Methinks there is confusion about the location of the
Victoria Dock. Google Earth reveals a
dock-shaped depression of about the right dimensions sitting parallel to Dock
Street and Beach Road (Photo 961).
However, having
done a careful comparison with my 1897 map and with a hand-drawn map of the
docks contained in Colman O’Mahony’s book “The Maritime Gateway to Cork: A
History of the Outports of Passage West and Monkstown, 1754-1942” (thanks to
Marcia D’Alton of Cork City Council for alerting me to this book), I am sure
that the Victoria Dock was not parallel to those roads and was shorter than
that depression would indicate (Photo
962). The dots indicate the 1897 shoreline.
Another very
interesting photograph has surfaced (where would we be without the Internet and
Google?) showing the Victoria dry dock and the Albert dry dock (Photo 963).
There is no date on the photograph, but as the
Albert dock is no longer a twin dock and it extends right into the river, I
assume the date would be after 1919 when it was remodelled and before 1983 when
it was filled in!
To add confusion to
an already muddled picture about ownership, ‘Roundymac’ informs us that the
dockyard was run by Haulbowline Industries, but doesn’t say when (sounds a bit
modern to me) and that there is a company plaque attached to the wall outside
the dockyard. On the latter point he is correct, there is a plaque there
signifying that the place was run by the ‘Queenstown Dry Docks Shipbuilding and
Engineering Co Limited” and states that it was established in 1832 (Photo 964).
This is misleading as that company was not formed until the end of the 19th
century, reformed in 1924 and is still in existence, although I have not yet
found a contact address to ask them about their history. I think the ‘established 1832’ refers to the
dockyard itself.
I hope to report on
refurbishment progress next time, now that the weather has improved.
David
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