Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 12 June 2025

Making an Irish Free State City – The Making of Cork Public Museum

Culturally, socially and economically, the City of Cork evolved in the early years of the Irish Free State. However, one of the surprising happenings during that time was the closure of the public museum in 1924. The story of how the closure happened is now the focus of a recently launched exhibition in the current museum, which offers insights into the early origins of Cork Public Museum from the 1910s to the 1940s.

Entitled “1945 Uncorked” the new exhibition celebrates the 80th Anniversary of Cork Public Museum. The Museum Studies students at University College Cork have carefully assembled a new exhibition on the early origins of Cork Public Museum with curator Dan Breen and the amazing staff of Cork Public Museum. This unique collaboration has run for several years now, and it is the only one of its kind in Ireland. In fact, there are few other opportunities like it worldwide, and the programme’s assembly of Irish and international students demonstrates that.

A museum in Fitzgerald’s Park sprung from the highly successful international exhibition in 1901-2. In 1904, the exhibition committee handed over the exhibition grounds to the Corporation of Cork to be developed into a park for Corkonians. The work of clearing up the grounds and of removing the larger temporary buildings first received the attention of the exhibition committee. The Corporation even appointed a special committee under the chairmanship of Sir Edward Fitzgerald. The committee directed their energy towards the reclamation of the grounds until laying the most into formal garden treatment finishing with the removal of the high hoarding which obscured the view by the erection of ornamental iron railings in their place opening up the view of the public to the park itself.

On 22 March 1906, a meeting of the Fitzgerald Park Committee was held for the purpose of considering the following motion, notice of which had been given by Alderman Meade: “That we declare our willingness to vest the Park and the Shrubbery House in the Corporation of Cork, provided they agree to levy a rate of a half a penny in the pound annually for their upkeep and maintenance, and that the house be used as a museum”. Sir Edward Fitzgerald Chairman, presided. The motion was passed by a majority on the committee.

The assignment of the park to the Corporation of Cork for the benefit of the citizens also took in the large Shrubberies mansion with the express stipulation that it was to be converted into a museum. The committee expressed the sentiment that the City needed a public museum.

A Museum sub committee appointed by the Corporation turned their attention to the work of fitting up and adapting the old Shrubberies House to its future purpose as museum. Some of the original advisory sub committee were connected to the Raw Materials committee of the Cork International Exhibition. The Museum committee was made up of Professor Hartog, Professor Thomas Farrington, Mr J L Copeman, Mr James Coleman and Mr John Paul Dalton, Honorary Curator. Mr Dalton worked for free in the early stages of planning. One of the first practical steps taken to furnish the museum was the circulation far and wide by the secretary of Corporation Committee Secretary D F Giltinan of many hundreds of circulars amongst the managers of kindred museums and others able and willing to contribute suitable objects either as valuable gifts or loans. Many objects and artworks were given arising out of the call out.

On 22 November 1910, John Paul Dalton, Honorary Curator of the museum, appeared before the Fitzgerald’s Park Committee and noted he had great pleasure in stating that the museum was now ready for opening. Exhibits of the most interesting kind had been put into position into cabinets and objects were still arriving. Amongst the latest exhibits received was an interesting old lithographic stone that was used for printing certificates of examinations in the old school of design and an Elizabethan map of Youghal. These were presented to John Paul from the Crawford Municipal School and its principal Mr Hugh Charde. Mr Dalton also highlighted that there were three quaint paintings given by his brother Mr Frank Dalton. which had apparently being in some historic Cork mansion. One represented the South Mall with a statue of King George II on horseback, another showing a part of the city and another was a painting representing Queenstown (now Cobh) and Cork Harbour. He deemed them all possibly 100 years old.

In a separate Cork Examiner article is a nod to the delivery and receipt of a very finely carved  representation in stone of the arms of the city, dating probably from the early part of the 17^th century. The slab was formerly part of the Old Guard House, which stood in Blackpool, near the sanctuary of the old St Nicholas Church now stands. On the demolition of the Guard House the slab came into the possession of Mr Edmond O’Flynn, who presented the stone to the Museum.

