Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 20 August 2015

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized

806a. Capwell Road circa 1927

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  20 August 2015

Kieran’s Heritage Week Tours, 22-30 August 2015

 

     National Heritage Week is upon us again at the end of next week (22nd – 30th August). It’s going to be a busy week. For my part I have set up a number of events. They are all free and I welcome any public support for the activities outlined below. There are also brochures detailing other events that can be picked up from Cork City Hall and Libraries.

    Cork Heritage Open Day, Saturday 22 August 2015 – Historical Walking Tour of Cork City Hall; Learn about the early history of Cork City Council; discover the development of the building and visit the Lord Mayor’s Room, 11am, free but ticketed, contact The Everyman Palace, 0214501673 (duration: 75 minutes). The current structure, replaced the old City Hall, which was destroyed in the ‘burning of Cork’ in 1920. It was designed by Architects Jones and Kelly and built by the Cork Company Sisks. The foundation stone was laid by Eamonn de Valera, President of the Executive Council of the State on 9 July 1932 (www.corkheritageopenday.ie).

 Monday 24 August 2015 – Tales of the City’s Workhouse, historical walking tour, meet at entrance to St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 7pm (free, duration: two hours).

    The Cork workhouse, which opened in December 1841, was an isolated place – built beyond the toll house and toll gates, which gave entry to the city and which stood just below the end of the wall of St. Finbarr’s Hospital in the vicinity of the junction of the Douglas, and Ballinlough Roads. The Douglas Road workhouse was also one of the first of over 130 workhouses to be designed by the Poor Law Commissioners’ architect George Wilkinson.

 Wednesday 26 August 2015 – From Market Gardens to Architectural Eminence, historical walking tour of Turners Cross and Ballyphehane, meet at entrance to Christ the King Church, Turners Cross, 7pm (free, duration: two hours).

     This is a new tour that hopes to bring the participant from the heart of Turners Cross through to Ballyphehane. The tour will speak about housing developments in the 1920s through to the 1950s but also touch upon the earlier history of the two areas from Friars Walk, the story of the Botanic Garden, Christ the King Church to some information on the market gardens. All are welcome and any old pictures and documents that people on these areas, please bring along.

    From a social housing perspective in March 1925, Commissioner Philip Monahan pitched that he would invest £70,000 for the provision of 200 houses in Turners Cross in the immediate interim. He also put down his marker that he was to build efficiency in the local public sector. Indeed with the threat of using direct labour, he pursued an agenda to reduce the wage of Corporation workers to 4s. 6d. per week. In the summer of 1925, property was acquired by Cork Corporation in what was to become known as the Capwell Project by deed of transfer from Richard Morgan. In the Christmas of 1925, 20 men were employed on relief work for 2/3 weeks clearing the site, preparatory to the actual building. By April 1928, 148 houses were ready for occupation by tenants. During the construction of Capwell Housing, on 19 March 1926, further property for housing was acquired from Abina Hyde in a deed of transfer to Cork Corporation. In late September 1926, during a luncheon of Cork Rotary Club, Philip Monahan proposed to raise a loan of £100,000 for a further 200 houses in Turners Cross. In June 1929, applications were invited from intending occupiers.

Friday 28 August 2015 – Cork’s Elegant Suburb, historical walking tour of Sunday’s Well, meet at St Vincent’s Bridge on the North Mall side, 7pm (free, duration: two hours).

    This new walking tour begins on the gorgeous North Mall and explores the area’s medieval origins and the Franciscan North Abbey. In such a small corner of the city, industrial Cork and the story of the distilling can be told, as well as stories of George Boole, St Vincent’s Bridge. Walking along Sunday’s Well there are multiple stories to be told of former residents and of the beautiful St Vincent’s Church.

