Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article

Cork Independent, 19 January 2012

Technical Memories (Part 2)

Educating a Modern Nation

Between the years 1901 and 1908, classes in science and commercial subjects were held in three centres in Cork. The Crawford School of Art was the first. The second centre was in the Model Schools on Anglesea Street, and the third was at 13 Union Quay.

At the second centre in the Model Schools in Anglesea Street, permission was given in 1902 by the Commissioners of National Education to use six rooms in order to enable the Cork Technical Instruction committee to hold practical classes in engineering and also some building classes. In a large house at 13 Union Quay, purchased by the committee, classes were held in plumbing, carpentry, engineering theory and drawing office work, and in music.

Apart from classes in art and music, in the 1901-02 session the records show that 29 classes in science and commerce were under the Cork’s committee’s control. In the 1905-06 session the number had risen to 88 classes with 711 individual students, which highlights the development of work subsequent to the opening of new rooms. In 1908, the commercial classes were transferred to a School of Commerce in the South Mall.

Funding for national technical instruction schemes in the year 1902 amounted to £2,818 19s. 8d. and by the year 1911, the figure was £27,066. The funding coincided with the rapid rise in interest and demand for technical education. However as the 1911 reported, the amount of funding required to meet the demand was much higher and classes for many years in all forms of technical instruction were carried out in many Irish locations, like in Cork, where premises, in general, were not purpose built to host classes. The report noted (p.307):

“With the rapid increase in the number of students attending these schools and the steady progress towards higher and higher efficiency of the teaching in them, the inconvenience of temporary buildings began to be acutely felt. All classes of buildings were employed to meet the need. In one place a fever hospital, in another a disused jail, in others disused chapels were adapted, while in one case a technical school is to be found underneath a large water tank, which supplies the town with water. In many cases private houses have been pressed into the service. In rural districts, the case is worse still”.

Through the Technical Instruction Act of 1899, an outreach programme for secondary schools was also planned. This led to the drafting of a programme of experimental science and drawing suitable for secondary schools, including the subject of manual instruction for boys’ schools and the subject of domestic economy for girls’ schools.

During the 1900-1 session, there were three schools in Munster carrying on practical science classes: two at the Christian Brothers’ Schools in Cork City (through Brother Dominic Burke), and one at Waterpark College, Waterford. By 1902, there were 38 schools running classes. In these schools, about 1,400 pupils devoted three hours per week to science, and one hour per week to drawing; 350 pupils gave, in addition, two hours per week to manual instruction, and twenty pupils gave an additional period to household economy. Seventeen schools received financial aid from their local authorities and many others were promised assistance. Of the 38 schools, only twenty, up to 1902 were able to equip really satisfactory laboratories. During the 1901-02 school session, practical science in six schools had to be carried out on temporary benches in rooms where curtains were used to separate other classes from the science classes. In five other schools the rooms were too over crowded, or fitted with unsatisfactory makeshift tables. In a report in 1911 on “A Decade of Technical Instruction in Ireland”, it was noted that grants were allocated amounting to a total of £25,000 for the equipment of laboratories. Schools themselves provided very large sums for building purposes, and some grants were made from the funds of local authorities.

The question of the training of teachers in science was also a difficult matter, but summer training courses were established in the principal settlements in Ireland. They were held annually in the months of July and August and extended over a period of nearly one month. They were held in the Royal College of Science, the Metropolitan School of Art and elsewhere. Courses were also held in a number of convents, where, in order to meet the needs of the members of enclosed orders, classes were organised consisting of nuns from different convents. Written and practical examinations were held at the end of the summer courses and recognition extended to teachers as appropriate. Permanent recognition was not given in a subject until the teacher-student had attended and passed the examinations of five summer courses.

Courses were also held in rural science and school gardening, in hygiene and home nursing, in office routine and business methods, and in manual work, building construction and other relating building work. In national courses held in 1911, 621 teachers attended whilst the number of special instructors numbered 88. The Department’s teachers of domestic economy were taught in the Irish Training School of Domestic Economy in Stillorgan Dublin.

