Cllr Kieran McCarthy has asked Irish Water that Ballybrack Woods stream needs to be protected more from pollution outbreaks as witnessed in recent weeks. Cllr McCarthy noted: “I was very disappointed to see the pollution outbreak in the stream. Much work has been done by volunteers such as Douglas Tidy Towns, citizens environment activists and Cork City Council to protect this gem of a green space within the heart of Donnybrook”.
“Irish Water has got back to me and have completed
their site investigation; the water quality is back to normal and whoever the
culprit was and has stopped pouring a chemical or chemicals into the stream.
Many thanks to everyone for raising the pollution incident so quickly. Irish
Water at this point have not formally discovered who the culprit was, so one
needs to be legally careful on naming anyone. I’d ask though that all
users of the woods and the Mangala just keep an eye out for future pollution
incidents and report them just as fast”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.
In correspondence to Cllr McCarthy, Irish Water confirmed
that a site inspection of the wastewater infrastructure was undertaken in the
Calderwood/Ballybrack area on 7 July following Irish Water receiving this
report. The wastewater infrastructure at Calderwood Road and the Ballybrack
Walkway were inspected and was observed to be operating normally. A full walk
through check of the Ballybrack Stream was undertaken – there was no evidence
of pollution (no gross solids, no ragging, no evidence of third party
discharges) on the date of the visit.
The wastewater network was inspected along the route of
the pollution incident. This was observed to be operating normally. In
addition, a member of the public advised the team during the site visit that
construction work in the area may be the cause as they had observed similar
incidents over recent weeks. From these investigations Irish Water have noted:
“it would appear that the most likely source of this issue would appear to be
related to third party activity in the area. However Irish Water are unable to
formally confirm this issue”. The wastewater infrastructure in the area is
fully operational and is operating normally.
8 July 2021, “Local Councillor Kieran McCarthy said sites such as the Atlantic Pond must be protected from all forms of chemicals. ‘It is good news in the long run to see new measures being put in place to protect waterways such as the Atlantic Pond’, Procedural oversight’ blamed for Cork beauty spot being sprayed with weedkiller, https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40332203.html
Kieran’s Quote:
“It is good news in the long run to see new measures being put in place to protect waterways such as the Atlantic Pond. There is quite an array of bird diversity at the pond and I always feel the location is often an under appreciated blue space for the wider city. On any given day, there are many people who walk around the pond and you’d often see people snapping photos of the birdlife in the pond especially the cygnets and herons. There is large local interest in the condition of the Pond. I continue to lobby for information panels and seasonally arranged nature walks.
The Atlantic Pond and Cork Lough possess the widest variety of freshwater species. Apart from being a really important blue space for bird diversity, the Atlantic Pond is also an important green space due to its adjacent woodland for many woodland bird species too. More and more at City Council level, we are hearing when green space and blue space exist side by side, species richness and abundance grows. So sites like the Atlantic Pond need to be protected more from all forms of chemicals”.
1107a. Plaque on Blarney Street Cork in memory of Denis J Spriggs, killed 8 July 1921 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 8 July 2021
Journeys to a Truce: Fred
Cronin’s Republican Plot
IRA casualties from the ongoing War of Independence
across the city continued all the way into the July 1921 truce. On 21
June Commandant Walter Leo Murphy was shot dead at Waterfall (a few miles from
Ballincollig) when an IRA meeting in a local public house was encircled by two
carloads of British undercover officers. He shot his way out of the public
house but was subsequently killed.
A commemorative plaque erected at Turner’s Cross to D Company
2nd Battalion commemorates Company Adjutant Charles Daly of 5 Glenview, Douglas
Road, who was captured by British forces at Waterfall, Co. Cork on 28 June
1921. British army records claim he was shot attempting to escape from Victoria
Barracks on 29 June 1921.
Denis Spriggs became involved in the fight for
independence from British rule at a very young age. At 16, he lied about his
age so he could join the IRA. As a known member of the IRA he, like many other
Volunteers, was forced to go on the run from British forces in the city. On 8
July 1921, whilst visiting his mother, Denis Spriggs was captured. The house
was raided and Spriggs was apprehended. He was taken from his house and shot on
Blarney Street where a plaque marks the spot today.
Walter Leo, Charles, and Denis are
buried in the Republican Plot at St Finbarr’s Cemetery, which dates back to 1920. Previously to its use there was, immediately inside
the gates of St Finbarr’s Cemetery, a vacant plot of green in one corner on
which stood a small but interesting memorial. Built in 1894 of stones taken
from an ancient Cork abbey, it marked the place where the collected bones of
the monks of Gill-Abbey had been reinterred.