The Shrubberies House was renovated and retrofitted by the Corporation’s City Engineer J F Delaney. On 22 December 1910, the Cork City Museum was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Thomas Donovan. In the buildings, there were objects presented comprising “artworks, curios, industrial art specimens, books, money scripts, etchings, pictures etc”.

On 17 December 1912, John Paul Dalton’s death was announced in the Cork Examiner atthe age of 46. The newspaper adds that John was well known in Cork literary and artistic life. Amongst his published works were Poems: Original and Translated and Sarsfield at Limerick, a cantata produced some years ago in Cork. He was a contributor to literary magazines an art connoisseur and an antiquary. 

John Paul’s premature death in 1912, attributed to the stress of running the struggling institution, exacerbated these issues. Unfortunately, turmoil from the War of Independence and the Civil War only worsened this museum’s hardships. It closed its doors in 1924. For the next twenty years, the citizens of Cork had no public museum to preserve and share Munster’s heritage.

More next week…

June 2025 Historical Walking Tours with Kieran (All free, two hours, no   booking required).

Saturday afternoon, 21  June, Ballinlough – Antiquities, Knights, Quarries   and   Suburban Growth; meet inside Ballintemple Graveyard, Temple Hill, opp O’Connor’s Funeral Home, 1pm.

Sunday afternoon, 22 June, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; meet at the square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 1pm.

Caption:

1308a. Fitzgerald’s Park Municipal Museum, 1910s (source: Cork Public Museum)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 5 June 2025

Making an Irish Free State City – Stories from the early St Luke’s Home

An institution, which pops up regularly in the Cork press through its published AGM reports across the early Irish Free State years, is the Protestant Home for Incurables or what became known in time as St Luke’s Home on Military Road. The AGM reports give insights into the story of the Home and the hard working volunteers and staff.

The original Home for cancer patients of the Protestant religion, established in October 1872 by Miss Frances Fitzgerald Gregg (daughter of Protestant Bishop John Gregg), was located in Albert House on Victoria Road. It had the name The Home for Protestant Incurables. The premises only accommodated 19 residents and quickly proved too small.

An article in the Cork Examiner on 23 April 1877 describes the growth of the Home as “steadily in usefulness and in public esteem”. However, the limited accommodation of the home/ hospital which was originally a dwelling-house, was increasingly felt, especially when the breaking point arrived when men with cancer were excluded from the care of the Home.

The Home’s committee investigated the enlargement of the Victoria Road premises, but their findings came back impracticable and inadvisable. A new home/ hospital had become anecessity. The committee found a new site. They took a lease from Joseph Lindsay for 500 years, at £48 per annum of a plot of ground at St Luke’s, between Alexandra Road and the Military Road, with a frontage to each. They commissioned William H Hill to prepare plans. The Cork Examiner noted of the plans: “The new Hospital will have wards for males and females, apartments for the Sisters, and all the improvements that ripened experience has suggested. The grounds will be tastefully laid out and planted”. A building fund for the new hospital was proposed. In 1879 the major move was made to Military Road.

Fast forward fifty years to the Home’s 50^th anniversary jubilee year across 1922. The annual report as published on 31 December 1922 reveals that the year 1922 made celebrations and fundraising difficult due to the Irish Civil War.  A greater effort was made to commemorate the jubilee year by raising a sufficient sum of money to clear off a debt of about £2000 on the working revenue account, equip and endow an additional male cancer ward, and to carry out some long deferred improvements and repairs.

The whole sum realised by the jubilee fund raising effort amounted to an impressive sum of £5,000, which was harnessed to carry out works and repairs. Arrangements were made with the valuable assistance of architect Mr William H Hill where the additional male cancer ward was provided for. William also accepted a contract for the central heating of the entire buildings.

