The image on the right is Shalom Park, a small park, which stands beside the area that is known as Jewtown. The area consisted of a number of small streets around the Hibernian Buildings in Cork City. In the late 1800s, Lithuanian Jews escaped the pogroms in Russia. It is generally thought they were destined for America but landed in Cork along the way. Most of the Jews came to Cork from Akmajian or Kovno and Corkonian Jews are often referred to as Akmajianites.

There is a story that the Jews who landed in Cork thought they were in America when they landed because they mistakenly heard “New York” instead of “Cork” but it’s unlikely that this story is true!

From the late 19th century, a small but thriving community of Jews lived in Jewtown setting up shops, synagogues and other services. Starting off as unskilled peddlers, many of the families quickly became established within the Cork Community. The most famous Jew from Cork was Gerald Goldberg, whose father came from Russia to Cork. Goldberg became the Lord Mayor of Cork in 1973.

Today, there are less than a handful of Jewish people left in Cork city and none in Jewtown itself. The park was founded just beside these houses and it is dedicated to the memory of the Jewish people that lived there.