Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 30 June 2022

Launch of Shandon Heritage Audio Trail

A self-guided audio tour of the Shandon historic quarter has been launched by Shandon Area Renewal Association (SARA) SARA is an advocacy group representing the residents and businesses in the Shandon Area. Their Tidy Towns committee does Trojan work keeping the area not only tidy but welcoming to all who live in and visit the area.

The new audio tour takes approximately an hour. Through it you will learn about the history and the life of the area and see where the many historical characters, born and reared in the area, lived. You will also hear the voices of locals who speak about the area’s history and their relationship to it. The tour is comprised of twenty three audio tracks, with associated waypoints. Each track is specific to each waypoint. Log onto walkingshandon.ie to access the tour. The project is supported By Cork City Council and Cathedral Credit Union.

One could do the tour from your sofa but the Shandon area makes for a great area for walking and exploring. The starting point is at the Cornmarket Street side of the Shandon Footbridge. Then one climbs the hill to one of the first stops – Maldron Hotel, formerly the North Infirmary.

            There are conflicting historical reports of the infirmary’s origins sometime between 1720 and 1744. Cork historians have argued that that the first infirmary was constructed in 1720 and then a rebooting of sorts of the infirmary in 1744. The latter reboot was supported by a musical society who appropriated their surplus funds for its support.By the 1840s the original infirmary had been considerably enlarged. In 1842, there were admitted 558 patients, and 17,630 externs. It was attended by two physicians and two surgeons.  From 1867 onwards the Daughters of Charity cared for thousands and thousands of patients.

The infirmary’s history is peppered with tales of hardship and examples of perseverance to maintain a place of care for the sick in the impoverished northside of Cork during the 1700s and 1800s. The battles to fend off threats of closure were faced, and won. Crises were overcome because the management committees could depend on voluntary funding. Indeed, the hospital flourished and expanded, thanks to the pennies of the people of Cork. However, in 1987 due to National Health Cuts the hospital closed resulting in 205 redundancies. Despite vocal and physical protests from far and wide, there was to be no last minute reprieve. The doors were finally closed on 27 November 1987. Ten years later the building’s next host was the Shandon Court Hotel (now the Maldron Hotel).

Close by is the next stop on the audio trail, which is the Mother Jones plaque. The Cork Mother Jones Commemorative committee was established in 2012 to mark the 175^th anniversary of the birth of Mary Harris / Mother Jones in Cork. After a highly successful festival marking that anniversary it was decided to make the festival an annual event marking the life and legacy of Mother Jones. The Commemorative Committee, in conjunction with Cork City Council also commissioned Cork Sculptor Mike Wilkins to create a limestone plaque to honour Mother Jones in the Shandon area of the city, near her birthplace.  This plaque was erected near the famous Cork Butter Market and was unveiled on 1 August 2012.

            Although famous in other parts of the world, especially in the United States of America where she was once labelled “the most dangerous woman in America”, Cork born Mary Jones (née Harris) – or Mother Jones as she is perhaps more widely known – was virtually unknown and not recognised yet in her native city.  The festivals and activities of the commemoration committee have changed that and now the name of Mother Jones is better known in Cork and beyond.

Mary’s parents were Ellen Cotter, a native of Inchigeela and Richard Harris from Cork city. Few details of her early life in Cork have been uncovered to date, though it is thought by some that she was born on Blarney Street and may have attended the North Presentation Schools nearby.  She and her family emigrated to Canada soon after the Famine, probably in the early 1850s. Later in the United States, after tragic deaths of her husband George Jones and their four children, she became involved in the struggle for basic rights for workers and children’s rights, leading from the front, often in a militant fashion.

Mary is best known for her fiery speeches against the exploitation of miners; she was utterly fearless, travelling all over America to defend workers and their families.  Mother Jones was one of the best and most active union organizers ever seen in America. She became a legend among the coalminers of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Nearby to the plaque to Mary Jones plaque is the historic façade of the Cork Butter Market. By the mid 1800s, the Cork butter market had enlarged to such an extent that there was a large need for expansion of the premises. In 1849, an elaborate roman temple style portico, designed by Sir John Benson, was added to the front of the butter market. In the late 1800s, there was a distinct decline in the economic fortunes of the city. The profits of the export provision trade of agricultural products such as butter and beef declined.

In 1858, 428,000 firkins of butter were being exported per annum and by 1891, this was reduced to 170,000 firkins. Competitive European prices out-competed the prices set by the butter market at Cork. Eventually, the Cork butter Market closed in 1924.  In recent decades, a butter museum, which is well worth visiting has opened up next to the craft centre in the Tony O’Reilly Centre. The old Butter Exchange is currently the subject of a planning application proposal for its interior conversion into an innovation/ start up hub.

