The Shandon area of Cork is one of the oldest continuously inhabited parts of the city. The name derives from an old fort,(irishsean dun), which stood on the north bank of the River Lee in the vicinity of the modern North Abbey Square. While the area did not take on its modern contours until the eighteenth centuary, it was recodnised as distinct entity fron an early date. In 1608, however a charter of James i extended the city limits to three miles beyond the city walls, incorporating Shandon into the city.

The area described as the North Strand, the waterfront area at the western end of what is now Pope's Quay, was the most valuable land in the area. The medieval church of St Mary Shandon and Shandon Castle are also recorded, but by the date of the survey the castle has passed its heyday as the centre of Elizabethan authority in Munster.

Shandon in 1654 is essentially a creation of the middle ages. The principal thoroughfares all have medieval origins as do the Market Place; Shandon Castle Lane and Church Lane peter off into the countryside on their eastern ends and the area along the Kiln river is entirely underdeveloped.

By 1759 the North Channel of the Lee has become the Port of Cork. This development had been in train since at least the 1690's, by which time the old port, the river along modern Castle Street, had been filled in, and the Customs House had moved to modern Emmet Place. In 1711 Alderman Knapp built a quay wall on the North Bank. In 1713 the North Channel was deepened. in 1718 the widow Pope was given permission to build a quay on the North Bank. This movement of the port to the North Channel reflected a major change in the pattern of trade in the city.

It was not economic history alone that left its mark on Shandon. During the Williamite wars of the 1690's, Cork was besieged and Shandon castle served as an artillery position for the Williamite forces. The castle was never rebuilt subsequent to the seige and was eventually demolished in 1750.

Excessive changes lay behind the other changes in the topography of the area. By 1801 the bottom of Shandon Street had been cleared to facilitate access to the North Gate Bridge. In the late 1830's a new street, Mulgrave Street (modern John Redmond Street), was opened from Caroll's Quay to the Butter Exchange.
The new street reflects the re-orientation of the port eastwards, a change also marked by the building of Patrick's Bridge in 1789, the embanking of the North Channel in the 1820's and the building of Carroll's Bridge, which ended the commercial life of the Kiln River and the North Channel between Patrick's bridge and the North Gate Bridge.

Shandon was not immune to these developments. In 1875 there were sixty-one butter merchants occupying premises in Shandon. As late as 1911, while pockets of overcrowding existed, the average occupancy of dwellings in the area was six persons. The continued success of the Butter Exchange into the 1880's delayed the rapid social decline evident in other parts of the inner city.

By the 1920's Shandon had entered a new phase. The Butter Exchange closed in 1924. O'Gormans hat factory took over the market building while Daly's margarine factory took over the Firkin Crane building.