 Saturday 29 August – Park Stories, Historical walking tour of Fitzgerald’s Park, meet at band stand in park, 2pm (free, duration: two hours)

   Looking at the physical landscape of the Park, there are clues to a forgotten and not so familiar past. The entrance pillars on the Mardyke, the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion, the museum, the fountain in the middle of the central pond dedicated to Fr Mathew and timber posts eroding in the river were once part of one of Cork’s greatest historical events, the Cork International Exhibitions of 1902 and 1903. Just like the magical spell of Fitzgerald’s Park, the Mardyke exhibitions were spaces of power. Revered, imagined and real spaces were created. They were marketing strategies where the past, present and future merged; aesthetics of architecture, colour, decoration and lighting were all added to the sense of spectacle and in a tone of moral and educational improvement. The entire event was the mastermind of Cork Lord Mayor Edward Fitzgerald, after which the park got it name.

Hope to see you on some of these tours…

Captions:

806a. During construction, Capwell Road, circa 1927 (source: Cork City Library)

806b. Summer sunshine in Fitzgerald’s Park (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 

806b. Summer sunshine in Fitzgerald’s Park

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 13 August 2015

Uncategorized

805a. Beautiful and imposing building, 66 AIB, South Mall

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  13 August 2015

Cork Heritage Open Day 2015

 

   Another Cork heritage open day is looming. The 2015 event will take place on Saturday 22 August. For one day only, nearly 40 buildings opened their doors free of charge for this special event.  Members of the public are allowed a glimpse of some of Cork’s most fascinating buildings ranging from the medieval to the military, the civic to the commercial and the educational to the ecclesiastical. This event was greeted with great enthusiasm by building owners and members of the public alike in 2014 with an estimated 25,000 people participating in the day.

   It is always a great opportunity to explore behind some of Cork’s grandest buildings. With the past of a port city, Cork architecture is varied and much is hidden amongst the city’s narrow streets and laneways. Much of its architecture is also inspired by international styles – the British style of artwork pervading in most cases– but it’s always pays to look up in Cork and marvel at the Amsterdamesque-style of our eighteenth century structures on streets such as Oliver Plunkett Street or at the gorgeous tall spires of the city’s nineteenth-century churches.

    Cork Heritage Open Day is eleven years in the making and with 40 buildings it is almost impossible to visit them all in one day. It takes a few goes to get to them all and spend time appreciating their physical presence in our city but also the often hidden context of why such buildings and their communities came together and their contribution to the modern day picture of the city. The team behind the Open Day do group the buildings into general themes, Steps and Steeples, Customs and Commerce, Medieval to Modern, Saints and Scholars and Life and Learning – one can walk the five trails to discover a number of buildings within these general themes. These themes remind the participant to remember how our city spreads from the marsh to the undulating hills surrounding it, how layered the city’s past is, how the city has been blessed to have many scholars contributing to its development and ambition in a variety of ways and how the way of life in Cork is intertwined with a strong sense of place.

    The trail Steps and Steeples is a very apt way to describe the topography of our city. The Steps and Steeples walk encompasses not only some of the amazing buildings on the North Side of the city, but also some of the most spectacular views. Admire the frontage of the Cork Baptist Church on McCurtain Street, re-examine the crooked but limestone inspiring spire of Cork Trinity Presbyterian Church, gorge on the stained glass windows of St Luke’s Church, re-imagine past hospital treatment at the Ambassador Hotel, revel in how many barrels of beer have been exported from the former Murphy’s Brewery, now Heineken Ireland, reminisce of Cork’s North Infirmary at the Maldron Hotel, attempt to count how many barrels of butter were weighed at the Firkin Crane, ring the bells of St Anne’s Church, Shandon Military and read up about the military history underlining the city’s and harbour’s development.

    Open for Heritage Open Day, the military museum at the Barracks has three themes – the history of the Barracks, Michael Collins and Peacekeeping. The core collection consists of memorabilia associated with Michael Collins and also has displays from donated private collections. The Heritage Day brochure remarks that the Barracks building is a fine example of Georgian Architecture. It is also significant from a historic perspective. The fine limestone gateway has been the focal point of historic events in Ireland since the time of the Crimean War in 1856 with the return of the 17 Lancers after the Battle of Balaclava. It was the location for the handing over of the Barracks from the British Government to Commandant Sean Murray of the Irish Army in 1922, and was visited by President Kennedy in 1963.