To be continued…

Caption:

624a. North Monastery Laser Show, January 2011 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 12 January 2012

Technical Memories (Part 1)

A Technical Act

This month coincides with the 100^th anniversary of the official opening of the building, which houses CIT Crawford College of Art and Design on Sharman Crawford Street, Cork. A series of events have been planned to mark the occasion. I’d like to share some articles on the history on the 1912 establishment of the building, which when it opened was called the Crawford Municipal Technical Institute, Cork.

The Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act in 1899 recognised the need for an Irish framework for technical education in an attempt to halt industrial and manufacturing decline. The Irish act came ten years after the British one was passed. The Irish work proceeded along four lines. Firstly, technical instruction was re-organised under local authorities. Secondly, a system of instruction was planned in experimental science, drawing, and manual work, and domestic economy in day secondary schools.  Thirdly, there was a focus on “operations bearing directly on industries”. Fourthly, higher technical instruction was re-organised in the Royal College of Science.

In extensive and richly descriptive journals, published by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction from 1901 to 1921, the steps are outlined that each city and town, in particular, pursued in order to comply with the aims of the act. The 1901 journal (now in the Boole Library, UCC) reveals that in Cork the necessary steps were taken to transfer the control of the classes from the General Committee appointed by the Corporation of Cork under the Public Libraries (Ireland) Acts of 1855 and 1877 to a Technical Instruction Committee of the Corporation. That consisted of 21 members, eight of whom were accepted, and the transfer was carried out in 1901.

There already existed in Cork the work of the central Technical Schools of Science and Art. These schools, better known in their day as the Crawford Municipal Technical Schools, were presented to the City of Cork by William Horatio Crawford in 1884. The buildings comprised sculpture and picture galleries (Crawford Art Gallery), library, lecture theatre, class rooms for art, and some rooms for Science and technology. However, the 1901 technical instruction committee deemed the buildings insufficient for their proposed central technical institute.

The School of Art had engaged in some excellent work, but the science classes, on the whole, were deemed to be “starved” in the 1901 report. On the industrial side of the school there were classes for lace-making and crochet. These classes were largely attended, and most of the designs were supplied by students of the design class in the School of Art. A key feature of the School of Art was the system of scholarships connected to it. In 1892 ten free studentships were offered to pupils of national schools in the city, admitting them to evening classes. A preliminary test examination in freehand enabled the committee to select the best candidates. In respect of scholarships, the Cork Industrial Exhibition of 1883 had an important influence on the school. It was decided that a surplus remaining from the fund, raised for the exhibition, should be devoted to the endowment of two scholarships of £50 each, to enable successful candidates to receive a year’s training at the Royal College of Art in South Kensington, London. At first these scholarships were limited to young men (industrial students or artisans), but in 1889-90, one of the scholarships was offered to female students. The scholarships were of great benefit to many of the successful candidates; several won scholarships in the College of Art, South Kensington, and obtained appointments under the London School Board.

Out of the first year’s Departmental grant in 1900, the Technical Instruction Committee allotted to different secondary schools in the city a sum of £1,600 for equipment and apparatus. In Cork, a head science master was also appointed, who was to render the same service as in Belfast in the organisation of the new technical instruction scheme. Mr O’Keeffe, a technological teacher, who had fifteen years’ experience at Finsbury Technological College, London, was appointed by the committee, with the approval of the Department.

In 1901 the committee appointed a deputation consisting of three members of the committee and the Head Science Master to visit the various centres of technical instruction in England and Scotland. There they gained an insight into the working of many excellent schemes in existence, particularly those, which afforded some comparison with the work practiced in Cork. The report of the deputation again strongly advised the retention of all available funds for the purpose of building a central Technical College, which should be for the benefit of the County as well as the City of Cork. A large part of the funds at the disposal of the committee at that time were allocated to various secondary institutions to equip science classes. The committee decided to wait until better financial conditions prevailed before discussing the erection of a central Technical College.

Between the years 1901 and 1908, classes in science and commercial subjects were held in three centres in Cork. The Crawford School of Art was the first. The second centre was in the Model Schools in Anglesea Street, and the third was at 13 Union Quay.

