Turners Cross Stadium

Turners Cross is an all-seater football stadium located in and synonymous with the district of Turners Cross in Cork, Ireland. It is owned by the Munster Football Association (MFA), and is used by the MFA and by League of Ireland side Cork City.

It was the first all-seated, all-covered stadium in Ireland following redevelopment in 2009, and it is currently one out of only two, the other being the Aviva Stadium.

History

While known locally and amongst fans as "The Cross", the ground has also been nicknamed "The Box" in the past. This accounts for the title of Plunkett Carter's book on Cork soccer, From The Lodge to The Box, where 'the lodge' refers to 'Flower Lodge'. Flower Lodge was originally owned by the Ancient Order of Hibernians and was the previous home of Cork soccer. This ground was subsequently sold to the Gaelic Athletic Association, and renamed Pairc Ui Rinn, for Christy Ring, a noted County Cork hurler.

Cork Constitution, then a rugby and cricket club, was the first club to lease the Turners Cross grounds in 1897. (A once popular trivia question was "Which President of Ireland scored a penalty at Turners Cross?" The answer is Eamon de Valera (1882–1975) who in his early years played rugby for Rockwell. The penalty in question was during a Rockwell vs Cork Constitution rugby match in the Munster Cup.)

Turners Cross was in use for association football by 1905, and Gaelic games by the 1920s. Something of a battle developed to acquire permanent use of the grounds in the 1920s. Nemo Rangers secured the ground in 1926, and sought help from the Cork County Board to make the situation permanent. However costs forced Nemo to abandon it in 1929, with the Munster Football Association subsequently stating that they had 'acquired' the ground at their AGM two weeks later. In order to provide a long-term home for the Munster F.A. and Cork soccer, the FAI negotiated a 98-year lease on Turners Cross with the land's owner Helena O'Sullivan. Subsequently, during t