   Meanwhile down by the river, the Customs and Commerce walk follows the Lee and showcases some of the old and new commercial buildings in the city. These buildings track the commercial history of Cork City and highlight its many industries over time. For the more energetic walker this route can be combined with the Medieval to Modern walking route. Re-imagine the turning of the wheels of the trams at the National Sculpture Factory, learn about local government in the City Hall, think highly of the multiple stories of the city’s masons and carpenters at the Carpenter’s Hall, feel the energy of the steam ships in the maritime paintings in the city’s Custom House, and look at the fine details on the pillars within AIB Bank on the South Mall. The flagship AIB Bank, former Munster and Leinster bank building at 66 South Mall, designed by Henry Hill, celebrates its centenary this year. It is an iconic nine bay 3 storey building, built between 1909 to 1914, in the heart of the financial district of Cork.  It is Edwardian – Italinate in style. The distinctive building façade is in stunning local silver limestone, and the main façade upper floors are articulated by giant order fluted lonic columns – very striking and beautiful indeed.

See www.corkheritageopenday.ie for more information on the city’s great heritage day and then followed by Heritage Week.

Captions:

805a. Beautiful and imposing building, 66 AIB, South Mall (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

805b. Interior of 66 AIB, South Mall at this year’s launch of the Cork International Choral Festival (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 

805b. Interior of 66 AIB, South Mall at this year’s launch of the Cork International Choral Festival

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 6 August 2015

Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized

804a. Map of Cork, late sixteenth century as depicted in Sir George Carew’s Pacata Hibernia

 

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 

Cork Independent, 6 August 2015

Cork Harbour Memories (Part 30)

Colonising a Swamp

 

    President of the Munster Plantation George Carew’s Map of Cork circa 1600 shows the town wall of Cork encompassing an oval shaped settlement on a swamp. His emphasis is on showing off the infrastructure. He depicts the town as a spacious, strong and prominent settlement, complete with the protection of drawbridges and the eastern portcullis gate called Watergate. The mechanics of raising up of such structures must have got damp and noisy, must have creaked, and must have irked the visitors to the town. Maybe many of the citizens didn’t hear those sounds, being so used to them. The town was there for several centuries. Access was through these points and people were used to their everyday function in giving and refusing access to the town.

    The walled defences, 1,500 metres in circumference, were to provide security for its inhabitants up to 1690. They also controlled light and shade, the wall overlooked and in a sense organised the lives of citizens. On the map, the buttress walls and its drawn lines that rise from the marshy ground give the structure a striking strength and depth of foundation, physically, spatially and culturally. The hardness and indestructibility of the stone has a noble look to it and fitted Carew’s idea and vision of a colonised landscape. Much of the town wall survives beneath the modern street surface and in some places has been incorporated into existing buildings. Carew presents a wall on his map almost mass concrete looking – as in he doesn’t show the reality of the use of multiple stones in its construction– as seen in the wall on display in Bishop Lucey Park. The wall comprised two stone types, limestone and sandstone,. The engineering involved in its construction was substantial. The citizens must have had problems in laying foundations into the swamp. Their timber scaffolding must have collapsed at times. The courses of the stone must have collapsed. It was a jig-saw puzzle in its construction.

     In a present day context, echoes of the ground plan of the walled town survive. If one starts on the corner of the Grand Parade and the South Mall, on the city library side, the walls of the medieval town would have extended the full length of the Grand Parade, along Cornmarket Street, onto the Coal Quay, up Kyrl’s Quay to the North Gate Bridge. From here they would have extended up Batchelor’s Quay as far as Grattan Street, then turning southwards, the walls would have followed the full length of present day Grattan Street as far as present day Clarke’s Bridge. The walls then followed the course of the River Lee back to the starting point.

