VQ: how two letters created a problem that won't go away

Nowadays everybody's got something to say about the Victorian Quarter.

MacCurtain Street, also known as the VQ.

At this week’s City Council meeting, Cllr Michelle Gould of Sinn Féin called for an amendment to a motion proposed by Cllr Joe Kavanagh of Fine Gael. So far, so very City Council-esque.

Specifically, she wanted the term VQ removed from her City Council colleague’s motion and replaced with the words MacCurtain Street.

The Fine Gael Councillor’s motion had very little to with history or geography, and all to do with policing and public safety. But everything is historical and political.

Ultimately, Cllr’s Gould’s contribution triggered a vote.

Local democracy in action can be hard to follow, and certainly for onlookers this was a case in point. But, council proceedings, convoluted and meandering as they can be, do reflect opinions from the street. In this case, MacCurtain Street. And beyond.

The debate around MacCurtain Street, or more to the point how the VQ has become a stand-in for the area, has been broiling over for some time, but it found an anchor with the establishment of the VQ, a lobby group comprised of businesses based around MacCurtain Street on the city’s Northside. Since then, it’s not uncommon to see and hear the “VQ” as a catchall term used for MacCurtain Street and the streets around it.

The Victorian Quarter even pops up on Google Maps. Some people say it with an eye roll, while others refuse to use the term altogether. But there are those on the council who want the association of “VQ” with the area around MacCurtain Street consigned to history, much like Queen Victoria herself..

“I feel it is a disgrace that a name can become official without ever being proposed, voted on or passed by Cork City Council, particularly when the original name has so much significance,” Cllr Michelle Gould told T+D. She was referring to Tomás MacCurtain, the former Lord Mayor of Cork and Sinn Féin politician, after whom the street is named, who was killed by the Royal Irish Constabulary.

Google show me the Victorian Quarter

However, long before VQ as an organisation came into existence, Cork City Council had already been using the term “Victorian Quarter” in reports, marketing campaigns, and other literature, as Shane Clarke, Director of Operations at VQ, noted in an email.

“The VQ obviously stems from the “Victorian Quarter” as that’s what a burgeoning business community, Cork City Council official documents, local residents, local community groups, visiting towns, cities, and regeneration bodies, referred to the area as from circa 2012 until the rebranding in 2022,” Clarke told T+D.

But it’s also a term that many, including some business owners on the street, feel does not need resurrecting.

Per the City Council’s Cork City Centre revitalisation People, Place & Progress from 2018: “Cork’s Victorian Quarter is a unique historical destination offering an eclectic mix of speciality retail, hospitality and entertainment experiences. The mix of Victorian architecture, early 20th century architecture and broad streets adds to a deep-rooted sense of history, which pulsates through the area creating a unique and quirky mix of bohemian style and old world grandeur.”

City Council literature, MacCurtain Street, Bridge Street

Besides the establishment of the VQ, the post-Covid €4.5 million revamp of MacCurtain Street and surrounding areas helped put the district back in the headlines. It also put the Victorian Quarter on the map, quite literally, as it now often appears on Google Maps.

Post revamp, media far and wide referred to the area as the Victorian Quarter.

“Don’t let the name of the Victorian Quarter fool you: the architecture may be 19th-century, but its attitude is far from stuffy or antiquated”, a visiting Sunday Times journalist wrote in 2023.

Closer to home, The Irish Examiner, perhaps reflecting the language of its readers, used the term in its report on the Long Table dining extravaganza from earlier this year.

For Michael Wall, who owns Salvagem, an antiques store on MacCurtain Street, the street is MacCurtain Street. The VQ is not in his vocabulary.

“I think it's historically inaccurate, given the age and type of the buildings - Georgian/William IV/Victorian/Edwardian - and offensive to link an area to a monarch that would in the eyes of many be anything worth mentioning,” Wall said.

Back to Council

Cllr Michelle Gould (l) and Cllr Joe Kavanagh (r)

The amendment that triggered the vote and debate about the VQ in the City Council meeting stemmed from a motion calling for a greater Garda presence in the MacCurtain Street area and surrounding areas on an ongoing basis.

It continued, “Significant investment in infrastructural development in this area has resulted in increased footfall in the VQ area and local businesses are benefitting from this.

Cllr Gould, addressing Council, said she wanted the term VQ taken out and replaced with the words MacCurtain Street.

Before the vote Councillors weighed in. Labour Councillor John Maher told the council that while he always refers to the individual streets in the area by their name, but from meetings with the VQ it was his understanding that it stands for “Vibrant Quarter”.

That was news to the council chamber.

Shane Clarke form the VQ said while the “VQ is the most vibrant neighbourhood in Cork, that’s implicit rather than a title”, adding that it’s encouraging to have councillors support the area and the people who live and work there.

“I, as a business owner, do not refer to it as the VQ, or the Vibrant Quarter. I refer to the street as MacCurtain St,” said Michael Wall of Salvagem.

Cllr Gould said she it was news to her that VQ stood for Vibrant Quarter, something which she found hard to believe. She also added that SF has written to Google querying why Victorian Quarter pops up on its maps app.

She also pointed out that Sinn Féin have worked to rename Anglesea Street (also mentioned in Cllr Kavanagh’s motion) to McSwiney Street and this was passed by Council a number of years ago. However, according to Cllr Gould the change has been held up in legislation.

Perhaps, they should just start referring to Anglesea Street as McSwiney Street. It could catch on.

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