The Home

This is a photo of Cork, Ireland. The settlement at Cork began as a monastic centre in the seventh century, founded by St. FinBarre. A legend records that the origins of Cork City begins at the source of the Lee in the scenic Shehy Mountains at the heart of which lies the cherished pilgrimage site of Gougane Barra (Finbarre's rocky cleft). Cork City's patron saint, St Finbarre, reputedly established one of his earlier monasteries on an island in the middle of Gougane Lake. Cork served as a Viking port before the Anglo-Normans arrived and created a prosperous walled town; it grew through the influx of English colonists during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and suffered the political problems inherent in Irish society at the time; it was altered significantly through Georgian and Victorian times when reclamation of its marshes became a priority, along with the construction of spacious streets and grand townhouses; its quays, docks, and warehouses exhibit the impact of the industrial revolution; and the last one hundred years, Corkonians have witnessed both the growth of extensive suburbs and the rejuvenation of the inner city.

Cork was the home of the Ford family. William Ford, the father of Henry Ford, was born here on December 10, 1826.