Coordinates: 51°53′43″N 8°30′03″W / 51.895139°N 8.500822°W / 51.895139; -8.500822 The Mardyke is an area in Cork city, on the northern half of the long western part of the island formed by the two channels of the River Lee near the city center. It comprises several large open spaces. From east to west these are: Presentation Brothers College, a boy's secondary school; the cricket ground and pavilion of Cork County Club;^[1] Fitzgerald Park, which includes Cork Public Museum;^[2] and the Athletic Grounds of University College Cork (UCC).

Athletic Grounds[link]

The Athletic Grounds includes sport and fitness facilities used by UCC's sports clubs, the general student body, and members of the public. The Mardyke Arena, an indoor sports centre opened in December 2001, contains a gymnasium, swimming pool and other facilities.^[3] It is the home court of UCC Demons,^[4] a basketball team affiliated with the College though not limited to students.

Outdoors, there are floodlit grass and all-weather pitches, used for soccer, rugby, Gaelic games, and hockey.^[5] Kayakers train in the adjacent North channel of the River Lee.^[5] There is a tartan track for athletics, where the Cork City Sports are held annually. The most notable performance came in the hammer throw on 3 July 1984, when Yuriy Sedykh and Sergey Litvinov broke the world record six times in one evening.^[6]

The facilities were severely damaged when the River Lee burst its banks on 19 November 2009.^[7] The Mardyke Arena reopened on 15 February 2010 after repairs costing €4m.^[7]

The Mardyke is also home to Sundays Well Lawn Tennis Club.

Cricket[link]

The Mardyke is the home ground of Cork County Cricket Club, who have played there since their formation in 1874. The ground has played host to three first-class matches in 1947, 1961 and 1973. All three involved Ireland playing Scotland.^[8] It too fell victim to the floods of 2009.^[7]

Football History[link]

The Mardyke was formerly the chief venue for football in Cork, and home to Cork United F.C.. A crowd of 18,000 watched a friendly match in 1939 between Ireland and Hungary, the first international played by the FAI outside Dublin.^[9] Later, the Mardyke was superseded by Flower Lodge and then Turners Cross.

References[link]