     Some of the wealthier merchants formed the corporation and lived in tower houses or large two to three storey castle-like structures. They were as important as the infrastructure and many were the key agents of governance for centuries. These families included the Roches, Skiddys, Galways, Coppingers, Meades, Goulds, Tirrys, Sarfields, and the Morroghs. Their names were all involved in the running of the town from its inception in the late 1100s to the seventeenth century. They also controlled large portions of Cork’s trade and rented out numerous plots of land to other citizens – Irish natives and English colonialists. Carew’s depiction shows two tower houses within the precincts of the medieval core, Skiddy’s Castle and Roche’s Castle. Skiddy’s Castle was located in the north east sector of the town over-looking North Main Street, close to North Gate Drawbridge while Roches Castle was located at the eastern end of middle bridge, the structure that connected the enclosed medieval islands together.

    Carew also places emphasis on other public buildings in this walled town. The corporation of the town conducted public business in the south west quadrant of the walled town or to the west of South Main Street. The council tower, armoury, the town’s court house, the commandant’s house and the treasury were all in this location. In the south west quadrant of the town, the town post office was located, evidenced from present day Post Office Lane situated today adjacent to the Grand Parade. In addition, Christ Church existed in this section, which was rebuilt in 1720. The merchant’s hall was also present in this area and at the western end of Middle Bridge on the southern island side was the location of the custom house or Exchange. All ships docking at the quay inside the town had to report their goods to this building. In the north west section of the town or to the west of North Main Street, a garrison was located for soldiers just south of Skiddy’s Castle. The governor’s house was situated in this area along with St. Peter’s Church, which has taken the form of the Cork Vision Centre. The other main feature in the north west section was the market square from which the town crier shouted and communicated to the population of the town. Carew only depicts two citizens in a boat fishing near South Gate Bridge. But for every house shown in the town, families lived their lives and made the walled town of Cork their home.

 To be continued….

 

 Captions:

 804a. Section Map of Cork, late sixteenth century as depicted in Sir George Carew’s Pacata Hibernia, or History of The Wars in Ireland (1633), vol. 2, opp page 137.

804b. One of the recent Medieval re-enactment days in Bishop Lucey Park (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 804b. One of the recent Medieval re-enactment days in Bishop Lucey Park

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 30 July 2015

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized

803a. Excavating skeletons at Crosses Green, 1993

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 30 July 2015

Cork Harbour Memories (Part 29)

Skeletons beneath our Feet

 

    Previously, we discussed the Dominican Abbey at what is now Crosses Green. Exciting finds were unearthed in 1993 during the placing of foundations for the Crosses Green Apartment Complex. Excavated remains of buildings were discovered associated with the abbey especially the church, cloister or central walking area and other attached domestic buildings. Among these buildings, many medieval objects were found as well as one of the most preserved graveyards ever found in post medieval archaeological studies. All were studied under the watchful eye at the time of former City Archaeologist, Maurice Hurley and Cathy Sheehan (1995, see local studies in the City Library for their insightful excavation report)

    Part of the finds included the remains of medieval pottery. Clare McCutcheon in her section in the excavation report noted that the largest assemblage came from the south-west of France from the Saintonge area and were early thirteenth to fourteenth century in date. In addition, native Cork type pottery was discovered as well as Redcliffe pottery from Bristol.

    Nearly a half a dozen bone and antler artefacts turned up. These included a modified antler tine or an object used in some manufacturing or shaping process of bone or antler. A broken needle associated with medieval weaving was found along with what is described as a type of toggle to hold clothes together. Rosary beads or paternosters were found. Forty-two beads were, all bone in nature. The beads were found in relation with the torso of a skeleton in a grave.

   Metal objects were discovered of which many were bronze in nature. These included several bronze pins, a needle, an ear spoon (from a toilet set or a surgical instrument set), a ring brooch, which would been used to fasten the cloaks of the monks, a buckle, the hand guard of a dagger, a tweezers, and an iron knife blade. Lead objects included nine lead rods, which were part of stylii or writing leads. Only one medieval coin of a medieval date was found, fourteenth to fifteenth century in date. One piece of structural timber was found, which was said to maybe part of a quay front revetment, a bridge, or a scaffolding piece used in the construction of the priory.

