First phase of Cork's Marina Park to open as new stage revealed

The new €10m docklands park around Páirc Uí Chaoimh will be six times the size of Fitzgerald’s Park once complete

Grace and Ruairi O'Flynn in Cork's Marina Park. The park's central plaza will be used for gatherings and organised events. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

The first phase of Cork’s long-awaited Marina Park is finally set to open on Monday, with detailed design work already underway on the next massive phase — a 60-acre eco-park.

The new €10m docklands park, which will feature woodland, marshland, meadows, and water feature zones wrapping around Páirc Uí Chaoimh, will be six times the size of Fitzgerald’s Park once complete.

However, work on phase two, which will see the area from the Atlantic Pond to Blackrock pier completely transformed into a regional eco-park, will not start until next autumn at the earliest, with a winter 2023 target completion date.

The next phase includes:

• Ecological trails and resting points through existing forested areas;
• A managed wetlands area with reeds and water gardens;
• A woodland playground;
• Nurtured meadowlands;
• A cultural heritage trail providing safe public access to Barrington Folly, the old quay walls, the slipway at Dundanion Castle, and ice cave.

People will get a taste of what is to come when the first phase opens on Monday. The areas to the west of the GAA stadium include a central plaza and a steel pavilion which pays homage to the Munster Showgrounds central hall which once stood on the site.

The plaza will be used for gatherings and organised events. Public parking near Shandon boat club has been upgraded.

The installation of public toilets has been delayed by “supply-chain issues” but they will be installed before Christmas, the city council said.

The areas to the west of Páirc Uí Chaoimh include a central plaza and a steel pavilion which pays homage to the Munster Showgrounds central hall which once stood on the site. Photo: Cork City Council

Lord Mayor, Cllr Colm Kelleher, described the fully- accessible park as a fantastic new amenity for the city.

“The development of this park also demonstrates how Cork City Council want the nearby docklands to be first and foremost a great place to live, as well as a great place to work in and invest in,” he said.

Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy said it will add immensely to the Marina district.

Grace and Ruairi O'Flynn with parents Caroline and Brian, have run-around in Cork's newest park where Cork City Council workers were making last-minute preparations before the park's opening to the public on Monday. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

“The showgrounds at its cultural height in the 20th century attracted tens of thousands of people, who enjoyed what the spring and summer shows had to offer. The new park is a modern offering on the site, which will attract citizens from across the city and region,” he said.

Fine Gael’s Des Cahill also welcomed the news. “It’s great to see such sustained investment in this part of the city, which is earmarked for such growth over the next few years,” he said.

The new €10m docklands park will feature woodland, marshland, meadows, and water feature zones wrapping around Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Photo: Cork City Council

The park has also been designed to act as a flood storage basin for the south docklands during rainfall flood events. It has been designed by Okra Landscape Architects, based in Utrecht in the Netherlands, with consulting engineers O’Connor Sutton Cronin and conservation architects Howley Hayes as part of the team.

It has been built by Sorensen Civil Engineering, Cork, with Greenway Landscaping, and is one of several major investments in the south docklands, which is earmarked for significant housing development over the next decade.

Ruairi and Grace O'Flynn taking a first look at Marina Park. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

Work is expected to start next year on the Marina Promenade project, which will help integrate Marina Park and the upgraded Passage railway greenway with the docklands and Blackrock village.

It will include dedicated pedestrian and cycle spaces, repairs to the quay walls, new seating, and bike parking.

Work on the upgrade of the nearby Blackrock-Passage railway greenway, between the Marina and Mahon, is continuing and is due to be finished next summer.

Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

Design work on the next stage, from Mahon to Passage, is underway, and is due to start next year, subject to planning.

Meanwhile, hoarding has been erected in the park to delineate the works area for the proposed Monahan Road extension project.

A contentious project, given its proximity to the park, it has been designed to provide access to and facilitate the development of the former Ford distribution site where there is planning permission for a 1,000-unit residential development.

City Hall said the road project will include dedicated infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists, and bus users.