The Carrigrohane Straight is a straight segment of road that stretches for , from the edge of Cork west to Carrigrohane in County Cork, Ireland. It is just over 140 years old, and now forms part of the N22 National Primary route between Cork and Tralee.
Construction
The Carrigrohane Straight was built around the late 1830s and early 1840s. Earlier maps such as Taylor and Skinner's Maps of the Roads of Ireland (1776), or a map of Cork's Parliamentary Borough in 1832, do not show any track or path in this area. However, the first edition of the Ordnance Survey Map (1841–42) shows that work was in progress on the new road linking Cork city with Carrigrohane and Leemount Cross.
Before the building of the Straight, a few houses were to be seen in this area. An osiery lay at the city side, consisting of a swamp where willow trees grew. An expanse of green could be seen as fields stretched for miles around. The tradition that the road was a "Famine Road" may be partly true. Even though the Straight itself was built by 1842, the section as far as Leemount Cross (including Leemount Bridge) may not have been completed until during the famine (1845–50).
The building of the Straight, and its extension on to Leemount Cross, which necessitated the building of two bridges – one over the tail race of Carrigrohane Flour Mills, the second over the River Lee – changed the traffic pattern to the west of the city. Before the Straight and Leemount Bridge were built, the Model Farm Road took traffic to Ballincollig and Macroom, while the Lee Road led to Blarney, Coachford and Inniscarra. After the construction of the Straight and Leemount Bridge, a straight and flatter route reduced the importance of these roads and the Coachford or Iniscarra traffic could now merge with the Macroom traffic by crossing Leemount Bridge.
Tramway
In the 1880s, the building of the Muskerry Tram increased the importance of the Straight. The city terminus was on the present site of Jury's Hotel, while the line ended at Blarney, Donoughmore and Coachford. Along its route there were twenty one stations, one of which was at Carrigrohane at the western end of the Straight, and a second one at Leemount Cross.
It used to be said that passengers on the Muskerry Tram, or the "Hook and Eye" as it was sometimes called, could pick blackberries from the carriages as the train was moving, such was its speed. The tickets had to be checked in one carriage, and then, while the train was still moving, the ticket collector had to move to the next carriage along the outside. This procedure was very dangerous because of the rocking and swaying of the carriages.
One of the most unusual incidents of the history of the Muskerry Tram was a crash with a steamroller in 1926. The steamroller was involved in the resurfacing of the Carrigrohane Straight, when tram and steamroller collided. The tram was de-railed, a few people fainted, but nobody was hurt. The Muskerry Tram was eventually closed down in December 1934.
Flooding
The Straight is very flat and subject to both tidal and river flooding. It occurred regularly during the winter, when the swollen rivers burst due to heavy rain, and the road was also affected by spring tides. A contributory factor is the confluence of two rivers with the Lee at Carrigrohane. The Shournagh joins the Lee at Crubeen Bridge on the Lee Road, and a smaller river, the Carrig, joins the Lee at the junction under Carrigrohane Castle, and is forded by what was known as Cromwell’s Bridge. The worst affected area of the Straight is the centre, near Inichigaggin Lane, so that residential and commercial development has been limited to the eastern and western ends of the Straight. The building of the Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra Dams has enabled some control to be put on the flooding so it is now not as severe.
The most dramatic floods occurred in the years 1870, 1916 and 1962. The flood of 1916 was the largest, reaching Inichigaggin Lane and having a height of above sea level. The 1962 flood was a tidal flood, which flooded the city centre of Cork, including the Courthouse, to a height of above sea level.