On the day after the murder of Lord Mayor Tomás MacCurtain
in March 1920. Fred Cronin, close friend of Terence MacSwiney and a leading
Cork undertaker of Richard Cronin and Sons, suggested to the Brigade officers
that the municipal authorities, who were owners of the cemetery, should be
requested to make this plot available as a burial place for the dead patriot.
The Corporation readily agreed, and with this first interment the Republican
Plot came into existence.
Lough native Fred Cronin was an active
member of Sinn Féin. His membership dated back to its earliest days in its
foundation. Fred’s obituary in the Cork Examiner on 30 October 1937
describes that he took an active interest in all the nationalist movements from
the early days of his youth. He was one of the founders of the Young Ireland
Society in the year 1899, whose work is engraved in the memory of the people of
Cork by the erection of the monument on the Grand Parade. About this time also he was
also one of those people who attempted to put an end to the recruiting campaign
for men to fight in the British Army against the Boers in South Africa.
Fred also helped to establish a
Republican organisation known as the Cork Celtic Literary Society in 1903, and
it was in the ranks of this society that he came in close contact with such
well-known men as Terence MacSwiney, Tomás MacCurtain, and Tadhg
Barry. He was also a close follower of the national pastimes, being connected
with the Éire Óg Hurling Club. He also played for a number of years with the
Nils Football Club. He took a deep interest in the language movement and was a
prominent member of the Gaelic League for a long period.
Fred was transport officer to the 2nd
Battalion of Cork No. 1 Brigade IRA for a time around 1920. His experience with
the family firm of undertakers gave him considerable knowledge of transport
organisation.
When Terence MacSwiney’s life was
increasingly threatened in 1920, whilst he was Lord Mayor he could be found at
the house of Fred. Keeping a watchful eye on Fred and Terence were the members
of G Company of the 2nd Battalion. Their base were Messrs Phair grocery and provision store on Bandon Road.
Here there were stores and out offices of G Company, which provided an
admirable hiding place for guns and other military equipment.
When Terence was on from hunger strike in Brixton Prison,
Fred visited him regularly and on Terence’s date of death on 25 October 1920, Fred
was one of the last to see him alive. Fred was
tasked by the MacSwiney family to be the executor of Terence’s will. Fred’s
personal papers are now archived in the National Library in Dublin. The notes
for his 33 folders of surviving papers describe that between May and December
1921, he was interned by the British authorities at Cork Male Prison and Spike
Island. While he was incarcerated on Spike Island, he joined the other
prisoners in a hunger strike which lasted only four days, ending 2 September
1921.
Fred applied for parole due to the
illness of his youngest daughter. His parole application bound him during the
period of his release not to “render any assistance, direct or indirect,
to persons disaffected towards His Majesty the King, or do any act calculated
to be prejudical to the restoration or maintenance of order in Ireland.”
Republicans generally disapproved of parole-giving and it was permitted only in
cases of severe family stress. Fred Cronin had five children, of whom the youngest,
Maire, required a major operation and was dangerously ill for a time. His wife
Katie had died and her sister Mary Roche was looking after the children.
During the Civil War Fred’s anti-treaty
sympathies saw him interned during the Civil War by the Free State Government
in Cork Prison and then Hare Park Camp (Curragh), Co. Kildare from 1922 to
1923.
Recently Phoenix Historical Society has
published a book on those laid to rest in the Republican Plot at St Finbarr’s
Cemetery. The Plot is the final resting place of 61 Irish Republicans. Contact michael_nugent@corkcity.ie
for more information on how to attain a copy of a very interesting and
important local history book.
Captions:
1107a. Plaque on Blarney Street Cork in
memory of Denis J Spriggs, killed 8 July 1921 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
1107b. Republican Plot at St Finbarr’s
Cemetery, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
1107b. Republican Plot at St Finbarr’s Cemetery, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
One hundred years ago in Ireland marked a time of change. The continuous rise of an Irish revival, debates over Home Rule and the idea of Irish identity were continuously negotiated by all classes of society. In Cork City Reflections, authors Kieran McCarthy and Daniel Breen focus on the visual changes that have taken place in the port city on Ireland’s south-west coast. Using a collection of historic postcards from Cork Public Museum and merging these with modern images they reveal how the town has changed over the decades. Each of the 180 pictures featured combines a recent colour view with the matching sepia archive scene.
The authors have grouped the images under thematic headings such as main streets, public buildings, transport, and industry. Readers will be able to appreciate how Cork City has evolved and grown over the last century but also how invaluable postcards can be in understanding the past. In an age where digital photography and the internet have made capturing and sharing images so effortless, it is easy to forget that in the decades before the camera became popular and affordable, postcards were the only photographic souvenirs available to ordinary people.