To celebrate and mark the stories above and the multitude of other stories including the 300^th anniversary of St Anne’s Church Shandon, and the launch of the self-guided walking tour, one of my walking tours for July takes on the local history of Shandon. See all the information on my three tours for July below.

Kieran’s July Tours:

Saturday 2 July 2022, Shandon Historical Walking Tour; explore Cork’s most historic quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp Cork Volunteer Centre, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).  

Friday evening, 8 July 2022, The Lough and its Curiosities; historical walking tour; meet at green area at northern green of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.45pm (free, duration: two hours)

Saturday 16 July 2022, 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).

Caption:

1157a. St Anne’s Church Shandon with members of the Shandon Area Renewal Association 14 June 2022 (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 23 June 2022

Journeys to a Free State: General Election Fall Out

On Friday 16 June 1922, the 1922 Irish general election took place. The result of the election in Cork City was announced shortly before midnight on Saturday 17 June 1922. Some thousands of people waited to the hear the end result outside Cork City Courthouse. The first step was reached at 7.30pm, when businessman Mr Robert Day, having secured 6,836 votes, the quota being 6,070, was declared elected. At intervals afterwards Alderman De Róiste and Alderman JJ Walsh, having received the quota, were also safe.

Later Mary MacSwiney TD, though four short of the quota, secured the fourth place. The defeated candidates, next in order, were – Alderman Beamish, Mr Frank Daly, and the shock defeat of Lord Mayor of Cork, TD and Cllr Donal Óg O’Callaghan.

Poll topper Robert Day said that he was in the happy position of having to propose a vote of thanks to the Returning Officer and also to his staff. Mary MacSwiney said on behalf of the Republican candidates she wished to express her sincere thanks for the way the election had been carried out. At this stage cheers were raised for Mary by members outside the door of the Court house and another group called for cheers for ”the senior member for Cork” i.e Donal Óg O’Callaghan  

In the days that followed, the 128 seats up for grabs in Dáil Éireann were filled. Out of a valid poll of 621,587 votes, the pro-Treaty faction of Sinn Féin won 239,195 votes and the anti-Treaty faction won 135,310 votes. The other parties and independents all supported the Treaty and secured a further 247,080 votes. The vote was seen as considerable in many ways but in essence the pro-Treaty parties had secured support from over 75% of the electorate.

On 21 June 1922 Éamon de Valera gave a formal statement on the election to the press such as the Cork Examiner: “These results seem indeed a triumph for the Imperial methods of pacification, outrage and murder and massacre, and then a threat with a concession – the policy of the kick and caress, with a kick in reserve. By the threat of immediate renewal of an infamous war our people harassed and weary, and fearful of chaos, have in a majority voted as England wanted, but their hearts and their aspirations are unchanged, and Ireland unfree will never be at rest or genuinely reconciled with England. England’s gain is for the moment only, and England’s difficulty will still be prayed for as Ireland’s opportunity”.

De Valera further articulated about patriotism and dying for Ireland; “The men and women who have been rejected by the electorate have gone down with their flag flying, untouched by prospect of place or power, true to their principles, true to every pledge and promise they gave, true to the dead who died for Ireland—with those hallowed names, theirs will forever be coupled in honourable mention, in one of the most glorious chapters in their nation’s story”.

As for the published Dáil Éireann Constitution, he said, it was still only a draft, and he felt confident Dáil would not pass it as it good. He claimed that as it stood it would exclude from the public services, and practically disfranchise every honest Republican. He noted: “It isa test code as comprehensive against Republicans as the last acts of the Clarendon-Shaftesbury code against Catholics and dissenters in the reign of Charles II. It is as Burke described the Irish Penal Code, a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance, a complete system well digested and well composed in all its parts, and particularly fitted to the end in view – the degradation of a people – directed not against the few but against the many. Dáil Éireann will not dishonour itself by passing it”.

Michael Collins remained quiet in the press up to after his election in his West Cork constituency. He did not formally respond to De Valera’s comments. However, the immediate aftermath of the general election result was that despite the pre-election coalition pact, the division between pro-treaty Sinn Fein members and anti-treaty members intensified.

On 28 June 1922, the Irish Civil War began, when the Irish Provisional Government’s troops began a shelling of the Anti-Treaty IRA’s ongoing take over of the Four Courts in Dublin. The Cork Examiner reported that there had been many casualties. Armoured cars, trench mortars, and machine guns were in action. Graphic accounts of the fighting were printed. The Provisional Government forces also seized the Fowler Hall. The building was besieged, and eventually set on fire. Telegraphic communication with Dublin continued, though irregularly, but the telephone service to the capital ceased A striking fact was that with the exception of the districts in which actual hostilities were taking place, business proceeded as usual.