   A total of two hundred graves were found. Under the careful excavation of Catyrn Power, the majority of the graves were discovered within the boundaries of buildings especially within the church and cloister area. Since, the abbey was built on a marshy island, there was a lack of acid in the underlining soil which resulted in little deterioration of the bones of skeletons found. All were reburied appropriately and safely. The majority were excellently preserved and therefore most of the graves comprised of intact comprehensible skeletons. Incidently the first graves associated with the Dominican Abbey are recorded as being located in 1804 when a Mr Walker unearthed several stone lined graves. He was building his own distillery at the time chose not to disturb the burials to any great extent.

   Catyrn in her report notes three main types of graves discovered, which give an insight into the social structure around the area of the abbey. These types included shallow unlined graves which the majority of burials consisted of. In a few unlined graves, an unusual burial practice was noted. Small stones known as pillow stones or other skulls were placed on either side of the skull of the main skeleton in order to keep the skull itself from collapsing to one side.

   The second type of grave found on the grounds of the Dominican Abbey was related to the evidence for charred coffins. In England, during the medieval period, charred coffins were utilised so that the decomposition of wood would be deterred. Stone-lined graves with slab capstones also made up a large part of the burials at Crosses Green. Associated with several of these type of graves on top of them were tomb slabs and effigies (carved statues in stone).

   Three-quarters of the individual skeletons were found to be adults – the largest number being aged in their twenties There seemed to be slightly more males than females excavated. The mortality rate was found to be low and through present day research on medieval times, numerous reasons have for this have come to the forefront such as diet and living standards of the time. Poor living conditions in the nearby walled town and the abbey led to breeding grounds for rats and infectious diseases. In the town overcrowding was common in poorly ventilated dwellings with thatched roofs that had a clay floor which was an attraction to rats and fleas. The water supply was always subject to contamination from sewage and rubbish. Household waste was thrown onto the streets and laneways. Even dead animals were left to decay where they fell. Clothing and hair provided shelter from fleas and lice. Life was tough in medieval Cork.

    In the case of the skeletons excavated and analysed at Crosses Green, just less than half were found to have degenerative joint disease or some form of arthritis. In several individual skeletons, nutritional deficiencies, tumours, dental diseases were noted along with infections. All these can be detected due to their changing effect on the shape and strength of the bone.

 Check out Catyrn Power’s excellent blog, https://corkarchaeologist.wordpress.com/

 To be continued…

 

Captions: 

803a. Excavating skeletons at Crosses Green, 1993 (pictures: Catyrn Power, https://corkarchaeologist.wordpress.com) 

803b. Excavating skeletons at Crosses Green, 1993 (pictures: Catyrn Power, https://corkarchaeologist.wordpress.com)

 803b. Excavating skeletons at Crosses Green, 1993

Kieran’s National Heritage Week Tours 2015

Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events

Monday 24 August 2015 – Tales of the City’s Workhouse, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, meet at entrance to St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 7pm (free, duration: two hours).

 

Wednesday 26 August 2015 – From Market Gardens to Architectural Eminence, historical walking tour of Turners Cross and Ballyphehane with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, meet at entrance to Christ the King Church, Turners Cross, 7pm (free, duration: two hours).

 

Friday 28 August 2015 – Cork’s Elegant Suburb, Historical walking tour of Sunday’s Well with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, meet at St Vincent’s Bridge on the North Mall side, 7pm (free, duration: two hours).