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed discussion and forward planning on the decommissioned Marina power station in Cork city. “It was great to hear about formal confirmation this week that planning between the ESB, Cork City Council and the newly formed Land Development Agency in relation to possible future uses of the site is ongoing. For me the ESB site is one of four sites in South Docks, which have a lot of built and cultural heritage – the others being the old Ford Factory site, former Odlums Building and the R & H Hall grain silos. All four sites have been highly influential in the development of south docks historically plus also are iconic symbolic structures in the area. It would be a real pity to lose their presence in the future of south docks.
“I would like to see the future of South Docks with a mixture of old and new building stock, so that the area has a nuanced sense of place. For me as well, I would encourage any future development to work with the Council to create a riverside walk on the south docks, so that The Marina greenway would potentially lead and connect all the way into the city, and hence linking to walks just west of the city centre – all in all creating an iconic routeway all along the city’s River Lee sections with public health advantages, scenery and other uses in abundance”. concluded Cllr McCarthy.
On Thursday night, 23 June 1921, an IRA unit
in a motor car threw a number of bombs at an RIC post on the Grand Parade (see
last week’s column). The attack was followed by bursts of gunfire as the car
sped up Tuckey Street towards the South Gate Bridge. Josephine Scannell (aged
19) was killed in the shooting that followed the bomb attack. She was working
at a sewing machine inside the window of her first story residence at French’s
Quay when she was hit by a bullet that passed through the window. She died a
short time later. Josephine was buried at St Joseph’s Cemetery in Ballyphehane.
In the 1911 Census, she was one of the five children of the builder John
Scannell and his wife Jane.
There were many victims of the Irish War of
Independence just like Josephine Scannell. Over the past one hundred years,
there has been a tendency in Cork City to keep the focus on the larger fall out
events such as Tomás MacCurtain, Terence MacSwiney and the Burning of Cork.
However, the centenary commemoration has brought new scholars, new projects and
new foci on elements on the War of Independence that have not been publicly
commemorated before.
One such very insightful project is Dara
McGrath’s photographic exhibition entitled For
Those That Tell No Tales, which can be viewed in
the Crawford Art Gallery. It is a great contribution to thinking about life and
society one hundred years ago. That it was not just the IRA, RIC and Black and
Tans that caught up with tit-for-tat violence but also civilians and their
families.
Dara McGrath’s work is based on research by Dr Andy
Bielenberg (School of History, UCC) and Professor James Donnelly Junior
(University of Wisconsin) who are currently engaged in an on-going project to
document all the fatalities of the Irish revolution in County Cork between 1919
and 1923 of which approximately 840 have been identified so far. This
exhibition is based on the War of Independence element of the project in Cork
City and showcases over sixty lesser known War of Independent sites from across
Cork City.
Dara in his notes on his photographic exhibition
writes that the catalyst for this project came from a series of conversations he
had with Dan Breen, Curator of Cork Public Museum, in late 2017, as consideration
was given how best to commemorate the centenary of events that took place in
Ireland, and in Cork, between 1919 and 1921. Dan suggested Dara research and
photograph the sites and locations of the many fatalities from this period.
Dara relates: “I made contact with Dr Andy Bielenberg who was involved in the
Irish Revolution Research Project at University College Cork, and with his help
and research I was able to pin down the events that surrounded fatalities that
took place within the new Cork city boundary extension during the years 1919 to
1921. I then set out to take a photograph as near as possible to where the
event happened. Sometimes I photographed the almost exact spot on the ground,
others were to be a guess with logical thinking”.
Dara’s photographs elevate these spots or spaces as
sites of memory for those individual lost lives. For the first time, through Dara’s
photography and accompanying texts, one can see a cross section extent of the
lives of the people and the geography where they perished during the struggle
for freedom in Ireland’s War of Independence. Dara’s acknowledgement of
the place and circumstances of each individual’s death – which bore so heavily
on their communities – still resonate, so powerfully, today.
The Crawford exhibition notes that today
– sadly and almost universally – we pass by unaware of the
tragedies that took place at unmarked locations that are
daily traversed; “Beyond the recognised memorials and major landmarks
there are many more sites within the landscape where people lost their
lives. In Cork City, those ‘forgotten’ lives
lost may include the Norwegian sailor Carl Johansen whose life
was ended by being shot in the back while returning to his ship in the Port of
Cork docks; or Josephine Scannell who at nineteen years old was shot dead by a
stray bullet while sitting near a window in her house in the city
centre”.