At 6.30pm the Press Association stated that the Provisional Government had imposed a censorship on telegraphic messages. By 8pm breaches had been made in the river frontage of the Courts, and the Chancery Section and Library have been damaged by shells. During the evening there were a series of attacks on Provisional Government troops, who suffered six casualties in Oriel House, the headquarters of the attacked. Sniping operations extended throughout the city.

The shelling continued until 5 July 1922. At that point at least fifteen individuals were killed on the Republican side, with an unknown number wounded and over 450 individuals taken prisoner. On the Provisional Government National Army side, at least 29 were killed and over 150 were wounded.

Caption:

1156a. Fire and explosions – the shelling of Four Courts Dublin, late June 1922 (source: National Library of Ireland, Dublin).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 16 June 2022

Journeys to a Free State: Collins Comes Back to Cork

In last week’s column I wrote about, the general election, which was called on 19 May 1922 by a resolution of Dáil Éireann by an order of the Irish Provisional Government. The treaty had split the Sinn Féin party. To diminish losses due to contesting other parties, Éamon de Valera and Michael Collins created a pact, which was approved on 20 May 1922. They decided that the pro-treaty and anti-treaty factions would fight the general election jointly and shape a coalition government afterwards. On Saturday 10 June 1922, Éamon de Valera arrived in Cork by train at 9.15pm for a series of election rallies across the county.

Four days later on 14 June 1922 Michael Collins arrived to rally support for his election cause. He arrived with Cork TD J J Walsh. The general public had not more than a couple of hours’ notice of the arrival of the distinguished visitors. The train was due to arrive at 9.15 pm, but long before that hour the station premises and yard were crowded with people while immediately outside there was a vast gathering.

Inside the station when the train was signalled there was a tussle for points of vantage. Several men climbed on to the railings of the subway. and perched themselves on windowsill and lamp post. As the train emerged from the tunnel rousing cheers were given and frequently repeated to the cry “Up the Treaty”, “Up Collins”. With difficulty the party made their way to the waiting motor cars.

Preceded by the Lee Pipers Hand and Fair Lane Fife and Drum, the cars slowly emerged to the highway. Along the broad stretch of the Lower Road there was a sea of people, and the “stands” made by the tunnel steps and the terraces of houses along to and including St Patrick’s Church, were densely packed. The streets along the route to Turner’s Hotel on Oliver Plunkett Street were packed with people.

Michael was technically on route to Skibbereen for a rally in his own constituency. However, in response to repeated calls for a speech, he appeared at a window of Turner’s Hotel and was received with rounds of cheers. He thanked the crowd for their welcome. He noted that it was his second time since February 1922 to address the Cork city public. He remarked of his personal perspective; “My position is fairly well known to you, and to everyone in Ireland. You here are facing an election on Friday, and I am not hampered now by being on a platform where there are Coalitionists. I can make a straight appeal to you citizens of Cork to vote for the candidates you think best of – to vote for candidates whom the electors of Cork will think will carry on best in the future the work that the citizens of Cork want carried on”.

Michael continued; “When I spoke in Dublin, I put it that the country was facing a very serious situation, and if that situation was to be met, as it should be met, the country must have the representatives that it needs. He concluded by noting to the public: “You understand fully what you have to do and I will depend on you to do it”.

There were also repeated demands for JJ Walsh to address the crowds from his window in Turner’s Hotel. Opening his short speech that it would be unfair of him “to his old friends, the citizens of Cork, those of them who marched with him for the last 10 or 12 years in an Irish Ireland movement”, if he failed on that occasion to thank them for their loyalty and their goodwill through trying times.

JJ Walsh responded to the cheers that Michael got by observing; “It was a fitting answer and offset to the unfortunate circumstances, which occurred in this neighbourhood a few months ago [during the War of Independence], and demonstrated fully the fact that the people of Cork correctly interpreted the Gaelic spirit which operated in and animated Michael Collins and men of his type in the immediate and distant past on behalf of the people”.

JJ Walsh also articulated that he was not going to say anything in connection with the pending election. That was a matter for the people in their discretion in casting their votes. He remarked; “It was simply a case of voting in whatever direction they thought best for the Irish nation. In that spirit and with that intention alone I voted for the Treaty six months ago. The discretion and intelligence necessary to direct that vote on my part are equally available with you, and it is entirely a matter for yourselves to do what you think is right in the circumstances.

 Concluding, JJ Walsh expressed the hope that Michael Collins and those associated with him – those who were returned on Friday and who the nation would return in its wise discretion would save this poor nation and bring it to the goal of destiny which you and I, and every sincere Irish man and woman has honed for in the past”. Once JJ ended his few words, the crowds dispersed shortly after from Oliver Plunkett Street.

Kieran’s June Tours:

Saturday 18 June 2022, The Workhouse and St Finbarr’s Hospital; meet at entrance to St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 2pm (free, 2 hours). 

Caption:

1155a. Michael Collins in London, July 1921, by John Lavery (source: The Hugh Lane Gallery).