 

Saturday 29 August – Park Stories, Historical walking tour of Fitzgerald’s Park with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, meet at band stand in park, 2pm (free, duration: two hours)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 23 July 2015

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized

 802a. View of recent Shandon Street Festival 2015

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 

Cork Independent, 23 July 2015

Shandon and Blackpool Historical Walking Tours

 

    I have two more summer walking tours coming up – this time the focus is on the Shandon and Blackpool area – Friday evening, 24 July is the Shandon historical walking tour; discover the city’s historical quarter; learn about St Anne’s Church and the development of the butter market and the Shandon Street area; meet at North Gate Bridge, 6.45pm (free, duration: two hours). The second walking tour weaves through Blackpool, Thursday evening 30 July 2015; from Fair Hill to the heart of Blackpool, learn about nineteenth century shambles, schools, convents and industries, meet at the North Mon gates, Gerald Griffin Avenue, 6.45pm (free, duration: two hours).

  The walking tours intertwine from Shandon into Blackpool and Gurranbraher highlighting several centuries of life in these corners of historic Cork from education to housing to politics, to religion, to industry and to social life itself. Tradition is one way to sum up the uniqueness of Shandon Street. Despite being a physical street, one can stroll down (or clamber up), the thoroughfare holds a special place in the hearts of many Corkonians. The legacy of by-gone days is rich. The street was established by the Anglo-Normans as a thoroughfare to give access to North Gate Drawbridge and was originally known as Mallow Lane. Shandon Street locals identify with the special old qualities of the street. Different architectural styles reflect not only the street’s long history but also Cork’s past.

  In the time of the Anglo Normans establishing a fortified walled settlement and a trading centre in Cork around 1200 A.D., North Gate Drawbridge formed one of the three entrances –South Gate and Watergate being the others. North Gate Drawbridge was a wooden structure and was annually subjected to severe winter flooding, being almost destroyed in each instance. In May 1711, agreement was reached by the council of the City that North Gate Bridge be rebuilt in stone in 1712 while in 1713, South Gate Bridge would be replaced with a stone arched structures. The new North and South Gate bridges were designed and built by George Coltsman, a Cork City stone mason/ architect.

  Between 1713 and the early 1800s, the only structural work completed on North Gate Bridge was the repairing and widening of it by the Corporation of Cork. It was in 1831 that they saw that the structure was deteriorating and deemed it unsafe as a river crossing for horses, carts, and coaches. Hence in October 1861, the plans by Cork architect Sir John Benson for a new bridge were accepted. In April 1863, the foundation stone for the new bridge was laid. The new bridge was to be a cast-iron structure with the iron work completed by Ranking & Co. of Liverpool. An ornate Victorian style was incorporated into the new structure with features such as ornamental lamp posts and iron medallions depicting Queen Victoria, Albert the Prince Consort, Daniel O’ Connell, the Irish Liberator and Sir Thomas Moore, the famous English poet. The new North Gate Bridge was officially opened on 17 March, St Patrick’s Day 1864 by the Mayor John Francis Maguire in the company of Sir John Benson, the designer and Barry McMullen, the contractor. Nearly 100 years later – circa early 1960s, the bridge would have to be reconstructed again due to increased traffic.

  On 6 November 1961, the new and present day bridge, of concrete slabs was opened by Lord Mayor, Antony Barry TD accompanied by the Parish Priest of SS. Peter’s and Paul’s Church, the Rev. Canon J. Fehily who blessed the structure before it was opened. The new bridge was named Griffith Bridge in honour of Arthur Griffith head of the Irish delegation at the negotiations in London that produced the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.

    There are multiple layers of history around the Shandon quarter. Amongst them is the story of the great butter market. By the mid 1700s, the native butter industry in Cork had grown to such an extent due to British empire expansion that it was decided among the main city and county butter merchants that an institution be established in the city that would control and develop its potential. The Committee of Butter Merchants located themselves in a simple commissioned building adjacent to Shandon. The committee comprised 21 members who were chosen by the merchants in the city.