The following year’s report for 1924 noted that the wards, sitting rooms and corridors were “uniformly and continuously heated, much to the comfort of all concerned”. There were now special wards for female and male cancer patients. The accommodation for the nurses had been improved and “their comfort greatly added to”. New linoleum had been laid on the corridors, dining and sitting rooms had been provided for the patients and the whole house was painted throughout. 

During 1923, a total of 71 patients were treated whilst in 1924 there were 60. The funds raised from the locally named Dorcas Guild provided all the linen, blankets and other domestic requirements. Such work relieved the general account of a heavy annual charge. Every year coincided with the Guild increasing its efforts and its results. The Christmas sale was noted as getting better and better, running into three figures or over £200. Special thanks were due to Mrs A Beale and to those members of the Guild who made it and the annual sale of work such a success.

Annual reports also lament the passing of advocates of the Home. The 1924 report noted that Mr George Muirhead passed away who was a long serving honorary secretary of the home. A Mrs Lunham had also died, who was for many years was one of the most generous financial supporters of the Home.

In the December 1927 report, the committee overseeing the Home reminded the public that in the Home there were 33 funded beds. However, they appealed once more for not only continued, but increased help to enable such beds to be maintained and to expand the numbers of funded beds. The report noted that during the previous years the Home’s committee adopted the policy of admitting to the Home every suitable applicant provided there was a vacant bed no matter whether he or she had the means to pay. Refusal of admission in several cases was due not to the lack of means on the part of the applicants, but due to the lack of accommodation in the home.

During 1927 there were 79 patients in the home. The report noted of the increased numbers seeking beds; “The home after 56 years has justified its existence is shown by the increased numbers of those who are seeking its shelter about the firmer hold it is having as year succeeds to year upon the affections and generosity of the Christian public. As is evidence for the money letters received from time to time, the work of Dr Lucy Smyth, the matron, and are able stuff continue to give the greatest satisfaction not only to the council but to the friends of home”.

In 1966 the Home was renamed as St Luke’s Home. Fast forward again to 1994 and residents and staff were transferred from Military Hill to Mahon in 1994. Facilities to meet modern needs continue to be added, with the support and now financial backing of the Health Services Executive, South. In 1997, the former Home on Military Road became the Ambassador Hotel under the work of the Savage family. In recent years the hotel has been renamed The Address.

June 2025 Historical Walking Tours with Kieran (All free, two hours, no booking required). 

Thursday evening, 5 June, Douglas and its History, meet in the carpark of Douglas Community Centre, no parking in the centre, 6.30pm. 

Saturday afternoon, 21 June, Ballinlough – Antiquities, Knights, Quarries and Suburban Growth; meet inside Ballintemple Graveyard, Temple Hill, opp O’Connor’s Funeral Home, 1pm.

Sunday afternoon, 22 June, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; meet at the square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 1pm.

Caption:

1307a. Former St Luke’s Home, Military Road now The Address Hotel (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 29 May 2025

Making an Irish Free State City – An Interview with Alfred O’Rahilly

Different voices pop up along Cork’s journey through the 1920s and the early Irish Free State. An interview with University College Cork’s Professor Alfred O’Rahilly in early 1925 reveals his thoughts on politics and the need for the city of Cork to come together for its future.

    In the late 1910s Alfred became intensely concerned with social reform and economics and with the ardent narrative of younger nationalists. His theological and philosophical training enabled him to become a spokesman for Sinn Féin when ecclesiastical censure was threatened. He was always prepared to challenge authority and military repression in Ireland when he disagreed with it. He was elected to the Cork Corporation, and as a member of it in 1920 he proposed the election of Lord Mayor MacCurtain and afterwards of Lord Mayor MacSwiney (to replace him). Alfred took charge of the public funerals for both Lord Mayors, in defiance of all forms of British intimidation.

