The tradition of awarding the Freedom of the City still lives on in cities around the world. Many of the rights or privileges associated with the award are symbolic but conferring the privilege remains the highest honour a city can bestow. In Cork, awarding the Freedom of the City, whereby persons distinguished for public service become Honorary Burgesses of the City, dates from the fourteenth century.

Notable recipients include Charles Stewart Parnell, William Gladstone, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Éamon de Valera, Mary Robinson and Roy Keane. This book reveals and brings to life the rich history associated with the awarding of the Freedom of the City in Cork by describing the history of the honour and profiling notable recipients.