The International Exhibition (sometimes Cork International Exhibition) was a world's fair held in Cork, Ireland, in 1902, 50 years after the first world's fair held in Ireland, which also took place in Cork. At the time of the exhibition, Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom.
Organisation
Contemporary portraits of event organisers
Edward Fitzgerald, the then Lord Mayor of Cork, originally proposed the idea for the fair[1] which took place on 8 hectares of reclaimed marshland in the Mardyke area of Cork. This area is now known as Fitzgerald's Park.[2]
The exhibition opened in spring (between April[2] and 1 May [1][3]) and closed in autumn (September[2] or November).[1][3]
Exhibits and entertainment
Locomotive No. 36, now on display at Cork Kent station, exhibited at the 1902 exhibition
Exhibitions included a Canadian pavilion, art gallery, machinery hall and industrial hall,[3][4] and Hadji Bey launched their Turkish Delight.[5]
The Capuchin community of Cork's Holy Trinity Church organised a Father Mathew Pavilion, which included memorabilia of Mathew and wooden models of the church, and a fountain made of Portland cement.[7]
The immediate legacy was a follow-on exhibition in 1903 which was visited by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.[2]
After the second fair closed the grounds were donated to Cork Corporation for recreational use by the public[2] and opened to the public in 1906.[8] Now known as Fitzgerald's Park, the park retains the original pavilion and fountain from the fair and also houses the Cork Public Museum.[9]
^Curtin-Kelly, Patricia (2015). An Ornament to the City: Holy Trinity Church & the Capuchin Order. Dublin: The History Press Ireland. p. 111. ISBN978 1 84588 861 9.
