Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article

Cork Independent, 10 February 2011

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 247)

Pictures at the Savoy

The summer of 1932 was a very eventful one for Cork. Apart from the Fair on the Carrigrohane Straight Road, Corkonians were also to witness the opening of the Savoy cinema on St. Patrick’s Street. That brought with it a sense of a modern dynamic like the fair that also captured the public imagination.

The cinema was another very popular form of entertainment in the 1920s. Indeed, it is difficult to disconnect the work of building a new Irish Free State and not perhaps comment on the influence of globalised entertainment venues like the cinema. For example, the Pavillion Cinema on St. Patrick Street opened in 1924 and popular silent movies shown there included Charlie Chaplain, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. In 1928 the first ‘talkies’ (films with speech) were made. In the post Wall Street collapse era of the early 1930s, the uncertainty of the time resulted in widespread popularity of fantastical and escapist cinema fare.

Newspaper coverage in the Cork Examiner on the 13 May 1932 has two pages full of insightful facts and figures about the Savoy cinema. The contractors of Cork’s Savoy cinema were the well-known firm of Meagher and Hayes, who were also responsible for the building of the Dublin Savoy cinema, which inspired the venture in Cork. The Cork building was completed in seven months from the time the foundations were laid. The labourers, skilled and unskilled, numbering about three hundred were all local hands with the exception of the workers of a few contractors. A total of 15,000 concrete blocks and close on 600 tons of steel work were used in the completion of the project.

The front of the cinema was executed in Hathern Faience of various colours. Its light-reflecting surface made flood lighting especially effective. It was manufactured and fixed by the Hathern Station Brick and Terra Cotta Co. Ltd or Loughborough, England, whose materials were extensively used for cinemas, hotels, business premises, shops, churches, etc. The cement used during the building of the premises was supplied by Norman McNaughton and Sons, Union Quay, Cork, and W.J. Hickey, Maylor Street, Cork and Charles Tennant and Co. Ltd., Cork and Dublin. The paints and distemper used were manufactured by Harringtons and Goodlass Wall, Ltd., Shandon Paint Works, Cork. Their paint was also used for the fair buildings in the Straight Road.

The Savoy comprised modern cinema architecture of its day from ventilation systems to phone systems to the projection room. The lighting was run off the cinema’s own plant, built by J.D. Carey and Sons, electrical contractors, 58, South Mall. The decorative scheme was designed and carried out by a London firm which had a worldwide reputation for furnishing and decoration on the “atmospheric style”. The aim was to create as the Cork Examiner suggests the “realms of romance, colour and sunshine of Northern Italy”. In the auditorium, the tableaux and scenic work were painted by well-known artist, Mr. Oswell Jones. Quaint archways, trees, fountains to images of magnificent scenes of the Grand Canal at Venice were painted on the walls.

Processioned seating assured that the occupier of every seat had an unobstructed view of the ‘picture’, projected on to the 40 feet long by 30 feet high screen. The well-known Cork firm, the Munster Arcade, completed the 2,500 luxuriously upholstered seats in moquette and as the journalist notes: “the colours being a perfect blending of grey, rose and blue”. The carpeting was done by this firm and the entire floor space was covered with Walton carpets in soft shades of rose. The Munster Arcade supplied the stage curtains (and their borders were of heavy satin in shades of gold and tango) as well as other curtains in other spaces in the cinema. The same firm also did the order for the uniforms and caps for the male attendants.

The opening ceremony was officially performed by the Lord Mayor, Cllr. Frank J. Daly. He spoke about Cork people having confidence in themselves and in their country. The resident manager was introduced, Mr. J. McGrath, a native of Roscommon. The General Manager was Mr. F.C. Knott, who was long established in Dublin as an entertainment provider. Mr. Hugh Margey was Catering Manager. Miss Kathleen O’Brien was the Restaurant Manager. For the operation of the Crompton organ in the auditorium, Mr Frederick Bridgeman was engaged. He had a nationwide reputation and was the Savoy’s top live entertainer for nearly thirty years. The attendants were recruited locally and employment was given to about seventy people. The Studios of Rank, United Artists, 20^th Century Fox and Columbia supplied new films to the Savoy and the programme changed twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays.

In 1953, the Cork Film International Festival, originally called ‘An Tostal’, began. For one week each year, the Savoy was home to the festival. By 1970, the character of the Savoy was starting to fade. The departure of Fred Bridgeman signalled the end of the era of the cinema organ and the grand sing-a-long shows. In July 1973, the Savoy cinema closed. Today, part of the Savoy is a shopping unit complex with the old cinema site a night club.

To be continued….

 Captions:

 577a. Advertisement from Dowdens celebrating the Savoy’s opening (source: Cork City Library)

 577b. Façade of Savoy on St. Patrick’s Street, February 2011 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article 

Cork Independent, 3 February 2011

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 246)

Building a National Identity

The Irish Industrial and Agricultural Fair 1932 aimed to build on aspects of Ireland’s national identity through staging a spectacle to draw the viewer in and empower people to buy and support all levels of what it meant to be Irish in the Free State. Apart from Irish products, the Fair’s specially built art gallery showed oil-paintings, water-colours and black and white drawings, all by Irish artists sent in by the Cork School of Art and the Cork Technical School.

Listening to the music from the band stand, one could hear music that encompassed the idea of nation building. The No.1 Army Band played there a number of occasions in the first fortnight of the exhibition in May 1932. Their repertoire on the 17 May 1932, for example, included the following: March from Tannhauser and other pieces by Wagner, the overture from Orpheus by Offenbach, Hungarian Rhapsody by Reindel, a selection of music from Die Fiedemaus by Strauss, Pas des Fleurs by Delibes, Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck, the tango from Expressions by Brasse, overture from Masanillo by Auber, Reminiscences of Offenbach by Conrad and a selection of music from Faust by Gonnod. Historian Benjamin Curtis in a book on nationalist composers and nation building argues that music can create nations. From the role of folk sources in nationalist music, to the inspirations of landscape, language, and myth, to composers’ aspirations for their music, the idea of homeland can be stirred in the listener’s mind.

Apart from the band stand, the Fair’s ‘Concert Hall’ could accommodate 1,500 people and hosted many concerts for Irish born singers. In mid May, Mr. W.F. Watts, a Waterford tenor, gave a recital with the first performance of the ‘Exhibition Orchestra’. It was a specially formed orchestra and included many popular Cork musicians led by Miss D.E. Foley. It was conducted by Jonathan Thomas Horne who by 1932 had amassed huge career experience in playing organs and creating choirs in places such as Passage, Shandon, Dundalk and Kilkenny. Originally a Cork native, he was organist in St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral for 55 years (1922-1977).

Fashion parades were also held in the Concert Hall, which were organised by Messrs. Dowden & Co. of Cork. The press argues that at least 2,000 people attended one such event on the 9 June 1932, which showcased Irish clothing manufactures and styles of the day. The Greenmount Industrial School Band entertained the viewers during the fashion shows.

The organising committee of the fair also drew on other types of amusements that were common place across the world in similar fairs. Senses of carnival spirit, escape, magic, fantasy, otherworldliness, illusion, drama, absurdity, the dangerous, a world of role playing and the idea of the world as a lesson were represented. In a distinctly separate section to the display halls, the amusement section included a Cairo street with fifteen makeshift shops and in them Egyptians demonstrated their crafts. Walking along further one came to the ‘Waxworks’ building and the ‘Palais de Danse’ (a type of dance studio). Near the ‘Waxworks’ was a ‘Monkey House’ with over 150 monkeys populating the building.

There was a large, square building described as having a “rather freakish appearance”. The visitors looked in through cavern-like apertures in the sides and saw what resembled a water tank, only that this one was elongated to form a veritable maze. The tank held about two feet of water. One got into a boat, electrically driven from overhead wires and went sailing round and round the tank. The length of the waterway was half a mile.

Close by there was a hall for distorting mirrors and another for a big-scale version of the wheel-of-fortune. Below these was a large marquee known as the ‘Bavarian Restaurant’ and within which were to be concerts given by Swizz yodlers. There was an ‘Indian Temple‘ and an ‘African Village’ where fifty Africans worked at their expert trades plus gave the public an idea of their way of life. The latter group presented their work in some of Cork’s disused trams that had been taken off their rails in December of 1931. There was also a series of Tunisian stalls attended by natives. Tunisia, at that time, was under French protectorate but had a semi-independent monarchy. In the 1930s a campaign for independence from French rule began.

At the other end of the fair grounds was the ‘Ghost Train’, at the end of which the participant got their photograph taken. Next door was the ‘Wall of Death’, a large cylindrical and steel structure inside which a rider on a motor cycle rode around a vertical wall fifteen feet high. In a press interview with the manager of the Death Drivers Mr. E.T. Mysal, he noted that ‘Speedy’ Jack Sales and ‘Cyclone’ Morley were riding for nearly five years and had by 1932 visited eleven countries. They also held a ‘Wall of Death dance’ in the Arcadia or on the Lower Road, Cork, the proceeds of which went to a local charity. The Arcadia or ‘Arc’ opened its doors first in 1924 as an ice-skating rink but by the 1930s had transformed into a popular dance hall.

To be continued…

 Captions:

576a. Postcard Sketch of View of Irish Industrial and Agricultural Fair, 1932, Carrigrohane Straight Road, Cork (source: Cork Museum, my thanks to Stella Cherry and Dan Breen)

576b. Photograph still of the Fair’s ‘Concert Hall’ from British Pathe (source: www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=3001)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town

Cork Independent, 27 January 2011

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 245)

A National Shop Window

It must have been an impressive site. Certainly the daily newspaper reports in the Cork Examiner and Evening Echo for the summer of 1932 record an energetic effort to draw attention to the aims of the Irish Industrial and Agricultural Fair. Adjacent the Straight Road was over 83 acres of ideas promoting Ireland and all its different parts from native industries to highlighting the Irish way of life. All went a long way in trying to define the emerging national spirit of the Irish Free State. Even the grounds were lit up by rows of tiny overhead lights of national colours of green, white and yellow.

It is quite apparent from the newspaper coverage of the time that the fair committee worked hard to get the crowds in and came up with different themes and ideas in that regard.  Over 50,000 people in the first two weeks visited in the first two weeks of the six month run. Conscious of the fact that the fair was on the edge of the City, a new wide footpath was built along the Straight Road. The motor car visitor could park in an organised car park, which accommodated upwards of 3,000 cars under the supervision of the Fair authorities. Special exhibition buses, operated by the Irish Omnibus Company, ran from the city centre to and from the grounds. Special trains running from the western road terminus of the Muskerry Light Railway ran in the evenings to the site and back again.

Efforts were made to bring people from as far as possible. In May, an official of the fair went to meet all the liners coming in at Cobh and spoke to the visitors to get them to visit the fair. By early June, wireless messages were sent to all the liners as they entered Cork harbour. On the 11 June, the following message was sent out today to the M.V. Britannic “Executive Council of Ireland’s National Exhibition, at Cork extends a hearty welcome to all visitors, and co-ordially invite them to see Ireland’s greatest industrial enterprise, covering over 83 acres of exhibits.”

Excursions from Irish towns were encouraged. For example on the 7 May 1932, 240 people from Navan visited. For the 29 June 1932, which was a church holiday, a large number of excursions from towns were arranged from Naas, from West Cork taking in people from Bantry, Skibbereen, Clonakilty, from Kerry taking in people from Tralee and Kenmare and from East Cork, taking in people from Midleton and Youghal. The 29 June was also the day that Eamonn DeValera came to Cork to lay the foundation stone of the new City Hall (opened officially in 1936, celebrating 75 years this year). A number of cross-channel trips to the exhibition were arranged as well as day excursions from England. Most of the UK visitors were from London, Bristol and South Wales.  On the 15 June, 30 English tourists came over on the Inishfallen in the early morning taking advantage of the cheap day excursions arranged by the City of Cork Steam Packet Company. Information was also recorded that a number of people from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia visited the grounds, took a keen interest in the Irish goods displayed and made arrangements for samples to be sent home for them.

There was a miniature railway that was installed to take children around the grounds of the Fair. However in May at least 75 per cent of its occupants were adults. A children’s nursery or crèche was managed for ‘tired’ children. They could be left in the care of skilled attendants at the crèche. The crèche was administered with the co-operation of the Cork Child Welfare League. Huge efforts were also made to engage school going children in the Fair project. As essay competition on Irish Free State had alot of entries from Cork Schools and presentations were made by the then Minister of Education, Mr. Patrick Ruttledge. He, nine years previously had been appointed as Minister of Home Affairs, or Eamonn DeValera’s substitute when DeValera was arrested in July 1923 (released in 1924).

The 8 June 1932 was a special day for school children. Special arrangements were made with the railway authorities for reduced fares from all stations throughout the country. On the same day, the fair committee organised a sports display with drills taking place in the sports ground attached to the fair. It was led by a Mr. Bygrove. On the 18 June, a national school sports day was held with hundreds of children from most of the city schools taking part. They assembled in the city centre, were accompanied by bands and marched in processional order to the fair grounds. They carried banners with such inscriptions as “Buy Irish”, “Come to the Fair” and “An t-Aonach Abu”. Indeed on the grounds of the dair as well was a kiosk where a fluent Irish speaker answered any questions in Irish. In that kiosk a visitor’s book was kept where the signature of the Irish-speaking visitors were gathered. It aimed to show the extent of influence and earnestness of the supporters of the language movement throughout the country.

To be continued…

Wanted: Any stories of the 1932 Fair, photographs, memorabilia? Thanks

Captions:

575a. Media ad for Irish Industrial and Agricultural Fair, May 1932 (source: Cork City Library)

575b. Ad for Johnson and Perrott Ltd., in the Fair Catalogue, 1932 (Source: Cork Museum)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town,

Cork Independent,

 20 January 2011

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 244)

The Bantry Band

It is amazing the tangents one is presented with when studying the Irish Industrial and Agricultural Fair 1932 especially its deeper roots in linking to Ireland’s past. Last week, the column talked about the chequered career of William Martin Murphy and the founding of the Irish Independent, which was represented at a stand on the grounds of the fair.

I mentioned in passing William’s interest in politics and his MP role. To flesh that out, Denis Kirby emailed me to highlight that William was one of “The Bantry Band” of young men from Bantry who were all Westminster MPs. Daniel Sullivan, a house painter from Bantry, was the founder the Bantry Temperance band, an actual musical band of about 25 members. They took part in Daniel O’Connell’s famous “monster meeting” in Skibbereen in June 1843. The “monster” meeting comprised many thousands of supporters attending to campaign for the repeal of the Act of Union and for a separate Dublin parliament. However contemporary accounts of the numbers of people present in Skibbereen to hear O’Connell’s case for repeal vary from 75,000 upwards.

Support for Daniel O’Connell’s aspirations was strong in West Cork. The Bantry Band was in time a title given to the group of young men from Bantry who all went on to be MPs in Westminster at around the same time. Amongst those well-known in the Bantry Band and who went on to contribute to the Irish political landscape were Tim Harrington, Thomas Healy, Tim Healy, Alexander Martin Sullivan and his brother Timothy Daniel Sullivan. Tim Harrington (1851-1910) was secretary and chief organiser of the Irish National League (INL), supporter of Charles Stewart Parnell and was largely responsible for planning the agarian plan of campaign in 1886. The campaign was a strategy adopted in Ireland between 1886 and 1891, co-ordinated by Irish politicians to help tenant farmers, stand up against mainly absentee and rack-rent landlords. Bad weather in 1885 and 1886 also caused crop failure, making it difficult to pay rents. The Land War of the early 1880s was rekindled after evictions increased and outrages became widespread.

Thomas Healy (1854–1924) was a solicitor and Member of Parliament (MP) for North Wexford. His younger brother Tim Healy (1855–1931) was a prominent Irish nationalist. Later he became a Home Rule MP in Westminster and led a faction of the party after it split in 1891. He became the first Governor-General of the Irish Free State.

The sons of the founder of the band, Daniel Sullivan, were Alexander Martin Sullivan (1830-1884) and Timothy Daniel Sullivan (1827-1914) both Irish nationalists, journalists and politicians. In time, they owned The Nation newspaper an Irish nationalist weekly newspaper. In 1888 Timothy Daniel Sullivan started The Irish Catholic, not William Martin Murphy as I alluded to last week. In an email to me by Timothy’s great grandson Denis Kirby, he noted also that Timothy (1827-1914) was also well known as a writer, poet and songwriter. His better known songs were “God Save Ireland” and “Deep in Canadian Woods”. “God Save Ireland” was used as an unofficial Irish national anthem for Irish nationalists from the 1870s to the 1910s. During the Parnellite split it was the anthem of the anti-Parnellite Irish National Federation. The song was first published on the 7 December 1867 and was inspired by Edmund O’Meager Condon’s speech from the dock when he stood trial along with Fenian members Michael Larkin, William Phillip Allen, and Michael O’Brien (‘Manchester Martyrs’) for the murder of a British police officer. After the three were executed, the song was adopted as the Fenian movement’s anthem. The song shares its tune with “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!” (The Prisoner’s Hope)” a song reportedly written in 1864 by George F. Root in response to conditions in the Andersonville Prison, a Confederate prison during the American Civil War. “God Save Ireland” was the unofficial national anthem of the Irish Republic and the Irish Free State from 1919 to 1926, when it was displaced by the official Amhrán na bhFiann.

Interestingly and to go off on another tangent Amhrán na bhFiann was composed by Peadar Kearney and Patrick Heeney, and the original English lyrics were authored (as “A Soldiers’ Song”) by Peadar. It was used as marching song by the Irish Volunteers and was sung by rebels in the General Post Office (GPO) during the Easter Rising of 1916. Its popularity rose among rebels held in Frongoch internment camp after the Rising, and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the Irish War of Independence (1919–21). It was translated into Irish in 1923 by Liam Ó Rinn. On 12 July 1926, W.T. Cosgrave, President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State agreed to adopt its as the National Anthem. It was played with prominence at the opening of the 1932 fair in Cork.

As another important tangent, a remarkable number of Timothy Daniel Sullivan’s descendants were people of outstanding distinction: his son Timothy was Chief Justice of Ireland from 1936 to 1946, his grandson Kevin O’Higgins was one of the dominant political figures of the 1920s and his great-grandson Thomas O’Higgins was Chief Justice from 1974 to 1985.

To be continued…

My thanks to Denis Kirby for his insights

Captions:

574a. Timothy Daniel Sullivan (1827-1914), MP, writer, composer of God Save Ireland (picture: Cork City Library)

574b. Tim Healy (1855–1931), First Governor General of Ireland (Library of Congress, Washington D.C.)