Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 19 September 2019
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 19 September 2019
Tales from 1919: An Independence War Intensifies
One hundred years ago, British forces attempted to re-emphasise their control over the country, often recoursing to random reprisals against republican activists and the civilian population. An unofficial government plan of reprisals commenced in early September 1919. In Fermoy 200 British soldiers looted and burned the principal businesses of the town, after one of their members – Private William Jones – a soldier of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry who was the first British Army death in the campaign had been killed in an armed raid by the local IRA on 7 September 1919.
Meanwhile in Dublin, the Michael Collins’ IRA Squad continued its campaign of killing Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) intelligence officers. Established in July 1919 the Squad’s campaign was based on information gleamed by an active web of spies among sympathetic members of the Dublin Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) G Division and other vital divisions of the British administration
Continued local and regional agitation by the IRA led to the 10 September 1919 proclamation signed by the Viceroy, Chief Secretary suppressing Sinn Féin Clubs. The proclamation also covered Irish Volunteers, Cumann na mBan, and the Gaelic League. The County of Cork and the City of Cork was focussed on as well as seven other districts – Dublin City, County Dublin, Tipperary South Riding and North Riding, Limerick City and County Limerick, and County Clare. The proclamation declared such association to Sinn Féin to be dangerous, and they were accordingly prohibited and suppressed. Within days a proclamation was spread to prohibition and suppression within thirty-two counties and six county boroughs of Ireland of Dáil Éireann. The order was signed by the Chief Secretary and General Sir Frederick Shaw, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Ireland.
The Cork Examiner details that on 12 September members of the Cork RIC, accompanied by parties of military, left Union Quay Barracks moving to enforce the Order issued for the suppression of the Sinn Féin and other organisations. The Sinn Féin clubs in the city were visited between 9am and 12noon, at which the police carried out a very exhaustive search of the rooms at each centre, with soldiers with fixed bayonets stood at the door. The police were also armed, some with carbines and others with revolvers.
The raids were not altogether unexpected by Sinn Féin Clubs in Cork, and in most cases anything that was deemed advisable to remove from the rooms of the clubs had been removed shortly after the issue of the proclamation.
The north side of the city was the first district to receive RIC attention, and the only articles they thought worth taking from premises there were six haversacks. The Shandon Street Sinn Féin Club, Coburg Street Sinn Féin Club, and rooms at Watercourse road were carefully searched, and a visit was also paid to the shop of a Mr D Curtin in that district.
The Thomas Ashe Club, which was situated on Charlotte Quay (now Fr Mathew Quay), came in for an exhaustive inspection. It was after 12noon when the party reached it. The soldiers, about twenty in number, ranged themselves along the hall leading from the door to the stairs, and with fixed bayonets waited until the police had completed their examination of the contents of the rooms. Here a dummy rifle, one of a dozen, was taken possession of, together with a number of membership cards. The flooring of a small apartment used as a bathroom was torn up, but there were no finds. The apartments occupied by the caretaker, Mrs Horan, next received attention, the bedding being carefully examined without result. Mrs Horan was reminded by the search party that the Sinn Féin organisation had been proclaimed, and she was ordered to remove her furniture as speedily as possible.
The Grand Parade Club at 56 Grand Parade, which was the headquarters of the Sinn Féin party in Cork, was searched about 11am. About twelve soldiers in charge of an officer, and a number of police searched the premises. There was no one on the premises at the time, and the doors of the rooms, which were locked, were broken open. The search occupied about an hour. Soon after the soldiers and police had withdrawn members of the club arrived, and one of them at once wrote and placed on the window a card bearing the words, “Business as Usual”.
Whilst the inspection was in progress, the doors of the rooms were damaged in the forced opening. A half-dozen dummy rifles which had been stored in a room on the second storey remained untouched, but the picture of Thomas MacDonagh, who was executed in 1916, and that of Joseph McGuinness, MP, were removed from the walls and destroyed. A different party visited the Cumann na mBan rooms on the South Mall.
Over an hour’s stay was made at the premises of Mr Wickham, tinsmith, Merchant’s Quay, the search proving futile. Another house visited was that of Mr Lucy, vintner, Pembroke Street, was the same result.
