Clearing the Way for Santa: Road Closures and Diversions for Cork's Christmas Parade

Cork will welcome Santa on Sunday 15 November as he officially switches on the city’s Christmas lights, and Cork City Council has confirmed rolling road closures, traffic diversions and parking restrictions in the city centre to make way for the Christmas Parade.

The parade is scheduled to run from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, but its effects will be felt well before then, with parking restrictions from 3pm and the first road closures from 5.30pm. Explaining the arrangements, the Council said: “To ensure Santa and his reindeer have plenty of room to travel safely through the city, rolling road closures will be in place along the parade route.”

Parking Restrictions

Parking will be removed from North Main Street, St Patrick’s Street, Bridge Street and MacCurtain Street from 3pm to 9pm on Sunday. Anyone planning to park in town that afternoon will want to keep the 3pm start in mind.

Road Closures

The first closures will be in place from 5.30pm to 7.30pm on Sheares Street, Hanover Street and South Main Street. In the same window, Washington Street will close from the junction of Sheares Street to Grand Parade, North Main Street from the junction of Kyrl’s Quay to the Washington Street junction, and Grand Parade from the junction of Washington Street to Parliament Bridge. Adjacent streets including Adelaide Street, Cornmarket Street, Liberty Street, Kyle Street, Castle Street and Augustine Street will also be closed during this time.

From 6pm to 7.30pm, St Patrick’s Street will close from the junction of Washington Street and Grand Parade to the top of St Patrick’s Street at the junction of St Patrick’s Bridge. St Peter’s and Paul’s Avenue, St Peter’s and Paul’s Place and Half Moon Street will also close, along with adjacent streets including Academy Street, Drawbridge Street, Emmet Place, Bowling Green Street and William Street.

Coburg Street and MacCurtain Street will close from 6.30pm to 8pm, along with St Patrick’s Hill from the Wellington Road junction to the MacCurtain Street junction. Across all three closure windows, the Council says roads will open when it is safe to allow access, which could be ahead of the advertised times.

Traffic Diversions

From 5.30pm to 7.30pm, all traffic on Parliament Bridge will be diverted right onto South Mall, with no left turn from Parliament Bridge onto Grand Parade. From 6pm to 7.30pm, there will be no left turn from Parnell Place, no right turn from Brian Boru Bridge and no left turn from Christy Ring Bridge.

Further diversions will be in place from 6pm to 7.30pm to facilitate the parade, which the Council says will result in traffic delays. Streets affected include the Lavitt’s Quay/Merchant’s Quay junction onto St Patrick’s Bridge and the Patrick’s Quay/Camden Quay junction onto Bridge Street.

Santa’s reindeer may know the way, but anyone driving into town on Sunday afternoon or evening would be wise to plan their route in advance. The Council added:

“Thank you for your cooperation, and we look forward to celebrating the start of the festive season with you.”