The Cowgate, viewed from George IV Bridge

The Cowgate is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about 5 minutes' walk from Edinburgh Castle, within the city's World Heritage Site. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Edinburgh Castle is an ancient Stronghold which dominates the sky-line of the A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex 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). Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern

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. The Old Town of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The George IV Bridge is an elevated street in Edinburgh, Scotland. Consequently the Cowgate can be quite gloomy and dark in sections. It adjoins the Grassmarket at its west end and Holyrood Road to the east. The Grassmarket is a small area of central Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the old Market square at its heart

Although the area is now an affluent part of town, from the mid 18th century until after the World Wars the Cowgate was a notoriously overcrowded slum area, where the majority of the city's Irish immigrant community was based. Among others, the Irish Socialist leader and revolutionary James Connolly, who would become a leader of the Easter Rebellion and martyr for the cause of Irish Independence, was born in 1868 at 107, The Cowgate (see James Connolly). James Connolly (Séamas Ó Conghaile 5 June 1868 &ndash 12 May 1916 was an Irish Socialist leader The Easter Rising (Éirí Amach na Cásca was a rebellion staged in Ireland in Easter Week, 1916 Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap James Connolly (Séamas Ó Conghaile 5 June 1868 &ndash 12 May 1916 was an Irish Socialist leader

In the late 19th century the area was known locally 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. Hibernian Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. 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.

2002 fire

South Bridge closed

At eight o'clock on the evening of December 7, 2002, a fire started above a nightclub in the street. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Fire is the heat and light energy released during a Chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction. It quickly took hold, spreading to buildings on the South Bridge, lighting up the sky for miles around, and blanketing the city with acrid smoke. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States The fire was difficult to control as it spread through the uncharted vaults beneath the South Bridge. The Edinburgh Vaults or South Bridge Vaults are a series of Rooms under the South Bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland. The fire claimed no lives, but nonetheless destroyed many buildings, including much of the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics; the Edinburgh Fringe venue the Gilded Balloon, which has since relocated to Teviot Row House; and the La Belle Angele nightclub. The University of Edinburgh (Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann founded in 1582 is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. The School of Informatics is an academic unit of the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland, responsible for research teaching outreach and commercialisation The Edinburgh Fringe (officially the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, commonly just The Fringe) is the world’s largest Arts festival. The Gilded Balloon is one of the Edinburgh Fringe 's best-known venues established by Karen Koren in 1986 in Edinburgh 's Cowgate. Teviot Row House (colloquially known as just "Teviot" pronounced "Tee-vee-ot" is one of the Student Union buildings at Edinburgh University

19 fire crews in total attended the blaze when it was it its height, the majority from Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade. Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous Fires that threaten civilian populations and property to rescue people from car accidents collapsed Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service is the Statutory fire and rescue service covering a total area and serving a total population of 890000 It took over a day to bring the fire completely under control, and is the largest incident of its kind in living memory in Edinburgh.

Two main transport arteries, the Cowgate and South Bridge, remained closed for several days following the fire, leaving Edinburgh's transport system struggling to cope. Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another

The University researchers and students affected worked in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) The Edinburgh University was a pioneer in the study of AI in the 1950s and one of the world's most comprehensive archival libraries in this field was destroyed by the fire. The University of Edinburgh (Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann founded in 1582 is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive A library is a collection of information sources resources and services and the structure in which it is housed it is organized for use and maintained by a public body an institution Although little current research data was lost in the fire due to offsite backups, the loss of the library represents an irretrievable loss to the history of AI. In Information technology, backup refers to making copies of Data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a Since the fire, the School has been dispersed over a number of sites. In 2005 work began on a new building, the Informatics Forum, which will be occupied in 2008. Informatics Forum 10 Crichton Street Edinburgh EH8 9AB Scotland The Informatics Forum is a major new building on the Central Area campus of the University of Edinburgh

As of April 2008, the site is still a gap site, but is now entirely owned by developer Whiteburn, who have a proposal for a new mixed use development using the site, and existing adjacent buildings. International holidays and other major events April 1 - April Fools' Day April 4 - Qingming Festival (Mainland

External links

• 'SoCo' proposal for the Cowgate fire gap site