Community and city diminished - A synagogue closes its doors

An enriching and welcome tradition came to an end in Cork this weekend when the city’s synagogue closed ending a relationship that, in this iteration at least, stretched over 135 years.

The South Terrace synagogue has been the centre of Jewish worship in Cork since 1905. It was once supported by a community of 400 made up of 65 families.

That community was built on Russian refugees who fled persecution in Russia in the 1880s and had intended to go to America but decided to settle in Ireland. That episode ended on Saturday because emigration and financial constraints have left the congregation with “no money, no members, and no future”.