Shandon regeneration 'will give Cork a bit of its history back'
The former Butter Exchange and St Anne's Church in Shandon. Picture: Jim Coughlan
As regenerations go, it might be Cork City's greatest comeback story.
Despite many false dawns, the people of Shandon are finally feeling hopeful about the future of an area that has long been blighted by vacancy and neglect. It comes several months after Cork City Council launched the Shandon integrated urban strategy (IUS) — an ambitious 185-page rejuvenation plan designed to breath new life into one of Cork's most historic streetscapes.
The strategy contains 34 actions that range from small-scale initiatives to much larger projects. Most notable are three regeneration projects, including restoring the Butter Market and Weighmaster’s House Complex, revitalising St Anne's Church and Dr Mary Hearn Parks, and improving Shandon Street itself for residents and visitors.
In term of transforming the Butter Market and Weighmaster’s House into a community hub, that dream is now set to become a reality following the announcement of €7m funding, which will be the largest single investment in the Shandon area for a generation.
Owned by Cork City Council, the complex will be operated by Recreate Shandon CLG, which will manage the facilities and deliver programming for Shandon Exchange — enterprise and community hub.
Work is scheduled to begin on the complex in August 2026, with an estimated completion date of February 2028. The building will accommodate an incubation space, workspaces and community facilities.
The Butter Market and Weighmaster’s House has been reimagined in many different forms over the years including as a bakery, clothing factory, and most recently a craft centre which closed in 2008. However, the building, which dates back to 1770, first started its life as an international butter trading centre.
It also included accommodation for the Butter Market weighmaster whose job was to check the weights and measures of butter traded to promote honesty and fairness. The largest of its kind internationally, the Butter Market exported its goods globally from Cork harbour through wooden casks referred to as firkins.
Initially developed in the 12th century at the north gate of the walled city, Shandon is an area steeped in history. Once hosting cattle markets and renowned locally for its brewing and distillery industries, its has evolved almost beyond recognition.
Slaughter houses and tanneries have now given way to African, Asian and Arabic food stores as well as a butchers, barbers, chemists, pubs and funeral homes. But despite these thriving enterprises, many residents and business owners feared that the area was getting increasingly run down and more needed to be done to capitalise on its historic qualities.
With this in mind, the €7m investment into the historic Butter Market and Weighmaster’s House could not have come sooner for local activists. It followed tireless campaigning by the Shandon Area Renewal Association (SARA), a group made up of Shandon’s most committed business owners and residents — and a sign that redeveloping the area is finally been taken seriously.
In addition to the Butter Marker and Weighmaster’s House investment, work was also undertaken on St Anne’s Church as part of a series of measures to preserve the iconic landmark.
Funding worth €30,000 was made possible by the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS). That restoration work was carried out last year under the Conservation Management Plan.
An emergency public funding package of almost €128,000 was also approved to cover the re-roofing of the Firkin Crane dance centre and secure the building's future. City councillors approved the funding at a meeting of Cork City Council last May after they were informed that, without intervention, the building risked closing over the winter due to health and safety reasons.
The developments have been welcomed by a number of people, who said dereliction was having a negative impact on morale in the area.
Director of the Cork Butter Museum, Danielle O’Donovan compared their location beside the Butter Market as like “living next to a vacuum.”
“I’ve only been in this role since June but I know the building was lying vacant for a long time. The intention was to turn it into a museum some time back but the crash came and that never happened.
"It would be amazing to have life injected back into the building because it’s such a striking focal point of the area. The way it is now is like being next to a vacuum. Having it sitting there vacant just drains the energy from the rest of the area.
"This is a destination for both people who are visiting from abroad and those who live here. To have something at the centre of that which is vacant and in poor condition takes from an area.
"This investment will give Cork a bit of its history back. When looking at the Butter Market you could be taking in the sights of any European city because it’s that beautiful a landmark.”
She hopes the regeneration can attract greater footfall in the area.
“Hopefully, this regeneration will benefit the whole area and encourage people to spend money and time in the area. People have lovely memories of Shandon as a place you could go to with friends and family. Now, they’ll be able to relive some of those memories.
"It’s really positive that it will have a community element to it. The building is very spacious so it has a civic space feeling as well.”
Danielle stressed that there are still room for other improvements.
“One of the facilities we are lacking in Shandon is a public toilet. Often we’ll have queues forming at the museum from people who want to use the bathroom. Taking this into account I think some improvements could be made to the infrastructure.”
James Nolan, who owns and runs Nolan’s Butchers, was a prominent figure in the Shandon Street renewal efforts. As a proud member of the Shandon Area Renewal Association (SARA) and the Tidy Towns Committee, he said he is very passionate about the area.
“We believed in this building and knew that something was going to happen for it all along. It’s great to see things are finally happening. When the old butter exchange closed down in 2007 there was a lot of talk about things happening there.
"There was going to be a genealogy centre and numerous other things but nothing can happen until you have money. We campaigned for a long time to make this happen.
"In 2019 during covid there was a businessman named Sean O’Sullivan who approached me to try and get something open there. Unfortunately Sean was suffering health problems when the announcement of the funding was made.
"He was instrumental in making this happen and we would really like to see him recognised. I’m hoping we might be able to name a room in the building after him. It’s really important to us that we honour him in some way.”
He extended his gratitude to the council for their ongoing support.
“There is no magic wand for anything. Nothing is going to come overnight. However, if you persevere for the future it always pays off. We never had the money before but there was always somebody on our side and pushing for us. I have a real passion for the area as do all the others who campaigned with me to make this happen.”
Ahmed Saqqa, who is the chef and proprietor of Shandon’s Cork Syrian bistro The Four Liars, said construction works taking place in the area is taking its toll on his business. He fears that additional work in the area will further compound existing challenges.
While the business man welcomes the regeneration of Shandon, he said Cork City Council need to be more supportive of businesses during the process.
“It’s very bad at the moment and I have lost a lot of customers as a result of the construction that is happening,” he told the .
“If things continue the way they are then I will have to move my business. The last three weeks there was so much noise that customers got up from their tables and left the restaurant.
"The debris that’s left means we are constantly cleaning. Our electricity shut down four or five times but there was nothing I could do. We are constantly cleaning the windows.
"I have complained to Cork City Council many times but I haven’t got any satisfaction. If more work is going to take place then the council need to work with businesses in the area.”
Meanwhile, Dana Verbosh from the US offered her views on the Butter Market from a tourist’s perspective.
“Shandon is adorable. It’s colourful and quaint and has a lot of appeal. This is my first time visiting the Butter Museum. I am a big baker so soon as I heard about it I was already a fan.
"When I told my family that I wanted to come here they were like 'seriously?' A butter museum might quite sound quite niche but it has been a really great experience. I think it will do really well. My only complaint would be the lack of parking.”
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