Tuesday evening, 6 June 2023, Cork and the River Lee, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm, in association with the Cork Harbour Festival (free, 2 hours, no booking required for all tours).
Sunday afternoon, 11 June 2023, Cork South Docklands; Discover the history of the city’s docks, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 2pm, in association with the Cork Harbour Festival (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).
Tuesday evening, 13 June 2023, The Lough and its Curiosities; meet at green area at northern green of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.30pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required)
Sunday afternoon, 18 June 2023, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; meet at square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 2pm, (free, two hours, no booking required).
I hope this finds you well. The public consultation phase two maps on Bus Connects have now been published by the National Transport Authority (NTA).
As part of the phase two plans, a proposal has appeared to turn the interior of the historic 19th century walled garden space adjacent Cherrington, Ballinlough Pitch and Putt Club and Beaumont Park into a car park for the area. A number of residents in the past have expressed the view that such a space would make a fine community garden space, and should be rejuvenated as such. In recent years the project has even been developed to a point of a plan with Cork City Council.
The NTA proposal seeks public input on their idea to overturn the development of the community garden into a car park. It would be crucial that residents, who are in favour of retaining and developing the concept of the community garden, write to the NTA.
Wider info of the phase two maps and consultation can be viewed at www.busconnects/cork.
The full set of maps are available at www.busconnects/cork. Submissions should be made via that website or send a letter to “Bus Connects Cork, NTA, Suite 427, 1 Horgan’s Quay, Waterfront Square, Cork”.
As always, I remain at your disposal for any help on Bus Connects or any other local concerns.
1202a. Former site of Tuckey Street RIC Barracks, now the present day site of the St Vincent de Paul (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 18 May 2023
Recasting Cork: The Future of the Public Library
May 1923 coincided with more of a focus by the Corporation of Cork in their search for a temporary public library for the city. The Cork Examiner’s columnist with the pseudonym Periscope outlines on the 15 May 1923 the search for a temporary library space and newspaper reading room.
The Cork Carnegie Library adjacent Cork City became a casualty of reprisal burnings by Crown forces in the city on the night of 11 December 1920, at the height of the War of Independence. The building and the stock on site – approximately 14,000 books – were engulfed by the fire in the neighbouring building, the City Hall.
Considering the competing urgent demands placed on the local authorities in the wake of this decimation of the city centre, the pursuit to re-establish the library service was due largely to the herculean efforts of the then librarian, James Wilkinson.
In early May 1923 the old Tuckey Street Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) station, owned by the Office of Public Works, was examined and in its first initial inspection was found to be unsuitable because it was a mere burnt out shell and the cost of repair was deemed too high. In addition, it is also recorded that the upper portion of the front wall was leaning inwards. The fire had burnt right out the bearings on this wall, thus leaving the joist holes open, and making some serious pinning and repair works necessary.
On 4 June 1923 a meeting of the Corporation’s Library committee had the attendance of councillors Professor Stockley, Sir John Scott and Mr Mulligan. It was decided to have a premises on Cornmarket Street made into a temporary reading room at once. In conjunction with City Librarian James Wilkinson, the City Engineer Joseph Delany presented plans to those present for a temporary library and reading rooms in the old Tuckey Street RIC Station. After some discussions the report was to be sent to the Corporation meeting to adopt the proposals and to have tenders invited for the necessary works and alterations without delay.
On 10 January 1924, on the examination of the tender of Messrs Coughlan Brothers, builders and contractors, their costs were found favourable and in particular for the creation of an extra upper floor and roof. Nearly two weeks later, the Commissioners of Public Works officially wrote to the Corporation proposing to surrender their interest in the former RIC Barracks. By 11 February 1924, tenders were invited from competent contractors for the making and supplying of furniture and fittings for the temporary public library.
By 8 July 1924, the columnist Periscope wrote a detailed description of the new temporary library and its three floors. It had been formally opened on 10 June 1924. The reading room was on the ground floor and just off the street, as it was by far the most visited room in the building.
A wide, easy staircase gave access to the lending library. Periscope reports of spacious bookcases; “Here the arrangements for prompt service are admirable, and every inch of space has been used to the best advantage. The borrower will have access to the open bookcases and can choose the desired book from any of the shelves”.
A smaller room was devoted to the purposes of a juvenile library with bookcases of a suitable height. Periscope notes that is noteworthy that in the previous Carnegie Library – of the average circulation of 93,000 volumes, 10,000 were issued to children under fourteen years. Periscope asserts his view on a juvenile section: “This excellent idea of a library for the children is certain to have a good effect in getting the youngsters into the right line of reading, a most important point when one remembers and considers the appalling trash children sometimes get hold of haphazard”. On the top floor was the Reference Library, where the visitor could pursue his or her research.
Fine flat-topped tables of pitch-pine and oak were supplied by the Minister Arcade. Reading stands and chairs, and the bookcases for the juvenile department were supplied by Grants. The Reading Room tables and the counters and bookcases for the Lending Library were supplied by Coughlan Brothers.
Periscope also emphasises that everything perished in the library fire in 1920 and over 15,000 books were destroyed from the flames. James Wilkinson issued an appeal for book donations, which yielded an extraordinarily generous response from the national and international community. Since 1921 many donated books had been accumulated. By September 1922 5,400 books were held in storage and by June 1924 there were 10,500 donated books and more purchased from cash donations and public funds. So the temporary Library started with well supplied with books in all departments. Indeed, by September 1924 full borrowing services were resumed.
The accession ledgers in which acquisitions to stock were recorded continue to be housed by the Central Library’s Local Studies Department and make for fascinating insight into the history of reading in Cork city. Some notable donors were Charlotte Bernard Shaw, wife of the playwright George Bernard Shaw; Mrs W B Yeats, wife of the poet, and novelists Edith Somerville, Lennox Robinson, Daniel Corkery and Annie M P Smithson.
A letter written by James Wilkinson in 1923 to the superior of St Brigid’s Convent, Sydney, apologising for the delay in acknowledging receipt of the order’s financial donation, captures the turmoil of this historic period: the delay “was due to the fact that the cheque and list of donors was transmitted by Professor Alfred O’Rahilly at a time when he was an interned prisoner, who sent the cheque on to me, but not the list of names”.
Caption:
1202a. Former site of Tuckey Street RIC Barracks, now the present day site of the St Vincent de Paul (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
Upcoming walking tour with Kieran:
Saturday 20 May 2023, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Tour around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required, finishes on MacCurtain Street).
(Letter being circulated to Ballinlough residents this week)
Dear Resident,
I hope this finds you well. The closing date for receipt of submissions for phase two of the public consultation by the National Transport Authority (NTA) on the Bus Connects Corridors is next Thursday 25 May.
My sincere thanks to all those who have made submissions todate and especially to the wider Douglas Road residents’ group and the various sub groups, including those across Ballinlough, who have liased with the NTA a number of times voicing not only concerns but also viable more sustainable alternatives.
Despite a series of alternatives by local residents being put forward, very little change has been made to the initial emerging proposals from the NTA on the proposed physical changes to the Douglas Road roadscape – which at its heart includes the widening of the road for over 1km – the destruction of a 1km of historic built heritage and visual character via compulsory purchase orders, reconstruction of nineteenth century stone walls, and culling of over km of mature trees and biodiversity.
As this is a general letter to all residents in Ballinlough, some effects on residents are larger than others. However, please note there are also plans to create bus gates, which will limit movement of cars on Douglas Road at peak hours. The latter will have a knock-on effect on school traffic, as it will be rerouted into Ballinlough in the morning and evening times. The current proposals also pitches the removal of on-street car parking along 95 per cent of Douglas Road (west to east).
It is crucial that as a local resident that you become aware of the still evolving proposals and make a submission if you are offering support, critique, and/or other solutions.
The full set of maps are available under the Maryborough Hill to City (bus corridor I) at www.busconnects/cork. Submissions should be made via that website or send a letter to “Bus Connects Cork, NTA, Suite 427, 1 Horgan’s Quay, Waterfront Square, Cork”.
As always I remain at your disposal for any help on Bus Connects or any other local concerns.
1201a. Marina Flour Mills, South Docks, Cork, 1919, from Cork: Its Chamber and Commerce (source: Cork City Library).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 11 May 2023
Recasting Cork: Meetings with the Post-Master General
On 9 May 1923, Postmaster General Mr J J Walsh TD had a busy set of meetings at Turner’s Hotel on Cork’s Oliver Plunkett Street in receiving deputations and their representative of various interests of the city and region. The minutes of the meetings with the various groups in the Cork Examiner reveal insights into challenges of citizens and the commercial community in Cork in moving away from a dependence on UK markets in particular.
First up a deputation from County Cork Unpurchased Tenants’ Association attended. They sought completion of land purchase at the earliest possible moment. They were a branch of several agrarian pressure groups in Ireland in the 1910s and 1920s. Under the Irish Lands Acts, many farmers in preceding decades had purchased the freehold to their farms. The branches of different counties represented the remaining tenant farmers. The deputation also expressed their dissatisfaction with the manner in which public administration was being conducted in the county. J J Walsh assured the deputation that free holds would be dealt with. He was also of the view that many public bodies in the country were not doing their full duty so that considerable sums of the people’s money were being wasted through insufficient control and that there needed to be more value for money.
A deputation from the Cork Butter Market Trustees next waited on J J Walsh and called for a highly competent grader, who could act as superintendent in the Market, and a qualified analyst. Ample room could be created in the market for a high grade national brand. The Trustees present recalled that before 1884 the market paid over £10,000 a week in wages and commanded a higher price than Danish butter. An 1884 Westminster Bill permitted unbranded butter to be shipped from Ireland with the result that certain shippers sprang up all over the country and shipped butter of any sort or kind regardless of reputational damage it did. J J Walsh promised to raise their concerns at central government level.
A deputation from the South of Ireland Cattle Trade Association also attended on J J Walsh. The representatives noted that before Independence, Ireland had practically the monopoly of the external supplies of cattle to the English markets. They now found themselves against very stiff competition from Canada. They called on central government to lower freights particularly on railways. As an example, they quoted that the “carriage of a beast” in 1914 from County Cork to Yorkshire was roughly eight shillings with the cost going up to 33 shillings in early 1923. In 1914 a truck of nine cattle from Tralee to Liverpool via Dublin cost just £4 but that cost had risen to £15. The delegation also drew attention to the fact that post offices ought to be open at 8am in all country towns on the occasion of cattle fairs in order to facilitate traders. J J Walsh agreed with their perspective on the need to decrease costs denoting that; “It is the duty of government to be very wide awake and see that the ground was not cut from under their feet”.
A deputation of flour millers of the County and City of Cork met J J Walsh. Irish millers had been asked by government to consider several proposals. Among them was a proposal to require all imported flour to be placed in bags branded front and back with the name, address, and country of origin of the foreign manufacturer in large block capital letters of a specified minimum size, printed in black ink. England had recently taken a similar step in regard to Irish and other foreign products. The millers supported this proposal. They drew the attention of J J Walsh to the increased import of foreign flour – an increase of over 400,000 tons of flour in the previous twelve months and that every ton of foreign flour was estimated to create a loss of over £4 to the workers of Ireland.
The Cork millers related that the total annual capacity of flour production in England and Wales was 40 million socks per annum, but the consumption did not exceed 30 million sacks. This led to the selling of below cost flour to Irish buyers. The millers also asserted that the milling capacity of Ireland was about seventy per cent of the requirement. J J Walsh articulated that foreign made flour should be plainly and sufficiently branded to enable buyers to see whether the product was Irish or not; “Flour-milling is one of our staple industries, and it is behoved on everybody anxious to maintain such industries to wake up to the grave danger after destruction by carelessness our oversight on the part of the Irish people”.
The commercial community of Cork were the last to meet J J Walsh. They were most anxious to help the government in every way to bring about a better and more prosperous condition for the city and region. They pointed out the serious loss the city had suffered during the previous immediate years. Many subjects were discussed which included the restoration of Mallow railway bridge, the improvement of postal, telegraphic and telephone services, payment of claims for cork burnings, proposed valuation on new buildings, allocation of government contracts in the car carrier, abolition of the Cockett Tax, and collection of income tax by employers.
J J Walsh admitted that in the past Cork had not received its proper share of government contracts but in the previous two months Cork had received not less than a quarter of the total contracts of the Irish Free State. These contracts were given on merit based on the price but never less Cork had been fortunate in securing a big over proportion of the monies at the disposal of the Irish Free State.
On the question of reconstruction of the City Centre over thirty months on from the Burning of Cork event, J J Walsh produced figures that there were 400 rebuilding and property losses claims. A total of 180 claims had already been paid the money – this amounted to £150,000. He noted that the outstanding 200 claims would be cleared. He had also spoken on a number of labour leaders and they assured him that there was no truth in the assertion that Cork workmen were not as able and as willing in the execution of their work as those in any other part of Ireland.
JJ Walsh also met with tea agents and agricultural education groups before his return by train to Dublin.
Upcoming walking tours with Kieran:
Saturday 13 May 2022, The Battle of Douglas, An Irish Civil War Story, meet at carpark and entrance to Old Railway Line, Harty’s Quay, Rochestown; 2pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes near Rochestown Road).
Saturday 20 May 2023, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Tour around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required, finishes on MacCurtain Street).
Caption:
1201a. Marina Flour Mills, South Docks, Cork, 1919, from Cork: Its Chamber and Commerce (source: Cork City Library).
“High End Heritage vandalism” is how Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has described the proposals by the National Transport Authority (NTA) for Douglas Road. In recent weeks, the public consultation phase two maps on Bus Connects have been published by NTA. They contain compulsory purchase orders for the culling of half a kilometre of front garden biodiversities and the reconstruction of nineteenth century stone walls, the elimination of ninety per cent of on street car parking, and the creation of bus gates, which will limit cars entering Douglas Road at peak hours in the morning and in the late afternoon.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “My sincere thanks to all those who have made submissions todate and especially to the wider Douglas Road residents group and the various sub groups extending all the way out through Douglas Village through to Maryborough Hill, who have liased with the NTA a number of times voicing not only concerns but also viable alternatives”.
“From what I have seen affected local residents on Douglas Road have received letters from the NTA but those slightly off the road have not. So a lot of people are in the dark, both who live on the road and those who use the road. The NTA animations that have been created don’t tell the full story of the destruction in particular of historic walls and trees”.
“Some impacts on residents are larger than others. To me the reconstruction of built and environmental heritage is high end heritage vandalism. The bus gate concept needs further traffic data as traffic will be re-routed into the heart of areas such as Well Road and Ballinlough at peak times, and access to schools on Douglas Road could be non existent. If you park on the road, it is really important to make oneself aware of the plans to take away car-parking. There are so many concerns, which need answers. It is crucial that if you are a user of Douglas Road in all its forms that you become aware of the plans and ask questions and provide criticisms and/or alternatives”, concluded Cllr Kieran McCarthy.
The full set of maps are available under the Maryborough Hill to City (bus corridor I) at www.busconnects/cork or get in contact with Cllr McCarthy. Contact details are on his website at www.kieranmccarthy.ie
That Cork City Data Dashboard be reconstructed and hosted online in association with the aims of the City Council’s Digital Strategy (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
To ask for a report at the South East Local Electoral Area on the status of Marina Park, Phases 1,2 & 3 (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
That the next phase of tourism development be progressed with in Elizabeth Fort especially with info panels on the ramparts and the rejuvenation of the two fallen down sheds (possible café idea?) in the eastern walls of the parade ground (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
That a rolling annual maintenance program be created for the National Monument, so that the cost of maintenance does not build over several years (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
8 May 2023, “The council will continue to engage with the representatives, to establish a restoration timeframe. Mr Reidy was responding to a question submitted by Independent councillor, Kieran McCarthy, who sought an update on the matter”, Plan submitted to Cork City Council on works to repair section of crumbling quay wall, Plan submitted to Cork City Council on works to repair section of crumbling quay wall (echolive.ie)
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy invites all Cork young people to participate in the thirteenth year of McCarthy’s Make a Model Boat Project. All interested participants must design and make a model boat at home and bring it to The Lough on the evening of Friday 19 May 2023.
The event is being run in association with Meitheal Mara and the Cork Harbour Festival Team for the Cork Harbour Festival itself. There are three categories, two for primary and one for secondary students. The theme is ‘Boats of the Past which is open to interpretation. The model must be creative though, made from recycled materials and must be able to float. There are prizes for best models and the event is free to enter. For further information and to register a boat, log onto http://www.corkharbourfestival.com
Cllr McCarthy, who is heading up the event, noted: “Over the 13 years of this annual projects, the Make a Model Boat Project has gone from strength to strength. The Cork Harbour festival team and I have seen really creative entries and of course it is great to be able to float boats on a fantastic amenity such as The Lough. I am encouraging creation, recycling, innovation and imagination amongst our young people, which are important traits for all of us to develop. The Make a Model Boat Project is part of a suite of community projects I have organised over the years– the others include the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project with Cork City Council, the Community local history walks, and local history publications”.
1200a. St Patrick’s Bridge, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 4 May 2023
Kieran’s May Historical Walking Tours
Welcome to the 1200th article of Our City, Our Town. Many thanks to all those who support and read the column. It has been an enormous adventure over its 24 years of existence so far. As with previous years, my summer walking tours of Cork’s historic suburbs and parts of the city centre are back. To encourage engagement, the tours have been free for many years. There is no booking required. Just show up on the day.
Saturday 6 May 2023, The Marina; Discover the history of the city’s promenade, from forgotten artefacts to ruinous follies; meet at western end adjacent Shandon Boat Club, The Marina, 2pm, no booking required (free, duration: two hours).
A stroll down The Marina is popular by many people. The area is particularly characterised by its location on the River Lee and the start of Cork Harbour. Here scenery, historical monuments and living heritage merge to create a rich tapestry of questions of who developed such a place of ideas.
Cork’s Marina was originally called the Navigation Wall or in essence it was a guidance or tracking wall to bring ships into Cork City’s South Docks area. It was completed in 1761.
Following the constitution of the Cork Harbour Commissioners in 1814 and their introduction of steam dredging, a vigorous programme of river and berth deepening, quay and wharf building commenced. The dredger of the Commissioners deposited the silt from the river into wooden barges, which were then towed ashore. The silt was re-deposited behind the Navigation Wall.
During the Great Famine, the deepening of the river created jobs for 1,000 men who worked on widening the physical dock of the Navigation Wall. In essence a fine road was constructed, which linked into Cork’s South Docks. To give an aesthetic to the new road, a fine row of elm trees was planted c.1856 by Prof. Edmund Murphy of Queen’s College Cork (now UCC). The elm trees were part of a crop and tree growing experiment.
In 1870, the Gaelic poet and scholar Donncha Ó Floinn put forward to the Improvements Committee of Cork Corporation that the new road of the Navigation wall be named Slí na hAbhann, which means the ‘pathway by the river’. Ó Floinn’s proposal was not accepted. The matter came before the Improvements Committee again in 1872. This time Ó Floinn suggested that the promenade be named ‘The Marina’. He outlined that ‘The Marina’ was the name allocated to a recently reclaimed piece of land near Palermo in Sicily. In July 1872, Cork Corporation formally adopted ‘The Marina’ as the name of the new road or promenade.
Saturday 13 May 2022, The Battle of Douglas, An Irish Civil War Story, meet at carpark and entrance to Old Railway Line, Harty’s Quay, Rochestown; 2pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes near Rochestown Road).
In the early hours of 8 August 1922, the cross-channel steamers SS Arvonia and SS Lady Wicklow, with more than 450 Irish Free State troops on board, sailed into Cork Harbour and berthed at Passage West dockyards.
The Passage West assault was led by General Emmet Dalton. At just 24 years old, he had First World War combat experience, having won the Military Cross while still a teenager. He had led quite large bodies of British troops, and also studied guerrilla warfare during his later IRA service. The Cork city landing contingent comprised 450 soldiers from the 2nd Eastern Division of the National Army’s Eastern Command. Some came from the Dublin Guards battalion, which had participated in the recent Dublin fighting and comprised former IRA veterans.
In the days that followed, prolonged fighting took place as Anti-Treaty forces struggled to curb the advance of the national army troops. Although the precise figure has never been conclusively established, up to twenty fatalities (with many more wounded) are estimated to have occurred during fierce battles in and around Rochestown, Oldcourt Wood and Garryduff.
Saturday 20 May 2023, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Tour around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required, finishes on MacCurtain Street).
The tour will speak about the development of the Collins Barracks ridge and its hidden and interesting architectural heritage. The tour that brings the participant from the top of St Patrick’s Hill to the eastern end of McCurtain Street through Wellington Road.
With the MacCurtain Street area, one is dealing with immense scenic perspectives and beautiful architecture– book ended by the epic St Patrick’s Hill view to the west, Summerhill North and Kent Station to the east, and the river and port frontage to the south. There is something to be said about how MacCurtain Street and buildings are carefully balanced and placed on a steep carved out sandstone ridge to the north of the River Lee– an important story of strategic engineering, which appears in earnest behind the waterfall feature behind Greene’s Restaurant.
When the Corporation of Cork of the time invested in planning St Patrick’s Bridge in 1787, it opened up this quarter for development – this was also the decade that brought us the first south docklands plan and the chain the Lord Mayor wears. The 1790s coincided the creation of St Patrick’s Hill – a hill-up avenue from Bridge Street, which aligned with an old windmill now incorporated into Audley House. The decade also coincided with an early MacCurtain Street– back then known as Strand Street and later King Street, and later Summerhill North from 1820 onwards.
Caption:
1200a. St Patrick’s Bridge, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