Dara notes: “As I stood, I thought about the people
who had died in these locations, and wondered was I the first to remember them
at these sites of their deaths. The project forced me to think deeply about the
relationship between me as a photographer, the place, and the history of the
place. I’m aware this project may disrupt some firmly-held narratives. War is a
terrible thing, and amidst its fall-out comes the silence, the secrets, the
revisions, the stories told, and the stories hidden away. In death, some were
treated as heroes, others as innocents, still others as the villains, but this
understanding changes too depending on who you talk to. The stories I’m trying
to tell include tragic accidents, bungled bombs, executions on both sides, and
the abduction and murder of informants.
“My approach was to attempt to respect everyone who had died by treating
them equally. I sought to present them with dignity, to demonstrate they were a
member of a family, to show they were loved. In essence, this project seeks to
give a voice to those who did not live to tell their tales”, concludes Dara.
The
exhibition For Those That Tell No Tales by Dara McGrath runs to the end
of August and is kindly supported by The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts,
Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative,
Cork City Council and Cork Public Museum.
Caption:
1106a. Dara McGrath
at his exhibition entitled, For Those That
Tell No Tales, in the Crawford Art Gallery (picture: Kieran
McCarthy).
Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the sponsorship by Coillte of new native saplings at the Blackrock Castle Walkway. Cllr McCarthy remarked: “In total this year, up to 1,200 trees were planted by Cork City Council Operations (Parks) this year. Cork Chamber are sponsoring another 200 of the 1,200 native trees being planted this year and have committed to at least two more years of sponsorship at €3,000k per year. This is a very generous contribution as it assists with increasing tree cover throughout the City”.
Outgoing Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Joe Kavanagh said: “The Coillte trees planted are a representation of all primary and secondary schools in Cork City and speak to our past, present and future. The Lord Mayor’s Oak Tree Initiative 2021 symbolises the resilience, sustainability and growth synonymous with our schools”.
Coillte Supply Chain Manager, Dominic Joyce said: “Coillte is delighted to support such initiatives as they inspire future generations and increase awareness of the important role that trees play in mitigating climate change, improving habitats, increasing biodiversity and providing sustainable and renewable building materials. We are delighted to be associated with the Lord Mayor’s initiative to commemorate the independence struggle 100 years ago in this novel and environmentally friendly way”.
Saplings were also planted Glen River Park, Bridevalley Park, and the Curraheen Walkway. Plaques have been installed near the new trees and a QR code will direct people to the Cork City Council commemorations site, www.corkcitycommemorations.ie where further details of the initiative will appear.
1105a. St Luke’s Church Area, c.1910 from Cork City Reflections (Amberley Publishing, 2021) by Kieran McCarthy and Dan Breen.
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 24 June 2021
Journeys to a Truce: The Mid-Summer Ambushes
On the evening of 23 June 1921, there was a
concerted attack on all RIC barracks in Cork City and suburbs at an appointed
time by members of the first and second battalions of Cork IRA Brigade No.1. In the city centre, a fine summer evening was
disturbed closing on to 7.30pm. Loud explosions, quickly followed by shots,
startled everybody. The first reports were heard all over the city and within
the suburbs. The mobilisation of Crown Forces ensued, and the rattle of rifle
fire, the tearing of machine guns, added to the fear of citizens outdoors and
indoors.
In a
short time, the streets became deserted. Tram cars with their complements of
passengers went to the end of their journeys and then returned to the central
station. The occupants, motor men, and conductors of some ofthe cars were ordered off, searched, and questioned by the RIC and Black
and Tans. By 8pm, business houses that were open were soon shuttered and closed.
In various districts, and anyone out was halted and searched. Towards 9pm quiet
was restored, but the streets remained deserted. At the South and North
infirmaries, they were busily engaged attending to several people admitted
consequent to the explosions and subsequent firing.
The Cork
Examiner, the following day on 24 June, reported that bombs were initially thrown
at police in Tuckey Street, where constabulary occupied an old barrack and had recently
acquired premises, which fronted the Grand Parade. Some citizens who were in
Washington Street and Grand Parade about 7.30pm spoke to the press about a high
speed of a motor car passing down Washington Street and onto the Grand Parade:
As this car came along the Grand Parade by the Berwick Fountain, opposite
Tuckey Street Police Station. Two loud explosions, followed by quick firing,
startled everyone.
Revolver
shots also were discharged by the occupants of the car at the windows of Tuckey
Street barrack, but nobody was injured. The police fired on the occupants of
the motor, and believe that they killed one and wounded another, but the car
dashed on through Tuckey Street and over the South Gate Bridge.
A
stampede on the Grand Parade followed, and it was noticed that some people
fell, whether wounded or terror stricken. There was one fatality. Josephine
Scannell, aged 19 years, living at Frenche’s Quay, was shot dead through the
heart. She was seated at the window of her residence engaged working at her
sewing machine. The fast shots had barely sounded when a bullet struck through the
window and hit her over the heart. She collapsed immediately, and through
assistance was soon removed by the Cork Corporation ambulance to the
South Infirmary. She was dead on arrival. The body was later taken from the
Infirmary by her grief-stricken mother back to her house.
Apart
from the Tuckey Street incident, a bomb was thrown into the garden of a house
in Ashburton Terrace. No damage was done, but it is reported that the child of
the inmate of the house, who was playing in the garden, had a very narrow
escape, the bomb exploding under the little girl’s feet. It was following this
that the firing started in the St Luke’s Church direction, and several
civilians were wounded.
The
neighbourhood of St Luke’s was also thrown into alarm about 7.30pm. At that
hour two men came to the door of the public bar of Messrs. Henchy, Tea and Wine
Merchants, St Luke’s. They simply pushed glass door and fired two shots from
revolvers. They then hastened away. One man in the bar was shot in the face and
was seriously wounded. The wounded man was taken to the military hospital. The second
shot wounded another man and he was conveyed to the North Infirmary, where on examination
it was found that his wound was not dangerous.
The bomb
thrown at Shandon Barracks was, like those thrown at Tuckey Street, thrown from
a motor, but whether the distance from the roadway to the barracks was too far,
or through some other reason, there was no very great damage done, und there
were no casualties.
Robert C Ahern, D Company, 2nd
Battalion, Cork No.1 IRA Brigade in his witness statement for the Bureau of
Military History (WS 1676) describes that he was one of a small party of men
who took part in an attack on Douglas RIC Barracks that evening. The object of
these attacks was to show the enemy that we were still strong in numbers and
equipment, notwithstanding our losses in officers and men killed, wounded, or
taken prisoner.
Of the ambush on Douglas RIC Barracks, Robert
outlines a short five minute event but a dangerous situation: “Sailor Barry,
Eddie Fitzgibbon, one other man and myself opened fire on the front of the
barracks whilst other men from ‘D’ Company took the rere of the building. The
garrison of police and Black and Tans replied with rifles and machineguns. None
of us suffered a casualty, and I am not aware if any of the garrison of the
barracks was hit during the firing. So far as we were concerned, the affair was
over in about five minutes, although firing from the barracks continued for
some time after we had left”.
Caption:
1105a. St Luke’s Church Area, c.1910 from Cork City Reflections (Amberley Publishing, 2021) by Kieran
McCarthy and Dan Breen.
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy wishes to remind business owners that the expanded Small Business Assistance Scheme (SBAS) for COVID is now open for applications through Cork City Council. Phase two of this scheme has been expanded to include those that had previously been ineligible. Cllr McCarthy noted: “SBASC gives grants to businesses who are not eligible for the Government’s COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), the Fáilte Ireland Business Continuity grant or other direct sectoral grant schemes. This scheme aims to help businesses with their fixed costs, for example, rent, utility bills, security. If you have received Phase 1 of SBASC you can apply for Phase 2 if you continue to meet the eligibility requirements. The closing date for this scheme is 21 July 2021”.
Businesses working from non-rateable premises are now eligible to apply and if they meet the other eligibility criteria will receive a grant of €4,000. Businesses with a turnover between €20,000 and €49,999 are also now eligible to apply if they meet the other eligibility criteria and will receive a grant of €1,000.
The scheme is available to companies, self-employed, sole traders or partnerships. The business must not be owned and operated by a public body. The business must operate from a building, including working from home, or similar fixed physical structure such as a yard or a street trading pitch for which rates are payable or in a co-working hub or a rented fixed desk. This does not include businesses carried on from motor vehicles, such as PSVs or construction trades. The business must have a current eTax Clearance Certificate from the Revenue Commissioners. Cllr McCarthy concluded: “Further information can be obtained from Cork City Council’s Business Support Unit on the home page of www.corkcity.ie or at the following phone number, 021-4924484 or at the following e-mail address, sbas@corkcity.ie”
18 June 2021, “Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy said the engineering problems blighting the Penrose Quay streetscape must be addressed once and for all. ‘I ask this question every year to keep it on the agenda, and I think this is my 13th time asking,” he said.“And the latest answer seems to be just kicking the can further down the road. It’s just not good enough”, Councillor blasts decade-long presence of hoarding on Cork quay, Councillor blasts decade-long presence of hoarding on Cork quay (irishexaminer.com)