    Blackpool was the scene of industry in Cork in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for industries such as tanning through big names such as Dunn’s Tannery and distilling through families such as the Hewitts. The leather industry at one vibrant in Blackpool with no fewer than 46 tanyards at work there in 1837 giving employment to over 700 hands and tanning on average 110,000 hides annually. Blackpool also has other messages about relief in the form of the former Poor House site at Murphy’s Brewery to Madden’s Buildings to highlighting the work of Ireland’s social reformers through street names such as William O’Brien, Gerald Griffin, Daniel O’Connell and Tomas McCurtain. All these messages inject the place with memories of difficult times but also times of determination to survive against the odds.

 See you on the tours!

Captions:

 802a. View of recent Shandon Street Festival 2015 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 802b. View of recent Shandon Street Festival 2015 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

802b. View of recent Shandon Street Festival 2015

McCarthy calls for EU Investment Strategy

International, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

Clllr Kieran McCarthy, Plenary of the EU Committee of the Regions, July 2015

   Douglas Road Cork City Councillor Cllr Kieran McCarthy participated in the lively debate on innovation and enterprise in the recent July EU Committee of the Regions plenary in Brussels. Commissioner Carlos Moedas addressed the 350-member committee on the importance of research and development, Cohesion Policy and EU funding. His commission will provide funding to supporting SMEs, R&D and innovation, education, the low carbon economy, the environment, and developing infrastructure connecting EU citizens.

Cllr McCarthy addressing Commissioner Moedas called for each area of investment to be based on a well-defined strategy. “Investment in the field of R&D and innovation needs to be framed within a process of developing a vision and setting strategic priorities. Projects should follow strategies and not the other way around“. Cllr McCarthy also called for more emphasis to be put on soft forms of support, on supporting market-driven research and cooperation with businesses. He noted; “There is a risk of business-as-usual support for SMEs, instead of support being tailored to their needs and growth potential to ensure a more sustainable long term result“.

   The EU’s Committee of the Regions is the EU’s assembly of regional and local representatives from all 28 Member States. Its mission is to involve regional and local authorities in the EU’s decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. There are 9 Irish members in the Committee of the Regions of which Cllr McCarthy is one.

Caption: Cllr Kieran McCarthy speaking at the recent EU Committee of the Regions July plenary in the European Parliament, Brussels.

Shandon & Blackpool Historical Walking Tours

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized

I have two more summer walking tours coming up – this time the focus is on the Shandon and Blackpool area – Friday evening, 24 July is the Shandon historical walking tour; discover the city’s historical quarter; learn about St Anne’s Church and the development of the butter market and the Shandon Street area; meet at North Gate Bridge, 6.45pm (free, duration: two hours). The second walking tour weaves through Blackpool, Thursday evening 30 July 2015; from Fair Hill to the heart of Blackpool, learn about nineteenth century shambles, schools, convents and industries, meet at the North Mon gates, Gerald Griffin Avenue, 6.45pm (free, duration: two hours).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 16 July 2015

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

801a. Mary Harris aka Mother Jones

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  16 July 2015

Celebrating a Unique Cork Rebel!

 

     This year coincides with the fourth Mother Jones festival and summer school in Shandon and it takes place from Wednesday 29 July until Saturday 1 August (1 August is now known as Mother Jones’ Day in Cork). Dedicated to her memory and to inspirational people everywhere who press for social justice, the festival will comprise over 30 events such as lectures, films, music, singing, poetry, a garden party, several concerts and a play at venues such as The Firkin Crane and the Maldron Hotel. Speakers in 2015 include, Chris Mullin, Fr Peter McVerry, Theo Dorgan, Alannah Hopkin, Leo Keohane, Ann Matthews, Dave Hopper and many more. Music will be provided by Jimmy Crowley, Two Time Polka Richard T Cooke and the Rokk Choir.

    Mary Harris was born in Cork in 1837 and was baptised by Fr John O’Mahony in the Cathedral of SS Mary’s & Anne on 1 August of that year. As with thousands of other children on Cork’s north side, she was baptised in the 200 year old baptismal font which is still positioned at the entrance to the North Chapel. Her parents were Ellen Cotter, a native of Inchigeela and Richard Harris from Cork city.

