Mayfield, Cork

Mayfield, historically Ballinamought (from Irish Baile na mBocht, meaning 'town of the poor'),^[1][2] is a suburb on the north-side of Cork city, Ireland. Mayfield is part of the Dáil constituency of Cork North-Central.

Mayfield Baile na mBocht
Suburb
Old Youghal Road, Mayfield
Mayfield Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 51°54′48″N 08°26′03″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Munster
Administrative area	Cork (city)
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-1 (IST (WEST))

Name

The area was originally called Baile na mBocht in Irish and Anglicised as "Ballinamought".^[2] A number of works, including those of etymologist and historian Patrick Weston Joyce, translate Baile na mBocht as "town of the poor [people]".^[2][3] Other sources translate it as "town of the sick",^{[citation needed]} as the area was reputedly the site of a medieval leper colony.^[3] A path leading from the area towards the river, known in Irish as Siúl na Lobhar (literally 'Lepers Walk') is known in English as "Lover's Walk".^[4]

Geography

Mayfield is 3 km north-east of the city centre. It is bounded to the north by the Glen River Valley, an aquiferous geological formation produced by a receding glacier during the last ice age. Habitats, flora and fauna within the area include the small cudweed and the sand martin, a migratory bird species that returns from North Africa each spring to breed in the porous sand cliffs along sections of the river valley north.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

• Michael Davitt, poet^[5]
• Dara Murphy, former Lord Mayor of Cork^[6]
• Roy Keane, Irish footballer, was born and grew up in Mayfield^[7]
• James Coughlan, Irish rugby union player for Munster^{[citation needed]}
• Kieran Murphy, former Cork senior hurling captain^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland