To ask the CE for an update on the Bishop Lucey Park revamp? (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
Motions:
That at Broadale Estate, bollards or poles along the footpath will be placed at the entrance from Maryborough Hill to stop vehicles using the footpath as a parking area, and to stop them blocking traffic attempting to enter the estate, that m pedestrian detectable surfaces be placed at the crossings, and that white lines be placed on the roads intersecting the main road through the estate (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
That the info on the old Cork City Walks signs be incorporated into the Cork City Walks section of the Council’s website (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
That the City Council liase with the owners of St Vincent’s Church in order to come up with a conservation strategy and ideas on the future use of the interior of the historic church (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
That this Council writes to the Minster for Justice and express disappointment that at the 6 June 2025 graduation from the Garda College in Templemore only three garda graduates — known as “probationers” — were assigned to Cork city, while two other gardai were transferred to the division. However, the Garda association has noted that in the Cork city division three frontline gardaí retired and two received promotions, ultimately cancelling out the five new arrivals (Kieran McCarthy).
1312a. Picture of Map of Ireland constructed in wood with bulbs to light up, which highlighted heritage sites across Ireland, 1945 (picture: Cork Public Museum Souvenir Booklet, 1945).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 10 July 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – A Guide to Cork Public Museum, 1945
The opening of the Cork Public Museum in April 1945 gave an important opportunity to showcase many archaeological and local history objects that had not an appropriate space to showcase them before. The souvenir booklet, published in 1945, makes for interesting reading as it not only contained a guide to artefacts on display in the re-opened museum, but also their local historical context. The layout of rooms in 1945 also remained the same for many decades before the construction of the Museum extension in 2005. Indeed some of the objects outlined below can still be viewed in the museum today.
The 1945 souvenir booklet noted that on the left as you entered the entrance vestibule of the museum, two relics of Cork of 200 years ago stood against the wall. The first was an inscribed stone, which was all that remained of the old North Shambles, or slaughter house. It bore the legend: “This Shambles was erected at the expense of Corporation Corke Anno DNI 1737. Thomas Farren Esqr Mayr. Dan Crone & Richd. Bradshaw Esgrs Sheriffs”.
On the right of the Shambles tablet was a window grille from the old North Gate Debtors’ Prison. The souvenir booklet highlights that it was found embedded high up in the back wall of No. 1 North Main Street when some reconstruction work was being done there in 1940. The North Gate Debtors Prison was built in 1715 during the Mayoralty of Phillip French. It replaced a larger gaol on the same site which had been a State prison. The grille weighed nearly 100 lbs and its bars were 1½ inches thick.
The souvenir booklet continues to outline that on a screen standing against the opposite wall was a series of illustrated newspaper cuttings of about one hundred years previous. These gave some interesting items of information relating to occurrences in Cork at that time.
On the left as you entered the hall from the vestibule was an exact replica of the well-known Cross of Cong. The replica belonged to the Honan Chapel, University College. It had been lent by kind permission of the President of the Honan Hostel Rev. J P Bastible, Dean of Residence and of Dr D McCarthy, Warden of the Hostel.
The key exhibition rooms were upstairs and the visitor was led in that direction. At the wall on the left as you approached the stairs was a geological exhibit, which showed something of the mineral resources of County Cork. At the opposite wall were a number of interesting relics of the Cork Butter Market. These included the scales on which were weighed the firkins that were sent to distant parts of the world.
At the back of the Hall facing the stairs were two inscribed stones which formed part of the plinth of the equestrian statue of George II (the George on horseback from which the Grand Parade gets its Irish name Sráid an Chapaill Bhuí), which formerly stood at the South Mall end of Grand Parade.
On the upstairs landing wall was a special permanent feature, which was designed to occupy the available space here. It took the form of a map of Ireland constructed in wood on a scale of one inch to two miles with buttons to push to light up on it highlighting heritage sites across Ireland. This was an innovative installation and one which many Cork children (including myself in time) had fun pressing buttons on for decades.
The souvenir booklet highlights what the map was trying to showcase; “Working in this medium, it is impossible to show every minor coastal indentation, and for this reason the outline has been slightly simplified. Affixed to its background which represents the sea, the land surface stands a quarter of an inch in relief. The whole feature measures overall 10’x 12’ and fills the large wall space on the stairway half-landing”.
As well as the principal rivers and lakes, the map showed 150 sites of historic and general interest, marked by small electric bulbs. The places selected for inclusion were divided into the following 12 groups, each group having a different colour of a bulb – ancient royal seats (light red), places connected with St Patrick (pink cross), Early Christian monasteries (dark red), cities founded by the Danes (light green), medieval monasteries (purple), medieval cathedrals (yellow), famous battles (orange), historic harbours (white), cities famous in history (yellow cross), famous Irish castles (dark green), boundary of the English Pale (blue), and birthplaces of famous people (yellow triangle).
The lights were controlled from a desk placed at the stair-head, and from this position the map could best be seen. Twelve switches, each with its group name below it, operated the bulbs and all twelve could be turned on together. The placenames on the map were given in Irish. Beside the switches, a card-index was provided, which gave descriptions of every site as well as a bibliography for those who may want to do further reading.
The souvenir booklet highlights that it was intended to add a further selection of sites to the map at a later date but because of the ongoing war it was difficult to attain the electrical equipment needed; “This would have been done in the first instance, but because of the difficulties of the present time [war], certain essential electrical equipment could not be obtained and the number of bulbs had therefore to be limited to the present figure. They are for the most part placed in the southern half of the country, since that area is of more interest to us; but when materials again become available, other areas will be more fully treated”.
On the walls around the landing, a selection of drawings, maps and photographs illustrated the places of greatest interest.
The souvenir booklet also described that the other exhibit, which found a place on the centre of the floor landing, was a large relief map of Cork city. This model, made from the Ordnance Survey 25% scale maps, was built by Mr Marshall Hutson, artist, for the Cork Agricultural and Industrial Fair of 1932. It was later acquired by University College. Where possible, it was overhauled and brought up to date and included some of the newly built suburbs. The line of the old Town Wall had also been added so as to show at a glance how the city had grown from its early small beginning.
To be continued…
Kieran’s historical walking tours for July 2025 (all free, 2 hours, no booking required)
Sunday 13 July 2025, Views from a Park – The Black Ash and Tramore Valley Park historical walking tour; meet at Half Moon Lane gate, 1pm.
Wednesday 16 July 2025, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.
Thursday 17 July 2025, Sunday’s Well historical walking tour; discover the original well and the eighteenth century origins of the suburb, meet at St Vincent’s Bridge, North Mall end, 6.30pm.
Caption:
1312a. Picture of Map of Ireland constructed in wood with bulbs to light up, which highlighted heritage sites across Ireland, 1945 (picture: Cork Public Museum Souvenir Booklet, 1945).
1311a. Inside cover page of the souvenir guide to the Cork Public Museum, 1945 (source: Cork Public Museum).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 3 July 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – A Public Museum Opens, 1945
Continuing from last week, Cork Public Museum opened on 4 April 1945. On the day of the formal opening, the museum hosted guests of honour, which included Minister for Posts & Telegraphs, P J Little and UCC president, Alfred O’Rahilly. The No. 2 Army band provided entertainment and only invited guests were allowed into the museum at the opening ceremony.
In declaring the museum open, the Minister referred to co-operation between the university, the public bodies of Cork City and County, and individual patrons in establishing the Museum. He noted the co-operation as very inspiring and called for keeping the focus on the city’s local history; “It should become more and more a source of legitimate pride to all such patrons, that rapid progress should be made in revealing all these relics of their past to the people and to the world. In these activities too, they should aim rather at decentralisation, so that that the very real interest of local history should add as much colour as possible to the exhibits and records”.
In the days that followed the opening there were write-ups praising the museum committee and the new museum. On 6 April 1945, an editorial in the Cork Examiner articulated the importance of understanding Cork’s history as a layered suite of histories and memories; “The re-opening of the Cork Museum in Fitzgerald Park after a lapse of more than twenty years should be regarded as a landmark in the history of the municipality and its surroundings by all who believe in the preservation of a memory of the past coupled with a realisation of the present. Much can be gained by the study of the past if people are prepared to approach it is the proper spirit, without violent biases one way or the other Cork, like every city, does not owe its present status and condition to any one generation”.
Michael J (MJ) O’Kelly (1915-1982), was appointed curator of the new Cork Public Museum. Abbeyfeale-born Michael Joseph or also known as Brian originally trained as an architect in UCC before he was inspired by his work as a surveyor under Professor of Archaeology at UCC, Seán P Ó Riordáin at his dig site at Garranes Ringfort. Michael changed career and pursued a BA and MA in archaeology and on his MA graduation was appointed the museum curator post.
In the souvenir booklet published in 1945 to mark the opening, M J O’Kelly wrote a detailed description of the building. He described that the entire upper floor, staircase, hall and vestibule were repaired and renovated in pursuance of a scheme drawn up by the City Engineer and approved by the Museum Committee. This work, which also included many structural alterations, was paid for out of the first moneys granted for museum purposes by the Corporation of Cork.
In addition, when the management of the Museum was handed over to University College, it was found that further essential work was necessary. This included the installation of heating and lighting systems throughout the building as well as the complete renovation of two ground-floor rooms not envisaged in the original scheme. These rooms were converted into an office and workshop and fitted up accordingly.
In the souvenir booklet, M J O’Kelly outlined that three showcases, as well as a very miscellaneous collection of exhibits, survived from the old museum, and except for these the building was without furniture or fittings of any kind. The provision of an adequate number of showcases was a difficult task to secure in view of the prohibitive cost and unsatisfactory nature of the materials available during the Secon World War. Many of the cases were provided on loan from the museums in UCC. One or two others were purchased, while a bow-fronted case in the Hall was generously presented by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Seán Cronin.
In preparation of the first exhibition, M J O’Kelly describes that the first exhibition was focussed on the history and development of Cork city. An attempt had been made to illustrate the successive periods in the city’s growth and development by a series of exhibits gathered together from many sources. Much of this material had been generously lent by University College, by the Corporation, and by numerous business firms and others. In addition, they received a number of permanent gifts. The names of the large number of donors were published on the souvenir booklet.
In the booklet M J O’Kelly thanks the donors and comments that the museum committee gave itself a short time to assemble its exhibits: “It has been no easy matter, then, in the short time at our disposal to assemble, prepare and label suitably all the material which is now on display, and we are very conscious indeed of the shortcomings from which the exhibition as a whole suffers would ask you to remember that the Museum is a new project as yet very much in its infancy, and that it will be some before it is fully equipped and provided with adequate collection of exhibits. We hope that all those who can do so will come forward and help to build up these collections by lending or present to the Museum any objects of general interest which they have in their possession or under their control”.
M J O’Kelly in his concluding remarks in the souvenir booklet notes that the museum committee’s future aims were about making a case for a really large museum for Cork and the South of Ireland generally with specially trained staff. He noted: “The present building, while been satisfactory for immediate needs, is entirely inadequate for permanent purposes, and if it can be shown, as we hope to do that the project is deserving of wider support, there is no reason why a Cork Museum should not form a part of the post-war scheme for the development of the city. In planning for the future it is our hope that a fully equipped museum will be provided in which every form of art, industry, natural history and science will be adequately catered for by specially trained staffs who will carry out research and field-work; but for the time being we must be content to make the best showing possible within the limits of the money and space at our disposal”.
To be continued…
Cork Public Museum celebrates its 80th anniversary with the exhibition 1945 Uncorked: The Founding of Cork Public Museum. This exhibition opens to the public on 30 May and runs until Spring 2026.
Kieran’s historical walking tours for July 2025 (all free, 2 hours, no booking required)
Sunday 13 July 2025, Views from a Park – The Black Ash and Tramore Valley Park historical walking tour; meet at Half Moon Lane gate, 1pm.
Wednesday 16 July 2025, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.
Thursday 17 July 2025, Sunday’s Well historical walking tour; discover the original well and the eighteenth century origins of the suburb, meet at St Vincent’s Bridge, North Mall end, 6.30pm.
Caption:
1311a. Inside cover page of the souvenir guide to the Cork Public Museum, 1945 (source: Cork Public Museum).
1310a. Cork Public Museum Committee 1945 (source: Cork Public Museum).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 26 June 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – A Museum Committee is Formed
Continuing on from last week’s column, in April 1942, a number of citizens – not drawn from any one section of Cork’s community life – met informally to discuss the feasibility of establishing a permanent museum for the city and county. Meeting with the Lord Mayor and members of Cork Corporation led to a plan for the return of the former museum building in Fitzgerald’s Park to being a public museum.
A souvenir booklet survives in the archives of Cork Public Museum from 1945, the year the Museum was re-opened. It is edited by P J Harnett and he describes in detail the journey in reopening a public museum and the context of the committee being formed. The committee was initiated from a historical exhibition at 97 St Patrick’s Street. The topic focussed on the 1798-1921 period of Irish political history. The exhibition was held from 15 to 29 March 1942 and organised by Coiste na Gaedhilge – a committee from representatives of the several Irish language bodies. The exhibition premises was freely loaned for the occasion by Dr T M McGrath, Manager of the Cork Examiner. Thousands of people of all ages, classes and creeds daily came to the exhibition.
According to the 1945 souvenir booklet, the purpose of the display was to raise awareness within younger generations of “sacrifices made and to show them in some degree the noble purpose of the sacrifice and to rouse them to a realization of the fact that they have a duty towards the men who made that sacrifice”.
The booklet notes that during the fortnight that the exhibition was open the organising committee had appeals from lots of people from all walks of life that something be done towards helping to provide a permanent display to include not only political history but exhibits dealing with the arts and crafts, folklore, industry of the city. Mrs Jane Dowdall was particularly enthusiastic in getting a museum up and running. An t-Athair Tadhg Ó Murchadha, Jane Dowdall and P J Harnett discussed the possibility of obtaining a museum, municipal or otherwise. They decided to invite a cross section of the various interests concerned to attend a meeting to discuss the feasibility of the suggestion.
The 1945 souvenir booklet outlines that a meeting was held at the Imperial Hotel on 1 April 1942, a large number attending. Seán Ó Coindealbháin presided. P J Harnett acted as secretary and explained the aims of the meeting. After a very full discussion, the then Lord Mayor, Councillor John Horgan, proposed that a committee of four, comprising of the Chairman and Secretary of the meeting with Mr Michael V Conlon and Mr Michael Holland, be set up. They were to have “power to co-opt as many further members as would be helpful, to explore ways and means of providing a worthy museum for the citizens”.
The group consisted of men and women with diverse backgrounds and interests. From artists to archaeologists, politicians to clergymen, they were united in their passion for the history of Ireland. Meetings were held weekly in the Presentation College, which was placed at the disposal of the Committee by the Presentation Brothers through the good offices of Rev. Brother Austin.
The 1945 souvenir booklet lists the following individuals were co-opted to the Museum Committee. The interests of some individuals can be reconstructed: An t-Athair T Ó Murchadha, Rev. Brother Austin, Mrs Jane Dowdall, Mrs H Ryan, Miss Sheila Murphy, Miss Brigid G MacCarthy, Professor Ethna Byrne-Costigan (UCC, Romance Languages), Professor John Busteed (economics, Dean of Faculty of Commerce), Professor Michael A MacConaill (UCC, Anatomy), Professor Seán P Ó Riordáin (UCC, Archaeology), Professor Louis P Renouf (UCC, Zoology) & Messrs Seamus Murphy (sculptor), P J Hartnett, K Harty, S Hendrick, A O’Keeffe, Michael Holland, D W O’Brien, E R Rohu, Dr D P Fitzgerald, R Breathnach, Micheál Ó Cuill, Alderman Richard S Anthony and D J Ryan. Mr Michael V Conlon was elected Chairman.
At a time of limited opportunities for women, five played a prominent role on the museum committee. The driving force behind it was Jane Dowdall, who later became the first woman elected as Lord Mayor of Cork. Another member, Sheila Murphy, later became the first woman to be president of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society.
The 1945 souvenir booklet highlights that the first problem, which confronted the new Committee, was the provision of a suitable building to house the exhibits. It was ultimately decided to request Philip Monahan, the City Manager, to put the old museum building in Fitzgerald’s Park into a proper state of repair with a view to having it fitted up as a museum. After a certain amount of negotiation, in which Lord Mayor Alderman Richard Anthony took a leading part, the Corporation passed a sum of money to be expended on repairing and altering the building in accordance with plans, which were drawn up by the City Engineer after consultation with representatives of the Museum Committee.
During this time also, the other representatives of the Committee set about collecting money to help defray the capital expenditure necessary for equipment. In all they got promises of almost £1,000. Subsequently Cork Corporation, Cork County Council and University College Cork were appealed to for financial aid. The Corporation levied a rate of one penny in the pound, the County Council gave an annual grant in aid of £100, and University College offered to pay a curator’s salary of £350 per annum.
The 1945 souvenir booklet further describes that the next difficulty was the provision of a statutory body with powers to control the working of a museum. It was known that the Corporation annually funded University Extension Lectures at University College. The grant scheme was operated by a body composed of representatives of the Governing Body of the College and of the Corporation.
Subsequently, the Governing Body of the College was asked to take over the management of the proposed museum and to accept the co-operation of the existing Committee in an executive or advisory capacity.
