Watch amazing and rarely seen archive footage from the Ford plant in Cork [video]

For motoring mogul Henry Ford, the step he took on Tuesday, April 17, 1917 — 100 years ago this year — was the beginning of a remarkable journey, both for his burgeoning company and for the land of his ancestors: Cork.

That day, Henry Ford & Son was incorporated as a limited company in Ireland under the Companies Acts of 1908 and 1913, with a registered office at 36, South Mall, and plans followed to build an enormous factory in Cork city which would have an iconic, single line address — The Marina.

It was a decision that would transform the industrial, social, and financial landscape of the city for the rest of the 20th century, and continues to reverberate to this day.