Alfred was a supporter of the Treaty in 1921 being the constitutional adviser to the Irish Treaty Delegation. In 1922, he wrote a draft constitution with Darrell Figgis. Following on from his work as a Professor of Mathematical Physics, Alfred became Registrar of University College Cork in 1920, and much of his constructive work within the college was pursued during the ensuing 30 years under the presidency of Dr Merriman (whom he succeeded as President in 1943).

In 1924 and 1925 Alfred led Irish delegations to International Labour Organisation conferences. Alfred had taken an important part in the settlement of the labour dispute in Cork City eighteen months previous to his interview. Elected to Dáil Éireann in 1923 on the Cumann na nGaedhael ticket, he resigned a year later on 1 August 1924.

Alfred maintained his interest in trade, labour and trade unionism. He remained a strong advocate for more joined up thinking around the future trade of the city and was dismissive of any sentiments expressed by foreign press on the future of Cork City and its harbour traffic. Published in the Cork Examiner on 26 January 1925 (p.6), Alfred in a Cork Examiner interview noted improvements in the trade being pursued and the hope of further improvement; “Trade is undoubtedly slack. But there is no use in exaggerating matters. There are distinct signs of improvement. Apart from private assurances of business men, I can refer to the latest returns of the Harbour Board. Compare the import figures for basic slag, agricultural machinery, meal, maize, manures, etc., for the year 1924 and the year 1923. It is apparent that the agricultural community, the most important in this country, is solidly hopeful of improvement”.

Alfred argues that one of the most pressing problems is the modernisation of the Port of Cork, relative to the size of the city and it potentialities and position; “It must be one of the worst in the work as regards machinery and the scientific handling of goods, not to mention any effort to decasualise and regulate dock labour. I hope shortly, at the request of several representatives of merchants and workers, to convene a small committee to reconsider this urgent problem and to take it up at the point where its previous discussion was abandoned”.

Alfred asserts that the advent of political freedom has meant a “relative discrimination against Cork”, owing to the tendency to centralise development in Dublin, the seat of government. He calls for civic spirit and working together; “This must be met, not by public lamentations or pious resolutions of protest, but by the growth of civic spirit and co-operation in the people of Cork City. There has been altogether too little of this in the past. The tendency has been for each to consider his own little corner exclusively”.

Alfred calls for more political stability denoting that the sooner the past is buried, the better and that the thoughts of all parties in the country should face up to the immediate and extent work and challenges of the country. He notes that the businesses of Ireland are living under the constant threat of political upheaval and that trade can be paralysed; “Under these circumstances trade is paralysed, capital flows out of the country, credit is tightened, business enterprise is strangled. The removal of this incubus is all that our trade needs to revive”.

Alfred goes onto note that in his opinion the irony of the extent political situation benefits nobody and slows down both the national and economic progress of the country; “The minority, in pursuit of an ideal which admittedly is not immediately realisable, are merely preventing the country from developing, and are themselves committing a slow process of political suicide. They may have fine social and commercial ideals, but they make them quite futile and impractical by condemning themselves to ineffectiveness and retirement”.

Alfred calls upon Éamon de Valera and the Sinn Féin party to accept their responsibilities, review the Oath of Allegiance, enter Dáil Éireann and advance the country’s progress; “There have thousands of voters who would vote for them as soon as they become practical and face realities. If this were done, the whole country would breathe a sigh of relief, and stability and confidence would increase at once”.

Commenting on abstention in his final thoughts during the his interview, Alfred argues that the Sinn Féin policy of abstention was helping nobody or brought advocates any nearer to effective political power. He notes; “It merely gives them sufficient strength to oppose and thwart the development of the country. They would have far more influence and power, if keeping their organisation intact, they ceased to put forward candidates who intend to do nothing, and instead proclaimed their intention for the present of backing the most national of the candidates in each constituency”.

Caption:

1306a. Professor Alfred O’Rahilly, c.1944 as President of University College Cork, now on display in the Aula Maxima in University College Cork

June 2025 Historical Walking Tours with Kieran (All free, two hours, no booking required). 