To be continued…

Caption:

623a. Crawford Municipal Technical Institute, Cork 1912 (source: Opening Souvenir Booklet)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article

Cork Independent, 22 December 2011

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 280/280)

The Weir of Destiny

Gougane Barra epitomises many values and traditions of Ireland’s past. Many of these aspects echo throughout the Lee Valley to the beginning of the tidal area of the river at the weir at the Lee Fields. The Lee Fields are an important cross-roads where the River Lee’s natural wilderness and the urban wilderness of the City collide.  The contrasts are extensive. One view is of the River Lee and its part of large flood plain, shown regularly when the fields are waterlogged during Ireland’s rainy conditions or when the dam at Inniscarra is forced to release reservoir water.

Different species of flora overhang the river as well as playful bird life dive for fish. The slow current but heavy volume of river water spills over the weir to meet the tidal water. The other view is of Cork’s and Ireland’s most impressive buildings such as the Waterworks, now the Lifetime Lab), the former Our Lady’s Hospital and Cork County Hall. Sites such as the Kingsley Hotel (formerly the site of the Lee Baths) and the new student accommodation are all located within view on the Lee fields and these reveal further insights into the past, present and future pulses of the city.

The weir at the Lee Fields provides a boundary of the River’s fresh water and tidal water. It is here that during all months that the die-hards swim in the Lee, where people walk their dogs, where fitness fanatics jog and stretch to couples discussing the day’s challenges or those who watch the waters flow. It is here that the River Lee splits into two creating a north and south channel, both channels encompass the city centre islands.  One can see the northern channel as struggles to carve an initial path for itself whilst the south channel seems to flow on with ease. St. Finbarre’s Cathedral overlooks the southern channel and stands to recall a journey’s end and a beginning for Cork’s Patron Saint.

Standing at the weir and attempting to sum up six years in the Lee Valley is a difficult one. One aspect I feels shines through is that cultural heritage, encompassing history and geography, was not something abstract but was part of a way of life. It has been interesting to view how stories and values have been handed down and how each successive generation has taken it in turn to hold a torch for some element of the past in the present. One aspect for certain is that the more I researched the places within the region or the more doors I knocked on, the more information came to the fore. What is also apparent is that everybody’s view of the world is different. Each person encountered has a unique relationship to the past and present. One recurring aspect is how much the region’s cultural heritage runs metaphorically in “people’s blood”. There was a large amount of people who noted, “my father used to say to me” or “my mother used to say”. That sense of inheritance or the passing down of cultural heritage is important.

            From fieldwork and interviews, local people focused in on several aspects of their locality’s cultural heritage. Each person brought their own insights into their place and its roots, its identity and how it is perpetuated or lives in the present. Many of the themes talked about overlapped, signifying their importance to their lives and the community as a whole. It is difficult to place a weighting on the most important aspects. The River Lee column tried to dabble in the architecture of heritage and its interaction with life in the River Lee valley. It is interesting to see evidence of the past everywhere in tangible and visible monuments but also in people’s thoughts and how it is used everyday in cultural activities. Nevertheless, the Lee Valley is evolving with all its unusual uniquenesses and all the pressures of human existence firmly to be seen. The spirit of the valley’s people is very important to the past and to the rich, current and future geographies and histories of the modern valley.

However, it is not only the scenery but also the character of the place and its people that have become engrained in my own memories. The Lee Valley as a place has stopped me, impressed me, made me question, wonder, dream, remember, be disturbed, explore and not forget –a whole series of reactions. With all that in mind, the article attempted to capture my explorations, the many moods and colours of a section of the River Lee Valley, to contemplate news ways of seeing, to rediscover the characters who have interacted with it, the major events and the minor common happenings and to construct a rich and vivid mosaic of life by and on River Lee. Above all I would like to think that the work on the River Lee is not what we have lost but what we have yet to find…

My thanks to all who followed the River Lee column; if you missed out on a column, check out the index at www.corkheritage.ie. Happy Christmas to everyone!

Caption:

622a. Lee Fields in sunnier climes (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 15 December 2011

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 279)

A Golden Chain

            “The monastery is enshrined deep in the hearts of the people of Cork. The historian and the archaeologist love the place, too, for its many interesting associations; while the beauty of the country attracts the general tourist. The changing hands of time have not been at rest during the twelve hundred years that separate us from St Finbarr. On the contrary, they have been increasingly active. Storms and revolutions have rolled over the land. The piety and learning, implanted here by Patrick and Finbarr, and the other saints and scholars of the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries, had to pass through the ordeal of fire and sword (Southern Star, 3 October 1914, p.3)

This article arose out of the above quote, that a place such as Gougane Barra has survived through many ages of turmoil; that there is one thing having a physical monument, but these monuments must also be invested with human thought them to make them relevant to people’s lives. Indeed, reading newspapers such as the Southern Reporter about the nature and content of the Gougane Barra ceremonies every September/ October for the twentieth century reveals one of the many ways to enter the ‘mindscape’ of Gougane Barra. One of the aspects that shine out is the stability of the site’s essence in a world of change.

For example in early October 1914 the message by local parish priest Fr. James O’Leary asked the people to respect those whom “God had given and who in a special manner evidenced the ordinances by raising up such saints as Patrick and the other saints who had done so much for religion in Ireland…it was the duty of us all to honour the saint [St. Finbarr], to emulate his example in order to share his glory”. But these messages are placed against what else was happening in the world. Reading the Cork Examiner in early October 1914, World War I was in its first year. In October, 33,000 Canadian troops departed for Europe, the largest force to ever cross the Atlantic Ocean at the time. Belgium fell to German troops.

Similarly, in 1941 during the time, when the German invasion of the Soviet Union was in full swing, in early October 1941, the Southern Star reports on the sermon of Rev. L. Kelleher of Farranferris, Cork City; he said that the ceremony was the “occasion for thanksgiving to God and St. Finbarr for the hermitage of faith and Catholic life in Cork City and County and intercession to God, and to pray for the spirit of St Finbarr, for the grace to good works and to pray in the spirit of St Finbarr and our Catholic fore-fathers. The solution of social evils and modern difficulties to our Catholic precepts, in giving full play to the principles of charity towards God and love for our neighbours”.

The Southern Star for 2 October 1954 (p.1) records Rev. C. Lynch, C.C. Inchigeela preaching in Irish and in English; “we have come in pilgrimage out of our sense of devotion to God and in revered memory of the man who chose this place for his cloister that he might be free from the turmoil of the world and commune in peace with his God, the very atmosphere of the lake and mountain breathe peace because the peace of God is here”. The sermon was pitched against the backdrop of the Cold War and negotiations across international media of the USA, Great Britain, France and USSR agreeing to end occupation of Germany.

Ten years later the Southern Star, on the 3 October 1964 (p.10) reported on the sermon of Rev. L. O’Regan, C.C., Ballingeary, who noted: “There is a golden chain linking our pilgrimage there today with life and times of Ireland’s Golden Age. This strong and ancient golden chair is unique in the annals of Christendom, and a source of admiration and pride to any Irish Catholic who pauses to consider it. There never have been any weak links in the chain that link us here today with the faith of St Finbarr”. During that month Martin Luther King was awarded a Nobel peace prize for his work.

This year on 25 September 2011 Fr. Donal Cotter at the ceremonies, I thought, gave a thought provoking sermon. He noted “Finbarr found in the nature of the place and in the nature of God a unique combination, a unique relationship where his restless soul could find a level of peace, but he was never sure when that restless soul was finding peace, because he kept travelling further on and back again. And because of that, that represents to me the idea that the soul never truly rests until it rests with God…So while he found rest here, his ultimate point was not found in this world, but in the next. We have come here today, always finding something here ourselves, whatever that may be, a moment of solitude, a prayer for someone who is unwell, because people do the rounds here for those, the ending of a long journey, the finding of something within yourself that will help you move on from here.”

To be continued…

Caption:

621a. Bishop John Buckley greeting pilgrims, Gougane Barra Sunday Ceremonies 2011 (Picture: Kieran McCarthy)