The Mardyke

For the area in Cork City, see Mardyke.

The Mardyke

Location	Mardyke Cork Ireland
Coordinates
Owner	University College Cork
Construction
Opened	1911
Renovated	2001, 2009
Tenants
Current University College Cork R.F.C. University College Cork A.F.C. UCC Demons UCC GAA Past Fordsons Cork F.C. Cork City Cork United Cork Athletic Cork Hibernians

The Mardyke, also referred as the Mardyke Sports Ground are the sport and fitness facilities used by sports team representing University College Cork, the general student body, and members of the public. It is based in the Cork district of Mardyke. UCC acquired the grounds in 1911, and rented the main pitch to rugby, soccer, hockey and hurling clubs in the city for a 15% cut of the gate receipts.

Outdoors, there are floodlit grass and all-weather pitches, used for soccer, rugby, Gaelic games, and hockey. Kayakers train in the adjacent North channel of the River Lee. There is a tartan track for athletics, where the Cork City Sports are held annually. The most notable performance came in the hammer throw on 3 July 1984, when Yuriy Sedykh and Sergey Litvinov broke the world record six times in one evening.

The facilities were severely damaged when the River Lee burst its banks on 19 November 2009. The Mardyke Arena reopened on 15 February 2010 after repairs costing €4m.

Mardyke Arena

The Mardyke Arena, an indoor sports centre opened in December 2001, contains a gymnasium, swimming pool and other facilities. It is the home court of UCC Demons, a basketball team affiliated with the College though not limited to students.

Association football

The Mardyke was formerly an important venue for association football in Cork city. It was the home ground for several League of Ireland clubs in Cork city, including Fordsons, Cork F.C., Cork City, Cork United, Cork Athletic and Cork Hibernians. A crowd of 18,000 watched a friendly match in 1939 between Ireland and Hungary, the first international arranged by the FAI to be played outside Dublin. It is still regularly used by University College Cork A.F.C., hosting the 2009 Collingwood Cup, the 2015 Crowley Cup and a 2015 League of Ireland Cup quarter-final against Dundalk.