The Governing Body of the College acceded to the Committee’s request and gave the President of the College full power to take over the museum house in Fitzgerald’s Park from the Corporation, to lend necessary equipment and exhibits from the College, and to provide for the opening of the museum to the public.
After three years diligent voluntary work by the Committee with support from UCC and Cork Corporation, the museum re-opened in Fitzgerald Park in 1945.
To be continued…
Cork Public Museum celebrates its 80th anniversary with the exhibition 1945 Uncorked: The Founding of Cork Public Museum. This exhibition opens to the public on 30 May and runs until Spring 2026.
Kieran’s historical walking tours for July 2025 (all free, 2 hours, no booking required)
Sunday 13 July 2025, Views from a Park – The Black Ash and Tramore Valley Park historical walking tour; meet at Half Moon Lane gate, 1pm.
Wednesday 16 July 2025, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.
Thursday 17 July 2025, Sunday’s Well historical walking tour; discover the original well and the eighteenth century origins of the suburb, meet at St Vincent’s Bridge, North Mall end, 6.30pm.
Caption:
1310a. Cork Public Museum Committee 1945 (source: Cork Public Museum).
Cllr Kieran McCarthy continues his series of summer historical walking tours for July with tours of Tramore Valley Park, City Centre and Sunday’s Well. He will conduct a walk across the area of Tramore Valley Park, formerly the Black Ash, on Saturday afternoon, 13 July. The meeting point is the Halfmoon Lane gate, 1pm. The tour is free with a duration of 90 minutes. There is no booking required.
The Tramore Valley Park tour will explore the development of the area from being a swamp through to being a landfill and then onto being an artificial mound to enable the development of a park. Cllr McCarthy noted:
“Cork’s Tramore Valley Park is an exciting heritage site. What is great is the rich historical archive of documents and maps, which reveal not only historical development of the immediate area, but also the surrounds of the southern suburbs.
“Historically William Petty’s 1655 map of the city and its environs marks the site of Tramore Valley Park as Ballyphehane townland, a reference to the original local environment and the backing up of the Trabeg and Tramore tributary rivers as they enter the Douglas River channel. We are lucky that there are also really interesting perspectives on the area recorded through the ages, which have been great to research. This is a site where the city’s environment has also been a regular topic of debate across local newspapers and in the city’s council political chamber”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.
Kieran’s historical walking tours for July 2025 (all free, 2 hours, no booking required)
-Sunday 13 July 2025, Views from a Park – The Black Ash and Tramore Valley Park historical walking tour; meet at Half Moon Lane gate, 1pm.
-Wednesday 16 July 2025, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.
-Thursday 17 July 2025, Sunday’s Well historical walking tour; discover the original well and the eighteenth century origins of the suburb, meet at St Vincent’s Bridge, North Mall end, 6.30pm.
1309a. Museum Studies students and staff from University College Cork opening their 1945 Uncorked exhibition. Cllr Kieran McCarthy deputised for the Lord Mayor (picture: Cork Public Museum).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 19 June 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – The Quest for a Municipal Museum
Continuing on from last week’s article on the early origins of Cork Public Museum, an editorial in the Cork Examiner in the autumn of 1923 noted that Cork Corporation had been discussing the question of acquiring more office accommodation for their staff. What was available in the City Courthouse was over crowded. In 1923 the former City Hall was still a ruin after the Burning of Cork and the Courthouse became the temporary principal municipal offices.
At a committee meeting of the Council on 30 October 1923 a report was submitted with regard to the several premises offered in response to an advertisement issued seeking premises. Prices and accommodation differed considerably. In particular one building, the Independent Chapel in Oliver Plunket Street, which was discontinued as a place of worship, was offered on specified terms. However, in early December 1923, the Fitzgerald’s Park Municipal Museum building was chosen for retrofitting as temporary office accommodation.
However, public pressure remained from those involved in the heritage sector that the City of Cork should have a public museum. The sentiment was ever present in early 1926 when archaeological discoveries in Aghabullogue in mid County Cork caused several letters to be penned the editor of the Cork Examiner articulating upset that Cork’s heritage had no where to be placed on display. University College Cork was called upon to intercede to provide a space for a museum. Cork City Gaol in Shanakiel, which has been closed by the Free State was also noted as a space for a museum by some interested parties.
Businesses in the city such as Rohu and Sons on the Grand Parade, Cork noted in their letter to the editor; “We have read with interest the correspondence on the above subject [Museum]; also your excellent article in this day’s Examiner, and can fully endorse all that has been said. It is nothing short of a crying shame that a city the size and importance of Cork has, never possessed a Museum of some kind or another to which the citizens, particularly the younger generation, should have access”.
