Cork has its beginnings in a monastic settlement founded by St Fin Barre in the Sixth Century.
That sight was perched on a limestone cliff safely above the River Lee and the marshland below (an Corcach Mór – the great marsh) in the area of Cork now known as Gillabbey.
The site is thought to be where the current St Fin Barre’s Cathedral is built and the adjacent escarpment which includes the site of The Bishop’s Palace, the adjacent Church of Ireland National School, Gillabbey Rock: the area between the Cathedral and the modern university.