Strasbourg Goose Restaurant – 17/18 French Church Street, Cork
Image by infomatique
Cork Harbour is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area" (after Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia). Other contenders include Halifax Harbour in Canada, and Poole Harbour in England.
The Port of Cork has berthing facilities at Cork City, Tivoli, Cobh and Ringaskiddy. The facilities in Cork City are primarily used for grain and oil transport. Tivoli provides container handling, facilities for oil, livestock and ore and a roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) ramp. Prior to the opening of Ringaskiddy Ferry Port, car ferries sailed from here; now, the Ro-Ro ramp is used by companies importing cars into Ireland. In addition to the ferry terminal, Ringaskiddy has a deep water port.
Cork City is located slightly upstream on the River Lee on the northwest corner of Cork Harbour. Several of the city’s suburbs, including Blackrock, Mahon, Douglas, Passage West and Rochestown lie on Lough Mahon or the Douglas Estuary, both of which are parts of Upper Cork Harbour.
The Lower Harbour has many towns around its shores. Passage West, Monkstown, Ringaskiddy and the smaller village of Raffeen are found on the western shore. On the southwestern shore is Crosshaven. Great Island, which forms the northern shore of the lower harbour, houses the town of Cobh. The eastern shore is less densely populated, but has two villages Whitegate and Aghada, both home to power plants..
The village of Ballinacurra is found on the northeastern spur of the harbour, known as the Ballynacorra River. Due to the recent expansion of the town of Midleton, Ballinacurra has effectively become a suburb of Midleton, so it could also be said that Midleton lies on Cork Harbour.
Cork Harbour is one of the most important industrial areas in Ireland. While many older industries such as shipbuilding at Verolme Dockyards, steel-making on Haulbowline Island and fertiliser manufacturing at NET (Nitrigen Éireann Teoranta) have declined or ceased in recent years, they have been replaced with newer industries and Cork Harbour is now significant at a worldwide level within the pharmaceutical industry. Major international firms such as Pfizer, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and Janssen Pharmaceutica (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) are significant employers in the region. There are in excess of 100 other pharmaceutical firms operating in the Cork Harbour area. The principal of the pharmaceutical industry are Little Island and Ringaskiddy.