CORK. A city, civic county, port. and Par liamentary borough, capital of Cork County, Ire land, on the Lee. 11 miles above its discharge into the sea, and miles southwest of Dub lin by rail (Map: Ireland, C 5). It stands in the centre of a picturesque valley, partly on an island. formerly a swamp. which the word Cork, Co•roch, or Co•eagh implies, and partly on the north and south slopes of the river banks. Sev eral bridges span the river to the central island. The situation is picturesque from the uneven ground, irregular streets, intersecting river, and overhanging heights. Cork is the seat of a Ro man Catholic bishopric. Its finest building is the Anglican Cathedral of Saint Finn Barr, completed in 1879 on the site of the saint's seventh-century foundation. There arc four monasteries, two nun neries. and among other buildings of note are the bishop's palace. the free library schools of science and art (with a museum), and Queen's College, affiliated with the Royal University of Ireland and occupying a fine Tudo•-Gothic quadrangular building. The Church of Saint Anne Shandon, with its high tower, is near the site of the old Shandon Castle, once a stronghold of importance. There is a public park of 240 acres, with a well known race-course. There is also a handsome public cemetery. The banks of the Lee, above and below Cork, are studded with villas. The estuary contains several islets rising abruptly from the water, with narrow- channels between them. It is a land-locked basin. having an en trance one mile in width. which is defended by batteries on Spike, Idaulbowline, and Rocky islands, which are also occupied by a convict prison, Government repairing dock, ordnance depots, and artillery barracks. On the shores of the estuary are the towns of Passage and Queenstown, formerly Cove of Cork. The Lee is navigable for a considerable distance above the city. and on the improvement of the navigation the harbor commissioners have expended large sums. The harbor, formed by the Lee estuary, is noted for its size and safety, and has been he main source of the rise and progress of the city. It has dry-docks and patent slips. An average of 2500 ships enters and clears the port annually. Its own shipping comprises 60 sailing and 50 steam vessels of 22,000 tons burden. It has a large export and import trade, but of a fluctuating and latterly declining character. lts
chief exports are oats, manure, and whisky; im ports, wheat, maize, fish, meat, chemical prod ucts, sugar, and timber. The chief manufactures of the city are leather, metallic goods, woolen and linen goods, beer and whisky. The United States is represented by a consul. Founded in 622 by Saint Finn Barr, during the ninth cen tury Cork was frequently devastated by the Danes, who in 1020 made it a trading station and built the city walls. Desmond iNtavarthy, King of Munster, surrendered it to Denry 11. in 1172. During the Civil War it held out for the King, and was taken by Cromwell in 1649. In 1690 it was again besieged and taken by Marlborough. Population, in 1891, 75,345; Par liamentary borough, 97,300; in 1901. 75,973; Par liamentary borough, 99,690; of whom the great majority are Roman Catholics. Cork returns two members to Parliament. Consult Cusack, History of the City and County of Cork (Dublin, 1875).
CORK (Sp. co•cho, cork, from Lat. cortex, bark). The unusually developed epiphheum (see BARK) of the bark of the cork-tree or cork oak (Qurrcus saber), the ulco•noque of the Spaniards, a species of oak (q.v.). a native of southern Europe and northern Africa. Thco phrastus, in book ii. of his Historia Plantarum, speaks of the cork-tree as a native of the Pyrenees. Spain and Portugal chiefly supply the orld with cork, although the imported tree is said to thrive in some parts of the United States. Planted trees are said to be inferior to the nat ural forests. The cork-tree is not of great size, generally 20 to 40 feet high, with ovate-oblong evergreen leaves, which are sometimes entire and sometimes sharply serrated. It lives to a great age, in some instances 300 or 400 years, and is as much as 15 feet in circumference. It blos soms in April or May; the fruit ripens from September to January, falling on the ground as soon as ripe. The acorns arc edible, and in taste resemble chestnuts. The bark in trees or branches from three to five years old acquires a fungous appearance, new layers of cellular tis sue being formed, and the outer parts cracking from distension until they are finally thrown off in large flakes. when a new formation of the same kind takes place.