Cowgate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Cowgate (disambiguation).
The Cowgate is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about 5 minutes walk from Edinburgh Castle. The street's name is derived from the fact that cows were herded down it for Edinburgh's market days in previous centuries (gate being a Scots term for "street"; compare with gait).
The street is part of the lower level of Edinburgh's Old Town, which is partly built around the elevated streets of South Bridge and George IV Bridge. Consequently the Cowgate can be quite gloomy and dark. The Cowgate has for some time been an unpopular residential area due to the density of pubs and nightclubs which line the street; the main residents are students of Edinburgh University. It adjoins the Grassmarket at its west end and Holyrood Road to the east.
Although the area is now an affluent part of town, from the mid 18th century till after the World Wars, the Cowgate was a notoriously over crowded slum area, where the city's Irish immigrant community was based. In the late 19th century the area was often referred to as 'Little Ireland.' Hibernian FC, the famous Edinburgh professional football club, were founded by members of the St Patrick's RC Church on the Cowgate in August 1875. The club were based from St Patrick's until the early 1890s, and cups the club won from this period can still be seen displayed in the church.