    Mary had two brothers, Richard born in 1835 in Inchigeela, and William in 1846, her sisters were Catherine born in 1840, and Ellen in 1845. William later became Dean of St Catherine’s in Toronto and was a noted Catholic author and scholar. The Harris family lived through the Great Famine, which claimed thousands of lives in the slums of Cork City. They then survived the horrors of the coffin ships when the family emigrated to Toronto in the early 1850s.

   By 1860, Mary had qualified as a teacher and was teaching in Monroe, Michigan. She later worked as a dressmaker and married George Jones, an iron moulder, and who was a member of the International Iron Moulders Union. They settled in Winchester Street in Memphis, Tennessee. George and Mary had four children, Catherine in 1862, Elizabeth in 1863, Terence in 1865 and Mary in 1867. After living through the American Civil War, tragedy struck the Harris family and George and his young family was wiped out by the yellow fever epidemic in 1867 in Memphis. Mary survived this appalling horror.

   Mary went to Chicago where she resumed her dressmaking, established a little business. Again disaster struck when on 9 October 1871 the great fire of Chicago destroyed her premises. Little is known of Mary for a decade or more however it seems that she became very active in the growing Labour movement which was then organising for fair pay and decent working conditions in the factories, mills and mines of a rapidly industrialising North America. It was a time of huge labour ferment with rail strikes in 1877 and the 1886 Haymarket incident in Chicago. Mary’s political and social consciousness led her to support the underdog in society and she got involved into active union activity.

   In 1890, the United Mine Workers union was formed; many of the tough union organisers were Irish and Mary too became an organiser. She was nearly sixty years old. As a woman operating in a rough male world of miners and mining pits, she was utterly fearless. She was outspoken and she cut an inspirational figure, being immaculately dressed in her long black dress, bonnet and carrying a handbag amidst the industrial debris of coal pits.

   She witnessed the terrible conditions under which thousands of men, women and young children worked. In this decade she helped miners to demand better pay and conditions in Alabama, West Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania. She had become known as “Mother Jones” to countless thousands of workers. In 1903, Mother Jones led the March of the Mill Children from Pennsylvania to New York, in which highlighted the exploitation of young children in the mines and factories in America. By then she had become known as “the most dangerous woman in America”. She also organised women workers and she became one of the most famous women in America being front page news for decades as a result of her union activities.

   In 1905 Mary was the only woman at the inaugural meeting of the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies). She became a confident of James Connolly and was arrested and jailed many times in her quest across America for justice for workers. Her cry of “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living” has resonated through the decades. Mother Jones was now in her seventies and remained active in the face of injustice. When she passed away at the age of ninety three in 1930, tens of thousands attended her funeral. Over 50,000 people attended the dedication of her grave memorial on 11 October 1936 at Mount Olive in Illinois.

   A Cork Mother Jones Committee unveiled a monument to Mother Jones in 2012, near the famous Bells of Shandon and organised a festival in her honour. Full details of the festival and summer school can be seen at www.motherjonescork.com or phone 0863196063. My thanks to the festival co-ordinator Ger O’Mahony and the festival committee for the information above.

 Captions:

 801a. Mary Harris/ Mother Jones (source: Robert Shetterly)

 801b. Mother Jones plaque Shandon, unveiled in 2012

Kieran’s Question to the City Manager/ CE and Motions, Cork City Council Meeting, 13 June 2015

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

 Question to the CE/ Manager:

 To ask the CE for an update on the Blackrock regeneration pier project? (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

 

Motions:

The McCarthy Monument on Blackrock Road is in a terrible condition with small branches growing out of it. Its environs are also in poor unkept state and the boundary walls are loose and need to be stabilised. Enforcement of the keeping of this monument and its surroundings seems to have failed. A plan with the landowners for this site needs to be created before the monument falls to further disrepair (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).

 That the Minister of Health intervene in staffing the unopened adult CF ward in the Cork University Hospital. It is a shame that despite the fact that money for the ward was fundraised, to create the ward, that it now remains closed (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).