Friday evening, 30 May, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.

Monday evening, 2 June, Shandon Quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp. Cork Volunteer Centre, 6.30pm.

Wednesday evening, 4 June, The Marina, meet at western end adjacent Shandon Boat Club, The Marina, 6.30pm.

Thursday evening, 5 June, Douglas and its History, meet in the carpark of Douglas Community Centre, no parking in the centre, 6.30pm. 

Saturday afternoon, 21 June, Ballinlough – Antiquities, Knights, Quarries and Suburban Growth; meet inside Ballintemple Graveyard, Temple Hill, opp O’Connor’s Funeral Home, 1pm.

Sunday afternoon, 22 June, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; meet at the square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 1pm.

Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has announced his free historical walking tours for June, which will have a focus on the city’s suburban development and also on the city’s nineteenth century social history. He will conduct walks across Shandon, The Marina, Douglas, Ballinlough and Blackpool.

Cllr McCarthy noted: “The June tours are all about showcasing Cork City and its suburbs’ unique character, plan, topography, and built fabric. It is also a city that is unique among other cities, it is the only one which has experienced all phases of Irish urban development, from circa 600AD to the present day. So, there are so many histories to view in just a cross section of a section of the city suburbs.

All tours attract large groups of people and offer interesting lens to view the realities of living in a port city, beset by large scale poverty, whereby everyone did not make money and lived in a sense on the edge of making ends meet”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.

Tour Schedule:

Monday evening, 2 June, Shandon Quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp. Cork Volunteer Centre, 6.30pm.

Wednesday evening, 4 June, The Marina, meet at western end adjacent Shandon Boat Club, The Marina, 6.30pm.

Thursday evening, 5 June, Douglas and its History, meet in the carpark of Douglas Community Centre, no parking in the centre, 6.30pm. 

Saturday afternoon, 21 June, Ballinlough: Antiquities, Knights, Quarries and Suburban Growth; meet inside Ballintemple Graveyard, Temple Hill, opp O’Connor’s Funeral Home, 1pm.

Sunday afternoon, 22 June, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; meet at the square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 1pm.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 22 May 2025

History Events at European Maritime Days to Play

European Maritime Days to Play is a free public event on Friday 23 May and Saturday 24 May to celebrate Cork City Council and the Government of Ireland hosting the prestigious conference, European Maritime Day (EMD) from 21-23 May.

  As part of the European Maritime Days to Play there will be an exhibition on the history of Irish Lighthouses from 1786 and a series of history talks. The Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL) will host a display of their equipment and artifacts which will include static lighthouse equipment, a history of the Irish Lights from 1786, a small wreck marking buoy, static model of vessel maps and helicopter operations equipment.

            The public will also be able to board the ILV (Irish Lights Vessel) Granuaile which serves CIL “aids to navigation management and maintenance” programme.

History wise, in 1894 Westminster’s Merchant Shipping Act 1894 consolidated the statutory powers of the Commissioners of Irish Lights as one of the three general lighthouse authorities in Ireland and Great Britain.

Today the Commissioners of Irish Lights operate and preserve the majority of the aids to navigation around the Irish coastline. This comprises 64 lighthouses, 20 beacons and over 100 buoys. It also operates more than 100 automatic identification system transmitters, and 23 radar beacons.

There are two notable historical light aids connected to the Commissioners in Cork Harbour – Roches Point Lighthouse and Daunt Rock Light Ship.

In relation to Roches Point lighthouse a letter dated 28 August 1813 from Vice-Admiral Thornborough of Trent, Cork Harbour, was read to the ballast board on 2 September 1813. In this letter he pointed out the danger in which vessels were put when frequenting Cork Harbour for want of a lighthouse at the entrance. A small lighthouse was working by June 1817 but its tower was not conducive to a major harbour of refuge and port, and in 1835 it was replaced by the present larger tower.