Fast forward to October 1930 and an editorial in the Cork Examiner highlighted the development of the Cork Industrial and Agricultural Fair on the Straight Road and the building of the new City Library on the Grand Parade and linked such events to the lost opportunity to create momentum to call for the construction of a physical museum building:
“It is a matter for regret that the Corporation, or its subsidiary body, the Library Committee, did not endeavour to make provision for a museum when the site of the new Library was acquired and when the plans for the new building were being drafted. For educative purposes a moderately well-stocked museum can just be as useful as a library. It can also be made a centre for the demonstration of civic pride. Nowhere in Cork can the ordinary resident see much that enlightens him as to the history of the municipality in which, as a member of it, he is expected to take pride. There is no place to which he can take a foreign visitor and show him any records of old Cork, though Cork folk are supposed to take great pride in the fact that their city began eleven or twelve centuries ago. If any antiquity be dug up when streets are being re-made, there is the probability that it will find its way to Dublin, or, at any rate, become inaccessible to masses of the citizens. old Cork, though Cork folk are supposed to take great pride in the fact that their city began eleven or twelve centuries ago. If any antiquity be dug up when streets are being re-made, there is the probability that it will find its way to Dublin, or, at any rate, become inaccessible to masses of the citizens”.
In mid-March 1935 a letter from a Cork citizen Mr G Barrett, Cook Street, suggested that the former museum premises in Fitzgerald’s Park, when vacated by the Corporation officials for their new quarters in the City Hall, should be given over to the purposes of a city museum. The writer suggested that there were numerous items connected with former Lord Mayors, etc., that could be housed in such a museum. The suggestion did not gather momentum.
In late March 1939 following the annual meeting of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, and a talk by Commander O’Connell, a well-known archaeologist on the archaeological excavation work that was being pursued in Kerry, Professor Seán Ó Riordáin of UCC’s Archaeology Department offered thanks for the talk. The Cork Examiner outlined that Seán also noted that his Department had a small museum in the College for the purpose of teaching, but he argued that the city deserves a museums and noted “it is a slur on Cork that there is no public museum”. He added that if a museum was founded it would have to be properly financed and properly run. He thought that the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society should endeavour to awaken public opinion on the matter. He noted; “I have looked into the question as regards other countries and I have found that Cork is one of the few cities in Europe that has not got a museum and there are cities with a smaller population in both England and Germany, which have some very fine museums”.
In April 1942, a number of citizens, not drawn from any one section of Cork’s community life, met informally to discuss the feasibility of establishing a permanent museum for the city and county. As a result of the favourable views expressed, the Cork Examiner described that a small committee was appointed to go into detail and to invite the co-operation of all who felt that Cork, like other centres of population, ought to have a museum. A deputation was appointed to visit the Lord Mayor and members of Cork Corporation. They reported back that they were received most sympathetically. The question was then referred to the Council’s General Purposes Committee and a concrete plan for submission to the main Council body was initiated.
To be continued…
Cork Public Museum celebrates its 80th anniversary with the exhibition 1945 Uncorked: The Founding of Cork Public Museum. This exhibition opens to the public on 30 May and runs until Spring 2026.
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:
1309a. Museum Studies students and staff from University College Cork opening their 1945 Uncorked exhibition. Cllr Kieran McCarthy deputised for the Lord Mayor (picture: Cork Public Museum).
1308a. Fitzgerald’s Park Municipal Museum, 1910s (source: Cork Public Museum)
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 17th 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.
To ask the CE for an update on the planning status around the historic Bonded House Warehouses, which are now in a very poor state (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
Motions:
That further slowing down measures be pursued in order to slow down traffic from Ashton School to Crab Lane on Blackrock Road and to investigate the possible introduction of pedestrian crossing at Crab Lane to cross over to the northern footpath of Blackrock Road (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
That the City Council liase with Cork Sports Partnership and roll out the Water Safety flag award in Cork City Schools (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
That a comprehensive river use feasibility study be carried out prior to any further development of the Cork Luas across the river (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
That the former ESB Caroline Street Sub station be once again be investigated as a potential artist hub in the city centre (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
1307a. Former St Luke’s Home, Military Road now The Address Hotel (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
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 50th 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).
1306a. Professor Alfred O’Rahilly, c.1944 as President of University College Cork, now on display in the Aula Maxima in University College Cork
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.