The residence of Mr Liam De Róiste, MP, was amongst the houses searched by the police and military. They spent a considerable time in the house and took with them a number of Sinn Féin pamphlets. Among other houses visited were those of Mr Patrick Corkery, Friar Street, and Mr Sean O’Sullivan, Abbey Street. Nothing, however, of any consequence was declared to be found.
Captions:
1015a. Former site of 1919 Cork Sinn Féin Headquarters, 56 Grand Parade (pictures: Kieran McCarthy)
1015b. Protruding building onto present Fr Mathew quay above red cars is the site of the former Sinn Féin Club of 7 Charlotte Quay
Kieran’s September Historical Walking Tours
Saturday 21 September 2019, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, historical walking tour with Kieran, meet at entrance to Blackrock Castle, 11am, (free, 2 hours, finishes near railway line walk, Blackrock Road).
Sunday 22 September 2019, The Battle of Douglas, An Irish Civil War Story, historical walking tour with Kieran, from carpark and entrance to Old Railway Line, Harty’s Quay, Rochestown; 2pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes near Rochestown Road).
Cork Culture Night, Friday 20 September 2019
Wrap Up in Culture this Friday at Cork Culture Night!
Explore the city and soak up the many free events on offer across more than 100 artistic and cultural venues
Find full details here: www.culturenightcork.ie
Autumnal Sunshine at Cork’s Marina, 18 September 2019
Cllr McCarthy: Moves afoot to Re-open Douglas Library
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has highlighted that re-opening Douglas Library is a must in the short term for Douglas Village. At the recent Culture, Community and Place-making Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) of Cork City Council Cllr McCarthy noted; “Douglas Library is a focal point in the village and has a high membership with adults and in particular younger people using it. It also hosted a large number of weekly community events, which attracted a lot of interested local people”.
Cork City Council officials fear the damage caused to Douglas library following the recent shopping centre fire is worse than first imagined, with over 40,000 books and other items covered in soot from the blaze. The local authority is working on creating a replacement service for the library, but staff do not yet know the amount of the damage to computers and other electronic equipment in the library.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “Information given to me at the recent SPC and to those present noted that currently a cost analysis is being done to see what books can be saved and cleaned and what books need to be destroyed. The Library Service is also seeking advice from the Department of Local Government and sought an urgent meeting to see what rescue funding mechanisms are available”.
Mr Liam Ronayne, City Librarian, has articulated that the library’s position on the first floor of the Douglas Village Shopping Centre put it in close vicinity to where the blaze commenced on 31 August, meaning the facility has also suffered damage from the thousands of litres of water poured into the car park to extinguish the fire. The contents of many books are covered in a film of soot throughout the Library, worse in the northern side of the building nearer the car park. All of the stock, over 40,000 items, has been covered in soot, both along the edges and inside the individual books. Unfortunately, the delay in getting access meant that it is going to be more problematic to try and alleviate the situation.
Fortunately, Mr Ronayne has said there are no items of high value in Douglas Library, and that all stock was for borrowing by local patrons meaning there are no irreplaceable books there. The Chief Executive of Cork City Council Ann Doherty has given a commitment to have a replacement service as soon as is physically possible.
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 12 September 2019
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 12 September 2019
Launch of Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project 2019-20
The advent of the new school year coincides with the seventeenth year of the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project. Brochures have been sent to all Cork City schools including the schools within the newly extended city areas. Launched again for the 2019/20 school term, the Project is open to schools in Cork City at primary level to the pupils of fourth, fifth and sixth class and at post-primary from first to sixth years. There are two sub categories within the post primary section, Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate. The project is free to enter. A student may enter as an individual or as part of a group or a part of a class entry. The County edition unfortunately has been discontinued temporarily.
Co-ordinated by myself, one of the key aims of the Project is to encourage students to explore, investigate and debate their local heritage (built, archaeological, cultural and natural) in a constructive, active and fun way. Projects on any aspect of Cork’s rich heritage can be submitted to an adjudication panel. Prizes are awarded for best projects and certificates are given to each participant. A cross-section of projects submitted from the last school season can be gleamed from this link on my website, www.corkheritage.ie where there are other resources, former titles and winners and entry information as well.
