core criticisms include that it feels less green — more hard urban space than traditional leafy city park — and that the outcome doesn’t match the design expectations.

The timing of the official re-opening — on a dreary November day, with work not yet completed — did nothing to appease the naysayers. Perhaps it will come into its own next spring, when leaves return to the trees, and we’ve had a chance to adjust to the brutalist look of some of the park’s new structures.

What the redeveloped park does do is act as a thoroughfare linking Grand Parade to South Main St, where many public realm improvements have been implemented. New street surfaces, wider footpaths, traffic calming measures, tree planters, and benches have created a more pedestrian-friendly environment.

A 7,000sq ft plaza added to South Main St in front of the former Beamish Brewery and its distinctive Counting House — redeveloped five years ago and still without a tenant — is finally being put to use this Christmas as a festive hub. 

ROGU Fire Arts performance at the Counting House Plaza – one of many free, family-friendly festive events taking place as part of Cork City Council’s Corkmas programme. Picture: Clare Keogh

The former brewery adjoins the site earmarked for the Event Centre, now top of the city council’s Dear Santa wishlist, as St Nicholas is more likely to deliver it than a government official.

The undeveloped site has been linked via a new pedestrian bridge to Proby’s Quay. 

The bridge is out of use until a new riverside walkway from South Main St to the bridge is completed, as the alternative is to navigate a builders’ compound. Work on the walkway is due to begin in January.

A second new pedestrian bridge – which is in use – links Lambley’s Lane, alongside Lee Point student accommodation, to Wandsford Quay.

Newly installed footbridge spanning the south channel of the River Lee at the historic Proby’s Quay, Cork. Picture: Billy macGill.City officials and clerics at the opening of the new pedestrian and cycle bridge linking Lambley’s Lane to Wandesford Quay, Cork City. Picture: Clare Keogh

The bridges cost €8.5m, while renewal works in the wider area represent an investment of around €10m. Taken together with the €7m investment in Bishop Lucey Park, it shows considerable commitment to this section of the city, which council chief Valerie O’Sullivan has previously said she would like to see become its cultural quarter.

So, the evidence of our own eyes is lots done in 2025 to improve public realm, particularly in the city’s southern docklands, as well as in the city centre, but perhaps less to celebrate across the river — other than the opening of a new community amenity space at Tinker’s Cross in Mayfield.

New apartments nearing completion on Horgan’s Quay. Picture: Larry CumminsConceptual views of the new public realm on Horgan’s Quay in Cork’s docklands 

To be fair, things are looking good in the northern docklands for 2026, where BAM/Clarendon and the Land Development Agency are on course to deliver more than 300 homes in the first major residential scheme in the city since the Elysian in 2008.

The council has plans for Horgan’s Quay too, which will transform the quay into a pedestrian friendly space, with new parks, promenade and bike lanes. Who knows, in years to come, it may even rival the south docks.