The year 1864 coincided with further additions to the lighthouse. In September 1864 it was decided by the ballast office in Dublin that the lantern at Roche’s Point lighthouse be changed to a red revolving light, showing its ‘greatest brilliancy once in every minute’. It came into effect on 1 December 1864. On the evening of 1 October 1864, a fixed white light was exhibited from the base of the lighthouse (a second light to the red one).

On 1 September 1876 two further improvements were made. The red revolving light in the lantern of Roche’s Point lighthouse was changed to an intermittent white light, showing bright for 16 seconds, and suddenly eclipsed for 5 seconds. This gave a brighter and more easily distinguishable light. The other improvement was the substitution of a larger fog bell hung from a belfry and sounded twice in a minute, for that which had hitherto hung at the basement of the lighthouse and was sounded eight times per minute.

By the early twentieth century, Roche’s Point had a fixed light 60ft above high water with a visibility of 13 miles. It also has a recurring light, 98ft above high water, which can be seen 15 miles away in clear weather.

By July 1970, Roche’s Point lighthouse was all electric, with a mandley generator to take over in case of an electricity supply board (ESB) power failure. Formerly, the light functioned by use of vaporised oil through a special-type regenerative burner. the power of the light was also increased to being white 46,000 candelas and red 9,000 candelas.

By 30 March 1995, the presence of somebody physically watching out for mariners disappeared forever, at 11am when the three lighthouse keepers left the facility for good. The workings of the equipment became automated and were to be monitored from a lighthouse depot in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.

Daunt’s Rock is between 4 and 5 miles from Roche’s Point and was named after a Captain daunt whose British man-of-war ship hit the rocks and sank in the earlier part of the nineteenth century. Up to 1865, it was beyond the limit assigned to the Harbour of Cork by the British navy. It was not marked on the Admiralty Chart of Cork Harbour. In April 1864, following the smashing of the ship City of Cork upon the rock, the Board of Trade strongly urged the rock be removed as soon as possible. They proposed, until its removal was implemented, to protect it by a light-ship. engineer Sir John Benson was requested to make an accurate survey of the rock.

By June 1865, a bell boat beacon was placed to mark the position of Daunt’s Rock. It was shaped like a boat and was surmounted by a triangular superstructure of angle iron and lattice work, which was coloured black, with the words ‘Daunt’s Rock’ marked in white letters on it. The ball on the top of superstructure was 24ft above the sea, and the beacon was moored within 120 fathoms SSW of the rock and in 12 fathoms at low water spring tides. In September 1874, the British Royal engineers received instructions from the war office to immediately commence experiments with a view to blowing up Daunt’s Rock, although this did not take place. In late October 1896, in a gale, the lightship foundered on jagged rocks to the east of the ship’s position. It was replaced.

Fast forward to early March 1956, the Daunt’s Rock ship Gannet replaced the ship Albatross. the Gannet was the first of a new type of all-electric lightship, which had served for about a year on the kish station, near Dublin. In June 1974, the Irish lights commissioners announced that they intended to withdraw the Daunt’s Rock light vessel outside Cork Harbour and replace it with a high focal plane flashing buoy painted black and white. when the lightvessel was taken away in August 1974, radio beacons were established on the old Head of Kinsale and at Ballycotton. The withdrawal followed the general pattern of Irish lights policy. In the 1970s, four lightships on the east coast of Ireland were replaced by flashing buoys.

Full details of all events on for ‘European Maritime Days to Play’ are on www.corkcity.ie/en/european-maritime-days-to-play/

Caption:

1305a. Roches Point Lighthouse, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Next May Walking Tours with Kieran (All free, two hours, no booking required). 

Saturday afternoon, 24 May, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, Historical walking tour of Blackrock Village, from Blackrock Castle to nineteenth century houses and fishing; meet in adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle, 2pm.

Sunday evening,25 May, The Lough and its Curiosities, historical walking tour; meet at green area at northern area of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.30pm.

Friday evening, 30 May, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.