Students produce a project on their local area using primary and secondary sources. Each participating student within their class receives a visit and free workshop in October 2019. The workshop comprises a guide to how to put a project together. Project material must be gathered in an A4/ A3 size Project book. The project may be as large as the student wishes but minimum 20 pages (text + pictures + sketches). Projects must also meet five elements. Projects must be colourful, creative, have personal opinion, imagination and gain publicity before submission. These elements form the basis of a student friendly narrative analysis approach where the student explores their project topic in an interactive and task-oriented way. In particular, students are encouraged to attain material through visiting local libraries, engaging with fieldwork, interviews with local people, making models, photographing, cartoon creating, making DVDs of their area. Re-enacting can also be a feature of several projects.
For over seventeen years, the project has evolved in exploring how students pursue local history and how to make it relevant in society. The project attempts to provide the student with a hands-on and interactive activity that is all about learning not only about heritage in your local area (in all its forms) but also about the process of learning by participating students. The project is about thinking about, understanding, appreciating and making relevant in today’s society the role of our heritage, our landmarks, our oral histories, our environment in our modern world for upcoming citizens. So, the project is about splicing together activity on issues of local history and heritage such as thinking, exploring, observing, discovering, researching, uncovering, revealing, interpreting and resolving. This year as well there is a focus on the theme, The Past and its Legacy, which ties into the centenary commemoration of the Irish War of Independence in Cork.
The importance of doing a project in local history is reflected in the educational aims of the history curricula of primary and post-primary schools. Local heritage is a tool, which helps the student to become familiar with their local environment and to learn the value of it in their lives. Learning to appreciate the elements of a locality, can also give students a sense of place in their locality or a sense of identity. Hence the Project can also become a youth forum for students to do research and offer their opinions on important decisions being made on their heritage in their locality and how they affect the lives of people locally. I know a number of students who have been involved in the project in schools over the years who have took their interest further and have gone on to become professional tour guides, and into other related college work.
The project is open to many directions of delivery. Students are encouraged to engage with their topic in order to make sense of it, understand and work with it. Students continue to experiment with the overall design and plan of their work. For example, and in general, students who have entered before might engage with the attaining of primary information through oral histories. The methodologies that the students create provide interesting ways to approach the study of local heritage. Students are asked to choose one of two extra methods (apart from a booklet) to represent their work. The first option is making a model whilst the second option is making a short film. It is great to see students using modern up todate technology to present their findings. This works in broadening their view of approaching their project.
This project in the City is free to enter and is kindly funded by Cork City Council (viz the help of Niamh Twomey, Heritage Officer) Prizes are also provided by the Old Cork Waterworks Experience, Lee Road, Learnit Lego Education, and Sean Kelly of Lucky Meadows Equestrian Centre, Watergrasshill (www.seankellyhorse.com). Overall, the Schools’ Heritage Project for the last sixteen years has attempted to build a new concerned generation of Cork people, pushing them forward, growing their self-development empowering them to connect to their world and their local heritage. Spread the word please with local schools. Details can be found on my website, www.corkheritage.ie.
Captions:
1014a. Project page on the local history of St Patrick’s Bridge from Our Lady of the Lourdes NS student 2019.
1014b. Model on the Shaky Bridge from Our Lady of the Lourdes NS student 2019.
Shakey Bridge Regeneration, 11 September 2019
Great to work with Fiona Corcoran, Senior Reporter with 96FM on the dismantling of the Shaky Bridge and its renewal, which began this morning, https://www.facebook.com/194278177271109/posts/2726075840757984?sfns=mo
Shakey Bridge Regeneration, 11 September 2019
“Historian and Cllr Kieran McCarthy, who called repeatedly in recent years for the bridge to be restored, said the work really needed to be done. Cork has over 31 bridges, but this is the one held in most affection”.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/watch-corks-shakey-bridge-will-retain-famous-shake-after-restoration-engineers-insist-950093.html
Kieran’s September 2019 Historical Walking Tours
Saturday 21 September 2019, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, historical walking tour with Kieran, meet at entrance to Blackrock Castle, 11am, (free, 2 hours, finishes near railway line walk, Blackrock Road).